The automotive industry continues to be a hotbed of innovation, with activity driven by electrification, low carbon emission technologies, and innovations in charging infrastructure and growing importance of technologies such as smart meters and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technologies. 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 Internet of Things in Automotive: EV charging metering.  Buy the report here.

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However, not all innovations are equal and nor do they follow a constant upward trend. Instead, their evolution takes the form of an S-shaped curve that reflects their typical lifecycle from early emergence to accelerating adoption, before finally stabilising and reaching maturity. 

Identifying where a particular innovation is on this journey, especially those that are in the emerging and accelerating stages, is essential for understanding their current level of adoption and the likely future trajectory and impact they will have. 

290+ innovations will shape the automotive industry 

According to GlobalData’s Technology Foresights, which plots the S-curve for the automotive industry using innovation intensity models built on over 619,000 patents, there are 290+ innovation areas that will shape the future of the industry. 

Within the emerging innovation stage, smart car seats, tyre sensors, and predictive maintenance systems are disruptive technologies that are in the early stages of application and should be tracked closely. Acoustic vehicle signalling devices, brake temperature monitoring, and autonomous parking are some of the accelerating innovation areas, where adoption has been steadily increasing. Among maturing innovation areas are disc brake actuators and AI-assisted dimming, which are now well established in the industry. 

Innovation S-curve for IoT in the automotive industry 

EV charging metering is a key innovation area in IoT 

As electric vehicle (EV) owners refuel their electric cars' power supplies, many charging stations provided by high-use commercial or residential buildings can require a large amount of electricity. In situations like these, EV charging stations need to correctly measure their energy usage and costs. 

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 60+ companies, spanning technology vendors, established automotive companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of EV charging metering. 

Key players in EV charging metering – 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 EV charging metering

Company Total patents (2010 - 2022) Premium intelligence on the world's largest companies
Toyota Motor 91 Unlock Company Profile
Emerging Automotive 85 Unlock Company Profile
Gogoro 79 Unlock Company Profile
Honda Motor 66 Unlock Company Profile
E.ON 62 Unlock Company Profile
Siemens 53 Unlock Company Profile
Ford Motor 46 Unlock Company Profile
Porsche Automobil Holding 41 Unlock Company Profile
Chargepoint 40 Unlock Company Profile
Kapsch TrafficCom 37 Unlock Company Profile
Liberty PlugIns 35 Unlock Company Profile
AES 34 Unlock Company Profile
NEC 32 Unlock Company Profile
Panasonic 31 Unlock Company Profile
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries 27 Unlock Company Profile
Hyundai Motor Group 25 Unlock Company Profile
Cpi Integration Holdings 20 Unlock Company Profile
Tricopian 18 Unlock Company Profile
Toshiba 17 Unlock Company Profile
Kia 16 Unlock Company Profile
Continental 15 Unlock Company Profile
ChargePoint Holdings 13 Unlock Company Profile
Nio 12 Unlock Company Profile
Nissan Motor 12 Unlock Company Profile
Grenzebach Maschinenbau 11 Unlock Company Profile
Mastercard 11 Unlock Company Profile
Nokia 11 Unlock Company Profile
Denso 10 Unlock Company Profile
Ningbo Share'N Go Electric Vehicle Service 10 Unlock Company Profile
SK 9 Unlock Company Profile
DEKA Research and Development 9 Unlock Company Profile
Robert Bosch Stiftung 9 Unlock Company Profile
Menolinx Systems 9 Unlock Company Profile
Sony Group 9 Unlock Company Profile
Itron 9 Unlock Company Profile
Kotobuki Realty 9 Unlock Company Profile
SoftBank Group 8 Unlock Company Profile
Doosan 8 Unlock Company Profile
LS Electric 8 Unlock Company Profile
Electricite de France 8 Unlock Company Profile
General Motors 7 Unlock Company Profile
Aulton New Energy Automotive Technology 7 Unlock Company Profile
Kymco Motors 7 Unlock Company Profile
Kanematsu 7 Unlock Company Profile
CONTROL MODULE 7 Unlock Company Profile
Nation-E 7 Unlock Company Profile
Sofibol SCA 7 Unlock Company Profile
Tanktwo 7 Unlock Company Profile
Zhejiang Geely Holding Group 6 Unlock Company Profile
Xuji Electric 6 Unlock Company Profile

Source: GlobalData Patent Analytics

Toyota, Emerging Automotive and Gogoro are the leading patent filers in the EV charging meter segment. Toyota filed 91 patents. With more than 30,000 public stations supporting Level 2 and DC Fast Charging, Toyota is working on several solutions for billing meter for EV charging. Other companies that have filed patents in the same segment are Honda, E.ON, and AES to name a few. 

To further understand how IoT is disrupting the automotive industry, access GlobalData’s latest thematic research report on Internet of Things (IoT) in Automotive

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GlobalData, the leading provider of industry intelligence, provided the underlying data, research, and analysis used to produce this article. 

 GlobalData’s Patent Analytics tracks patent filings and grants from official offices around the world. Textual analysis and official patent classifications are used to group patents into key thematic areas and link them to specific companies across the world’s largest industries.