The automotive industry continues to be a hotbed of innovation, with activity driven by the need for reducing vehicle emissions, surge in demand for electric vehicles, and growing importance of technologies such as battery technologies, and electric, connected and autonomous vehicles. In the last three years alone, there have been over 1.2 million patents filed and granted in the automotive industry, according to GlobalData’s report on Electric vehicles in Automotive: Hybrid vehicle gear transmission. Buy the report here.
According to GlobalData’s Technology Foresights, which uses over 619,000 patents to analyse innovation intensity for the automotive industry, there are 290+ innovation areas that will shape the future of the industry.
Hybrid vehicle gear transmission is a key innovation area in electric vehicles
In hybrid vehicles, the automatic gearbox not only changes gears, but also toggles between hybrid and electric mode based on two factors: depressing the accelerator pedal and the battery’s charge level. The vehicle switches between these modes depending on the driver’s input.
GlobalData’s analysis also uncovers the companies at the forefront of each innovation area and assesses the potential reach and impact of their patenting activity across different applications and geographies. According to GlobalData, there are 70+ companies, spanning technology vendors, established automotive companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of hybrid vehicle gear transmission.
Key players in hybrid vehicle gear transmission – a disruptive innovation in the automotive industry
‘Application diversity’ measures the number of different applications identified for each relevant patent and broadly splits companies into either ‘niche’ or ‘diversified’ innovators.
‘Geographic reach’ refers to the number of different countries each relevant patent is registered in and reflects the breadth of geographic application intended, ranging from ‘global’ to ‘local’.
Patent volumes related to hybrid vehicle gear transmission
Source: GlobalData Patent Analytics
Honda is the key player in hybrid vehicle gear transmission and has filed 412 patents. The company has come up with EVT transmission, which uses conventional automatic transmission fluids (ATF). It is the only OEM with a manual hybrid in its line-up, which was offered in the original Insight and CRZ that uses a conventional Honda MTF-3. Toyota, NTT and Porsche Automobil are the other key players in hybrid vehicle gear transmission.
To further understand the key themes and technologies disrupting the automotive industry, access GlobalData’s latest thematic research report on Electric Vehicles (EV).
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