Patent analysis of hybrid vehicles: collaboration and technology leadership

Abstract

Developments on hybrid vehicles have been growing during the last years due to the importance of green technologies. From a system engineering perspective a patent analysis of hybrid vehicles during 2000 to 2014 was developed to define a technology landscape of the recent years. A total of 40,023 patents were obtained and analyzed through two stages. During the first one the general areas of research and top patent companies were identified. Furthermore, an analysis of collaborations efforts was made. Results show that the company with the highest patent activity has also a strong focus on collaborative technology development. Toyota stands out for having the highest patenting rate and a diversity of collaboration agreements particularly on HEV technologies were identified. Subsequently, the main emphasis of research (according to international standard classifications) was defined. The analysis indicates that patent activity mainly focuses on control and electric vehicle propulsion; as well as in control systems especially adapted for hybrid vehicles. The second stage included the determination of the research focus according type of hybrid vehicle, the predominant alternative energy sources; and finally, the recent patents of top companies according to the most frequent alternative source of energy. The insights obtained indicate that research on parallel hybrid vehicle predominate, followed by series-hybrid and series-parallel hybrid type. In respect to alternative sources of energy, there is an extensive research on hydrogen, followed by solar energy. Toyota and Hyundai rank the first positions; its recent inventions on this arena were identified. The major contribution of this research is to determine a technological landscape on hybrid vehicles by means of an integration of collaborative systems engineering approach with patent analysis. Outcomes obtained aims to support the strategic decision process for organizations, companies, institutes and other stakeholders involved in this sector.