China and South Korea have the most impactful EV patents in the world, but Japan and Germany hold more EV-related patents
A Tokyo-based think tank said that Chinese and Korean electric vehicle patents are some of the world’s best in quality, while Japanese and German automotive companies have a higher quantity of EV patents.
In a Nikkei Asia report on the EV market research findings of Mitsui & Co. Global Strategic Studies Institute (MGSSI), Chinese battery manufacturers such as CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd), Huawei, Aulton and BYD hold relatively few EV patents, but these score highly on technological impact.
The scoreboard (based on multiple, applicable data from LexisNexis PatentSight+) lists CATL at the top with an index score of 2.7, followed by LG Energy in second position with a score of 2.6, and then Huawei and Aulton in joint third position with a score of 2.3. Automaker BYD shares fourth place with Japanese supplier Hitachi Astemo.
Factors that determine the patents’ level of technological impact include the number of citations and the remaining lifespan until expiry. The average score is 1.0.
Toyota together with Lexus have the lion's share of Japanese EV patents.
Completing the list of the world’s most influential EV technology patent-holders are American giant General Motors, Korean giant Hyundai Motor, Geely-owned Swedish firm Volvo, and Ford Motor in the No. 10 spot.
CATL is China’s domestic leader in EV batteries and commanded 38 percent of the global market by volume last year. More than 50 car brands around the world use CATL batteries for their electric models, including Geely, Tesla, Honda and Volkswagen. Typically, the battery makes up 30 to 40 percent of a modern EV’s manufacturing cost.
Hyundai has more EV-related patents than Honda, Ford, and Nissan.
MGSSI ranked the number of electric vehicle patents (inclusive of pending ones) held by 20 relevant companies in China, Japan, USA, South Korea, Germany, and Sweden.
Top Japanese automaker Toyota Motor (including its Lexus division) has the most EV-related patents with 6,135. This makes up almost 60 percent of the 10,466 total patents from Japan which belong to Toyota, Honda, Nissan, and Denso.
Multi-brand Volkswagen is in second position behind Toyota with 2,464 EV-related patents, just ahead of Hyundai Motor Group (including Kia) which has 2,250. Also contributing to Germany’s collection of international patents are Bosch and BMW Group, which add 1,203 and 986 to the German tally respectively.
MGSSI also noted a recent surge in patents for monitoring, charging and controlling EV batteries as car companies tackle the challenge of boosting the performance of these core components, which affect driving range and safety.
Patents have also become increasingly important in the automotive arena because of software-focused vehicles and autonomous-driving systems. These require technologies which were not originally developed for cars, such as wireless communication, sensors, cameras, and cloud services.
Ryusuke Ishiguro, a senior manager in MGSSI's intellectual property department, told Nikkei Asia: "Chinese players have fewer (patents), but they carefully select the ones they apply for.”
Volkswagen Group - which includes Skoda, CUPRA, Audi and Porsche - is said to have the second highest number of EV-related patents in the automotive world.
