Technological Development Trajectories of the Component Technologies in Battery Electric Vehicles
As the concern about climate change grows, interest in battery electric vehicles (BEVs) is rising. BEVs are forecasted to constitute about 40% of passenger vehicle sales in 2035. While BEVs produce no emissions from the tailpipe, they face challenges, such as driving range and refueling time, that r...
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2024
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/155609 https://orcid.org/0009-0001-4708-9458 |
| _version_ | 1826195145766207488 |
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| author | Iijima, Rei |
| author2 | Cameron, Bruce G. |
| author_facet | Cameron, Bruce G. Iijima, Rei |
| author_sort | Iijima, Rei |
| collection | MIT |
| description | As the concern about climate change grows, interest in battery electric vehicles (BEVs) is rising. BEVs are forecasted to constitute about 40% of passenger vehicle sales in 2035. While BEVs produce no emissions from the tailpipe, they face challenges, such as driving range and refueling time, that require technological advancements to improve performance and social acceptance. Since the evolution and replacement of component technologies have propelled the BEV progress, mapping their development trajectories may yield insights into future evolutions.
This thesis explores the technological development trajectories of batteries, ultra capacitors, battery management systems, electric motors, power electronics, and heat pumps, using main path analysis with U.S. patents published up to 2023. This analysis method can detect technological development trajectories and key patents in the trajectories by identifying the patents frequently cited, taking advantage of enormous patent data.
The results reveal that critical innovations do not necessarily occur when many innovations occur. Regarding some technological categories in some technology fields, such as battery circuit arrangements of power electronics, important innovations have been made constantly, and the trends are suggested to continue. On the other hand, other technical categories, such as magnetic circuits of electric motors, are critically innovated recently and intensively along with the increase in attention due to their high potential to improve performance. In addition, obtaining U.S. patents for core technologies, including batteries, battery management systems, electric motors, power electronics, and heat pumps, is crucial to gaining U.S. BEV market share, though it is not the case to succeed in the global market. Furthermore, their patents are not necessarily critical innovations in the technological development of the field. Current trends illustrate that significant BEV innovations are distributed across various entities. This suggests that though patents in the automotive industry have been typically held on verticals, diverse supply chain strategies, including incorporating innovative startups into their own companies or entering into horizontal partnerships with companies that have emerging technologies, are gaining importance in staying competitive in a market where leadership in each technology can swiftly change. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T10:07:59Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | mit-1721.1/155609 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T10:07:59Z |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| publisher | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1556092024-07-11T03:47:44Z Technological Development Trajectories of the Component Technologies in Battery Electric Vehicles Iijima, Rei Cameron, Bruce G. System Design and Management Program. As the concern about climate change grows, interest in battery electric vehicles (BEVs) is rising. BEVs are forecasted to constitute about 40% of passenger vehicle sales in 2035. While BEVs produce no emissions from the tailpipe, they face challenges, such as driving range and refueling time, that require technological advancements to improve performance and social acceptance. Since the evolution and replacement of component technologies have propelled the BEV progress, mapping their development trajectories may yield insights into future evolutions. This thesis explores the technological development trajectories of batteries, ultra capacitors, battery management systems, electric motors, power electronics, and heat pumps, using main path analysis with U.S. patents published up to 2023. This analysis method can detect technological development trajectories and key patents in the trajectories by identifying the patents frequently cited, taking advantage of enormous patent data. The results reveal that critical innovations do not necessarily occur when many innovations occur. Regarding some technological categories in some technology fields, such as battery circuit arrangements of power electronics, important innovations have been made constantly, and the trends are suggested to continue. On the other hand, other technical categories, such as magnetic circuits of electric motors, are critically innovated recently and intensively along with the increase in attention due to their high potential to improve performance. In addition, obtaining U.S. patents for core technologies, including batteries, battery management systems, electric motors, power electronics, and heat pumps, is crucial to gaining U.S. BEV market share, though it is not the case to succeed in the global market. Furthermore, their patents are not necessarily critical innovations in the technological development of the field. Current trends illustrate that significant BEV innovations are distributed across various entities. This suggests that though patents in the automotive industry have been typically held on verticals, diverse supply chain strategies, including incorporating innovative startups into their own companies or entering into horizontal partnerships with companies that have emerging technologies, are gaining importance in staying competitive in a market where leadership in each technology can swiftly change. S.M. 2024-07-10T20:18:19Z 2024-07-10T20:18:19Z 2024-05 2024-06-11T19:50:43.405Z Thesis https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/155609 https://orcid.org/0009-0001-4708-9458 In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted Copyright retained by author(s) https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/ application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| spellingShingle | Iijima, Rei Technological Development Trajectories of the Component Technologies in Battery Electric Vehicles |
| title | Technological Development Trajectories of the Component Technologies in Battery Electric Vehicles |
| title_full | Technological Development Trajectories of the Component Technologies in Battery Electric Vehicles |
| title_fullStr | Technological Development Trajectories of the Component Technologies in Battery Electric Vehicles |
| title_full_unstemmed | Technological Development Trajectories of the Component Technologies in Battery Electric Vehicles |
| title_short | Technological Development Trajectories of the Component Technologies in Battery Electric Vehicles |
| title_sort | technological development trajectories of the component technologies in battery electric vehicles |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/155609 https://orcid.org/0009-0001-4708-9458 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT iijimarei technologicaldevelopmenttrajectoriesofthecomponenttechnologiesinbatteryelectricvehicles |