Penetrating the fog surrounding lithium-ion traction batteries

To penetrate the fog surrounding lithium-ion traction batteries we should use the term generically for all rechargeable batteries involving lithium ions. For example, it is false to talk of lithium polymer as an alternative to lithium-ion because the term lithium polymer simply refers to a form of electrolyte involving solid polymer electrolyte usually with gel. Indeed, sometimes people talk loosely about favouring lithium titanate against lithium polymer or lithium iron phosphate when the first usually refers to how the anode is made, the second to the electrolyte and the third to the cathode. In principle one could have all these in one battery.

 

When looking at intellectual property it is important to realise that many of the leaders have joint ventures and these may or may not patent their own intellectual property. The remarkable new computer analysis of 40,000 patents in the report, Advanced Energy Storage Technologies: Patent Trends and Company Positioningcan be read in an afternoon because it distils the complex patent scene into nearly 100 patent maps which show intensity of patenting by company, alliance, year, anode or cathode technology, country and more. Clear, brief text explains all this and links it to the commercial and investment scene today.

 

See http://www.electricvehiclesresearch.com for more.

 

 

Here is the simplest patent map at the start. It shows that, in number of patents filed by year on advanced energy storage technology, that Japan stays ahead while the US and less impressively Europe, China and the rest of the world are playing catch up. Korea is clipping along at a strong, steady rate. These data are dominated by lithium-ion battery patents: the report splits these out. On the other hand it clarifies all traction battery patents (not just lithium) in one grouping and separately supercapacitors etc. Statistically meaningful data for 2009 will be available later in 2011.

 

Absolute data from 40,000 patents on Advanced Energy Storage Technology by region and year.

 

 

Source: IDTechEx/PatAnalyse report Advanced Energy Storage Technologies: Patent Trends and Company Positioning

 

The report tabulates investment and investment commitments by the giants in lithium-ion batteries and increasingly focussing on versions for electric vehicles. Again, Japan comes out well ahead with Panasonic, including its Sanyo acquisition, and Nissan, including Nissan-Renault and the AESC Nissan/NEC joint venture in the lead. These two competing groupings have committed a total of $3.3 billion in total between them, dwarfing the commitment of competitors so far. A commitment of over $2 billion is necessary to have a chance of being in the profitable top three when the shakeout in traction batteries comes and, behind these leaders in investment, only Samsung, GS Yuasa and its joint ventures, Sony (not really in traction batteries yet), BYD, LG Chem and Johnson Controls/SAFT come close at around half the necessary commitment so far. However, they all need to win the intellectual property race as well and the newly available clarity on their intellectual property leads to some concerns with many of them.

 

 

Of course, patentors can be unknown names and the user of these data often needs to track company activity. For this reason, assignees are analysed as well as identifying the leading individuals doing the patenting. Even citations between companies are clarified to expose who has strong patents and who is just playing a numbers game.

 

There are huge differences between continents that cannot be explained scientifically. For example, the Americans love to apply nanotechnology to lithium-ion batteries whereas the East Asians do not have that emphasis. Groupings are educative. At the organisation level, to some patent maps identify what US Universities are doing compared with the US Government, Taiwanese Institutes, Japanese Institutes and European Institutes and all leading companies. Clarity on company links is vital. For example, it is easy to gain the impression that a company is backing out of a subject when its joint venture has taken over.

 

Consider the giants that are patenting this technology strongly in their own right. Both Daimler and its joint venture with Evonic Industries called LiTec Battery feature in the top patentors in this subject but, even taken together, they are not yet among the leaders, the Germans being somewhat late into the subject, having prioritised the hydrogen economy including fuel cells. Similarly patentors SAFT and joint company Johnson Controls-SAFT appear. Nissan has filed strongly in its own name as has NEC but Nissan now gets supplies from its Automotive Energy Supply AESC joint venture between the two companies which is also very successful in selling traction batteries into the open market. However, during the latest time period for which statistically meaningful patents are available, AESC was not a major patentor. The only patent to AESC is taken exclusively in Japan and it is therefore considered as an insignificant invention in the analysis in the new report.

 

 

Similarly Continental is a major patentor but its joint venture Continental ENAX making lithium-ion traction batteries does not yet appear in the top listings. GS Yuasa and Mitsubishi appear individually in the top listings, though they now have a joint venture making lithium-ion traction batteries called Lithium Energy Japan which is not yet in the top patent listings.

 

SB LiMotive is owned by Samsung and Robert Bosch and all three patents strongly in this space. GS Yuasa and Honda have a joint venture, BASF is allied with Sion Power and LG Chemical has separate joint ventures with both Changan New Energy Automobile and Hyundai Mobis all concerning Li-ion traction batteries but with the participants also patenting separately.

 

Alliances frequently change and proliferate. However, because most of the joint ventures are relatively new, the report calculates that, if we added them to their owners in ranking patenting, there would be little change in the pecking order so far.

 

 

One aspect of this is the race for third generation rechargeable batteries, particularly for land, water and airborne electric vehicles whether hybrid or pure electric. First generation employs the familiar lithium cobalt oxide cathode, a carbon anode and a wet electrolyte with a separator.

 

Second generation batteries exhibit some or all of the following:

 

All this tends to come with poorer energy and power density so some of the newer formulations retain wet electrolytes but use safer cathodes, gaining good energy density - something important with the long electric range hybrids of the future not just with pure electric vehicles.

 

Third generation traction batteries have only appeared in a few unmanned aerial vehicles AUVs and military vehicles so far, so they really lie in the future. They seek to improve energy density without sacrificing thermal stability and simple, lightweight containment and be affordable, not relying on materials subject to price hikes. In short, third generation lithium-ion traction batteries will combine the good aspects of first and second generation traction batteries while offering record breaking energy density. They will usually achieve this by being entirely solid, even printed, and lithium sulphur, lithium air, lithium water and non lithium options are all being developed to win the prize. Electric vehicles will be smaller, cost less and/or go further - maybe all these things.

 

 

So far, the Americans and one Japanese company are particularly impressive in the race into third generation traction battery patents. The report tracks progress of patents in the necessary anode, cathode, electrolyte and other aspects to predict who will be in pole position since inventions like these tend to reach the market in about five years.

 

Lithium polymer second generation batteries are now flying in pure electric aircraft and airships, under the sea in autonomous underwater vehicles AUVs, on the sea and lakes and in on-road and off-road vehicles. So it will be with the continuing rollout of other second generation batteries and the planned third generation batteries. The only events covering the full picture are the IDTechEx Electric Vehicles - Land Sea Air Europe 2011

series, the next of which is in Stuttgart Germany June 28-29.

 

See www.IDTechEx.com .

 

Also attend: Electric Vehicles - Land Sea Air Europe 2011

to reflect its unique covering of the whole subject.Never before has there been an opportunity in Europe for people in land, water and air electric vehicles and their components, infrastructure and test equipment to compare notes in one event. Delegates already signed up vary from Airbus, Hudson Power Sports and Hudson Yachts to Sony, the Bulgarian Electric Vehicle Association and Robert Bosch Venture Capital.