GERMANY. Electromobility: China dominates research on charging technology

Munich. Charging technology has become the dominant research focus in electromobility internationally. This is shown by the number of annual first-time applications for charging patents. This has recently risen sharply worldwide: from 2000 in 2016 to just under 16,000 registrations in 2022.

The figures also show that every second patent application in the field of electromobility now concerns the optimization of batteries and the expansion of charging stations. In 2014, charging technology accounted for just ten percent, in 2022 it was already 39 percent. Among other things, research is being carried out on the management of energy and data flows between cars and the energy grid as well as on battery cooling in electric vehicles.

Securing patents is a prerequisite for gaining a competitive edge. In principle, patents are granted nationally, but can also be extended worldwide after a period of one year.

Patent applications: Three German carmakers in the top ten

German car manufacturers have also massively increased their number of patent applications, but China leads by far in terms of the total number. This is the result of a comprehensive evaluation of patent applications by the Munich law firm Grünecker, which is available to Handelsblatt.