A report covering the analysis of over 40,000 patents granted in the last five years in the field of energy storage technologies for electric vehicles - meaning e-mobility - shows that two Japanese players - Panasonic and Toyota now dominate the scene closely followed by two Korean firms - Samsung SDI and LG Chemical.
PatAnalyse a Cambridge, UK based IP analysis company looked at patents covering lithium batteries, supercapacitors, and battery management systems. The report "Advanced Energy Storage Technologies: Patent Trends and Company Positioning" was co-authored by IDTechEx, a global analysis and market intelligence company.
Lithium-ion battery technologies are starting to replace the older and lower energy density Lead Acid and Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) batteries in electric vehicles. The high energy Lithium-ion cells, however, are more vulnerable to abuse and need more support from electronic battery management systems to provide protection and ensure long life. The battery and on-board battery management system have become an important product differentiators just like the internal combustion engine in contemporary cars.
As a rule it takes at least five years from invention to the first product on the market, so to highlight 'hidden' R&D efforts which have not yet materialised as new products, the study focussed on patents with a priority date from 2005.
While Japanese and Korean multinationals dominate the patent landscape, second tier players are more international with Japanese companies like Sony, Hitachi, Denso, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Toshiba, and Honda joined by Ford, General Motors, Robert Bosch and, not surprisingly, by the Chinese BYD.
US activity seems dominated by government sponsored research which is reflected in the strong position of US government labs and universities. Looking at trends in patenting over the last five years it is evident that much of the growth comes from European and US players waking up to the challenge. Trend in patenting advanced energy storage over the most recent years for which statistically meaningful data are available.
