A Nikkei and Patent Result report finds that Japanese manufacturers are leading the way in filing for patents related to solid-state battery technology. Toyota far outperforms Panasonic and Idemitsu.
Toyota Motor Corporation is the manufacturer with the largest number of patents related to solid state batteries what is on the planet. The Japanese company leads a market absolutely dominated by Asia and whose Top 10 patent applications contain six Japanese manufacturers.
This is determined by a report by Nikkei Asia and the patent and technical research company, Patent Result. This report analyzes the patent applications filed with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) from the year 2000 to March 2022.
Toyota, undisputed leader
Despite the fact that Toyota is one of the brands that has most timidly entered the electric car market to date, it has great faith in solid-state batteries as a bridge towards the definitive electrification of its range of vehicles.
The solid state battery follows the same principles as the lithium ion battery, but with the difference that the electrolyte or conductive material is not a liquid, but a solid. According to the experiments and studies carried out in recent years with this type of technology, with them it is possible to double the autonomy and reduce two thirds of the time necessary to recharge the batteries. In addition, the risk of fire due to overheating is much lower.
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On the other hand, solid-state batteries are much more expensive today and only small units have been commercialized so far.
According to the study, Toyota leads solid-state battery research with a total of 1331 patents filed, well above the 445 patents held by Panasonic Holdings and the 272 patents held by Idemitsu Kosan, all of which are Japanese companies. Samsung Electronics is the first non-Japanese (South Korean) company in the ranking, and the only one in the Top 5.
Medium term plans
Toyota began researching solid-state batteries in the 1990s and has since filed patents related to battery structure, material, and manufacturing processes, among others.
The Japanese firm launched its prototype with solid-state batteries in 2020 and its plans to market the first production vehicle with this technology are marked as limit 2025. Meanwhile, other manufacturers such as Nissan, Honda or Volkswagen hope to follow this path during the second half of the decade.
In recent years, Chinese companies have advanced dramatically in this and other fields related to the electric vehicle thanks to government subsidies. Whoever gets there first will have taken a giant step forward in their electrified commercial future.
Font: Nikkei
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Photos: Toyota Press