EV storage patents dominated by Japanese firms

摘要

An analysis of over 40,000 patents granted in the last five years in the field of energy storage technologies for electric vehicles shows that two Japanese players -Panasonic and Toyota - now dominate the scene closely followed by two Korean firms - Samsung SDI and LG Chemical.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, according to the report Advanced Energy Storage Technologies: Patent Trends and Company Positioning, which was coauthored by PatAnalyse, a UK-based IP analysis company and IDTechEx, a global analysis and market intelligence firm. The report focuses on patents with a priority date from 2005, as it generally takes at least five years from invention to first product.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 China's BYD Automobile Company. In contrast, US activity seems dominated by government-sponsored research, reflected in the strong position of US government labs and universities .