Battery Electric Excavator Patents: Top Companies & Trends 2026
- 38.8% concentration at the top. The five leading assignees hold 26 of 67 records in scope, but the other 61% is spread across a long tail of 32 further companies.
- Filings grew 60% from 2021 to 2024. From 5 records in 2021 to 8 in 2024, with 2023 the peak year so far at 20 records — before the usual 18-month publication lag understates the most recent years.
- Thermal management is a proven choke point. A cited battery thermal-management filing from Deere sits alongside dense earth-moving (E02F) claim coverage at 85.1% of all records.
Filing growth compares 2021 (5 records) with 2024 (8) — a three-year span. 2024 is the most recent year we treat as complete: publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in and any growth rate that ends there would understate the field. Top-5 share is the combined record count of the five largest assignees divided by all 67 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What the patent record shows about electrified excavator powertrains
Battery electric excavator powertrain patenting sits at the intersection of two established fields: earth-moving machine design and electric vehicle propulsion. The dataset in scope — 67 published records spanning 2015 to the 2026 cut-off — captures filings that combine excavator-specific structure (E02F) with battery, drive or thermal claims more typical of electric vehicles (B60L, B60K, B60H). That overlap is the defining feature of this space: most applicants are excavator manufacturers layering electrified drivetrain and thermal claims onto conventional machine architecture, rather than EV powertrain specialists moving into construction equipment.
Filing activity was negligible before 2021, rose through a peak in 2023, and the leading receiving office by a wide margin is China, followed by Europe, the WIPO PCT route, the United States, the United Kingdom and India. That office distribution points to where enforcement and freedom-to-operate risk is concentrated today, and where a competitor is most likely to have live claims.
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Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 67-record dataset: how filing activity has moved year on year, and which IPC subclasses carry the claims.
Filing trend, 2017-2026
Filings were flat through the late 2010s, began climbing from 2021, and peaked at 20 records in 2023. The +60% rise from 5 records in 2021 to 8 in 2024 is the cleanest complete-year growth signal available; 2025 and 2026 figures will continue to fill in as publication catches up with filing.
Technology composition by IPC subclass
E02F (excavating and earth moving) appears on 85.1% of all 67 records, confirming that most filings are anchored in machine structure rather than pure electrical engineering. B60L and B60K, covering electric propulsion and drive systems, sit at 20.9% and 16.4% respectively, with thermal management (B60H, 7.5%) and fluid actuation (F15B, 9.0%) forming smaller but technically distinct clusters. Because records can carry multiple classes, these shares add up to more than 100% of the record total.
Shares are the percentage of the 67 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Battery Electric Excavator Powertrain with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about battery electric excavator powertrain and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaRepresentative filing: integrated thermal management
Integrated vehicle and battery thermal management of an electric excavator
An integrated vehicle and battery thermal management system for an electric work machine may include a battery module, a radiator, a fan to move air across the radiator, a battery coolant loop including a coolant pump, a refrigerant loop including a compressor, and a chiller providing heat transfer from the battery coolant loop to the refrigerant loop. A controller is operably connected to the coolant pump, the compressor and the fan and is configured to provide a passive cooling mode, a semi-passive cooling mode, and an active cooling mode, dependent upon monitored temperatures in the system.US20230366175A1
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CN210884749U | 一种自行走履带式电源车 | 18 |
| 2 | US20220355678A1 | Power supply device of electric excavator | 17 |
| 3 | CN114590104A | 一种电动挖机热管理系统及其控制方法 | 9 |
| 4 | CN202450561U | 一种电动液压挖掘机 | 8 |
| 5 | CN117027101A | 挖掘机控制方法、系统、挖掘机和存储介质 | 7 |
| 6 | CN113594588A | 一种高原环境使用的电动挖掘机动力锂电池 | 4 |
| 7 | CN117605666A | 电动挖掘机系统以及控制方法 | 3 |
| 8 | CN117514979A | 电动挖掘机的热管理方法、控制器及热管理系统 | 3 |
| 9 | CN117166554A | 电动挖掘机的电机控制方法、控制器及电动挖掘机 | 3 |
| 10 | CN113833049A | 一种电动挖掘机散热系统 | 3 |
Citation counts inside a searched corpus favour older filings and should be read as a signal of influence, not current importance.
Patent titles are shown in the language they were filed in, not translated, so that each record stays verifiable against the original filing — a translated title will not match in Eureka or in any national register. Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Three findings that shape where to file, who to watch and where claim space is still open.
The top of the field is thin, not dominant
26 of 67 records sit with the five leading assignees, and the top 10 combined reach 61.2% of all records in scope. That leaves a long tail of 32 further companies each holding a handful of filings, which is typical of a field still forming its claim structure rather than one already locked up by a small number of players.
Growth is real but recent, and understated
Filings rose from 5 in 2021 to 8 in 2024, with a peak of 20 in 2023 sitting between those points. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, 2025 and 2026 figures are still incomplete and should not be read as a slowdown.
Machine structure still anchors most filings
The dominant IPC class is earth-moving machine structure, not battery or propulsion technology in isolation. Electric propulsion (B60L, 20.9%) and drive systems (B60K, 16.4%) are present but secondary, meaning most applicants are protecting the excavator, with electrification claimed as an add-on.
China leads filing venue by a wide margin
China accounts for the largest share of receiving-office activity, ahead of Europe, the WIPO PCT route, the United States, the United Kingdom and India. Freedom-to-operate checks that skip the Chinese filing office will miss the majority of the documented activity in this field.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to battery electric excavator powertrain, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the field is still open
The ranked leaders span established excavator OEMs and a scattered group of single- or few-filing entrants, with limited co-filing between assignees.
A single-digit lead, not a dominant position
The leading assignee holds 7 of 67 records, a narrow margin over fifth and tenth place, which sit at 3 records each. No assignee shows recent-year momentum above zero in the latest year across the tracked names, consistent with a field where filing has slowed at the very top while the tail continues to add records.
Co-filing is rare and mostly intra-group
Only three co-assignee pairs appear in the dataset, and the strongest pairing links two related entities within the same corporate group. This suggests most patenting in the space is done independently rather than through joint development programmes.
Wide participation, low individual volume
Beyond the five leading assignees, 32 further companies appear in the ranking, most with only a few filings each. That spread includes research institutes and university-affiliated applicants alongside OEMs, indicating the technology is still attracting new entrants rather than consolidating.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Caterpillar Inc. | 0 | — |
| HD HYUNDAI INFRACORE CO LTD | 0 | — |
| Guangxi Liugong Machinery Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Xuzhou XCMG Excavator Machinery Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Shaanxi Zoomlion West Earthmoving Machinery Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Weichai (Qingdao) Smart Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Jiangsu XCMG Construction Machinery Research Institute Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Komatsu Ltd. | 0 | — |
Where to take this next
The dataset points to specific follow-up work rather than a single conclusion.
Check freedom-to-operate against the thermal-management cluster
Battery and vehicle thermal management claims, including the Deere filing highlighted here, are among the most cited records in this dataset and worth a dedicated clearance search before committing to a cooling architecture.
Explore thermal management claims in EurekaTrack the long tail for emerging entrants
With 32 companies outside the top five, new filers are still entering the field. Monitoring newly published applications from research institutes and smaller OEMs can surface competitive moves before they reach the ranked leaders.
Set up assignee monitoring in EurekaWatch China-origin filings closely
China accounts for the largest share of receiving-office activity in this dataset, and any competitive or freedom-to-operate assessment that excludes it will miss most of the documented filing volume.
Search China filings in EurekaFrequently asked questions
The leading assignee in this dataset holds 7 of 67 records in scope, a relatively narrow margin over fifth and tenth place, both at 3 records. No single company dominates; the top five combined hold 38.8% of all records, and the top ten hold 61.2%, leaving a substantial long tail of smaller filers. This pattern suggests the field is still open to new entrants rather than locked up by an incumbent.
Complete-year data shows filings rising from 5 in 2021 to 8 in 2024, a 60% increase over that span, with a peak of 20 records in 2023. Because patent publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the 2025 and 2026 figures in any trend chart are still incomplete and should not be read as a slowdown. The underlying trajectory through the last complete year is upward.
Most records combine excavator machine structure (IPC class E02F, present in 85.1% of the 67 records) with electric vehicle propulsion or drive claims (B60L at 20.9%, B60K at 16.4%). Smaller but distinct clusters cover fluid-pressure actuation, vehicle heating and air conditioning, and steering systems. Because a single record can carry several IPC classes, these percentages add up to more than 100% of the record total, which is expected.
The evidence points to several under-claimed sub-areas relative to the dense E02F and B60L clusters, including battery thermal-runaway isolation, fast-charge connector sequencing for heavy equipment, regenerative boom and arm energy recovery, swappable battery module docking, and hydraulic-electric hybrid actuator control. These branches show lower filing density than the core structural and propulsion classes, but any drafting decision should be preceded by a dedicated freedom-to-operate search rather than relying on density alone.
China is the leading receiving office in this dataset with 37 filings, well ahead of Europe (EPO) at 11, the WIPO PCT route at 7, the United States at 6, the United Kingdom at 3, and India at 2. This distribution indicates that most of the documented patenting activity, and therefore most enforcement risk, is concentrated in China, making it the first jurisdiction to check in any clearance search.
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. Patsnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.
Machine translation. Assignee and organisation names originally recorded in Chinese, Japanese or Korean have been rendered into English by an AI translation step so that the tables stay readable. These renderings are best-effort and may not match a company’s registered English name; the original name is what the underlying patent record carries, and it is what any Eureka query launched from this page uses.