Electric Drivetrain for Electric Buses Patent Landscape 2026
This is a small, highly concentrated niche: 18 patent families are held by nine applicants, with LCB International Inc alone accounting for more than a third of the corpus. Annual filings peaked in 2021 and have eased since, signalling a field past its initial growth surge but still attracting selective entry from bus OEMs and research institutions.
LCB International leads a tightly held, nine-applicant field
LCB International Inc sits alone at the top of the ranking with 7 patent families — more than double the next-ranked applicant. Nanyang Technological University holds 3 patent families, while Alstom Holdings, Hyundai Motor, Gillig, and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research each hold 2.
The top five filers account for 76% of the combined output of the hundred largest filers, indicating extreme concentration. The gap between the leader and the second tier is structurally significant: any challenger seeking parity with LCB International would need to roughly double the output of the current second-place holder.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LCB International Inc | 7 | |
| 2 | Nanyang Technological University | 3 | |
| 3 | Alstom Holdings SA | 2 | |
| 4 | Hyundai Motor Company | 2 | |
| 5 | Gillig LLC | 2 | |
| 6 | COUNCIL OF SCI & IND RES | 2 | |
| 7 | TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY | 1 | |
| 8 | EleapPower Ltd | 1 | |
| 9 | GL BAJAJ INST OF TECH & MANAGEMENT | 1 |
LCB International’s lead, built through the collaboration of its named inventors alongside the corporate entity, reflects a focused proprietary strategy rather than broad platform coverage. Academic and institutional entrants — Nanyang Technological University, Texas. A&M University, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, and GL Bajaj Institute — collectively represent a research pipeline that has not yet converted into large commercial patent portfolios.
Patent publication typically lags filing by 18–24 months, so activity recorded in 2024–2025 is likely under-counted in current totals; the apparent low volume in those years should not be read as a slowdown without further monitoring.
A 2021 peak followed by easing volume; propulsion control dominates the technology mix
The annual filing trend and the IPC technology breakdown together reveal both the timing of peak interest and where technical effort has been concentrated within the drivetrain stack.
Annual filing trend
Filings were absent before 2020, surged to a peak of 6 families in 2021, then fell back. The years 2024 and 2025 each show 3 families, but these figures are subject to publication lag and should be treated as provisional minimums rather than final counts.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
B60L (electric vehicle propulsion) and B60K (vehicle propulsion and drive) dominate the technical coverage, together accounting for the large majority of classified records. B60W (hybrid and joint vehicle control) and H02J (power supply and grid systems) form a secondary layer, while branches such as H01M (batteries and fuel cells), B60G (vehicle suspension), H02M (power conversion), and H02K (electric motors and generators) each have very limited coverage — pointing to adjacencies that remain largely unaddressed.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaHighly cited patent families surfaced by the query
Citation-heavy patent families returned by the query. Use this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents.
Power supply system and method of controlling such…
A method of controlling a power supply system for an electric vehicle includes acquiring a first power setpoint value corresponding to the electrical power to be supplied by the battery, determining the electrical power required by the drivetrain and the electrical power required by the at least one auxiliary apparatus, determining the state of the battery… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Battery charging devices, battery charging methods… | 61 |
| 2 | Fuel-Saving Robot System For Ace Heavy Duty Trucks | 27 |
| 3 | Drive system of an electric vehicle | 22 |
| 4 | Battery charging devices, battery charging methods… | 15 |
| 5 | Drive system of an electric vehicle | 11 |
| 6 | Fuel-saving robot system for ace heavy duty trucks | 8 |
| 7 | Switched Reconfigurable Multi-Converter Multi-Sour… | 5 |
| 8 | Fuel-Saving Robot System For Ace Heavy Duty Trucks | 3 |
Ranked by total forward citations. Citation counts favour older and broadly cited patent families, and broad or adjacent patents may appear when they match the search scope. Treat this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents. Some patent titles may be shown in their original, non-English language where an accurate translation could not be guaranteed.
What the competitive structure means for R&D strategy
The combination of a small corpus, high concentration, a post-peak lifecycle, and a US-heavy jurisdiction profile creates a specific strategic context for new entrants and incumbents alike.
Past-peak lifecycle: initial surge has subsided
The lifecycle evidence classifies this field as in decline, with annual filings easing back from the 2021 peak. The corpus remains small at 18 patent families, suggesting the foundational IP layer was established quickly and growth has not resumed at scale. New entrants face a window where the dominant architecture may still be contestable, but momentum is no longer self-reinforcing.
Lifecycle: DeclineOne dominant player; thin second tier
The top five filers hold 76% of the combined output of the hundred largest filers, an unusually high figure for a technology with multiple credible corporate and institutional participants. The gap between LCB International (7 patent families) and the next-ranked holders (2–3 families each) means the landscape is effectively controlled by a single entity. Challengers would need sustained filing over multiple years to shift this balance materially.
High concentrationLCB International built its lead through inventor–corporate co-filing
The most active co-filing relationships are between individual inventors Gesang Wangjie and Cha Wei and LCB International Inc (Qiantan International), each pair co-filing 7 patent families. Hyundai Motor and Kia co-filed 2 patent families together, reflecting a corporate group strategy. No broad cross-institutional alliance is evident beyond these clusters, leaving collaborative coverage of the broader drivetrain stack sparse.
Inventor-led co-filingUS-centric protection with limited international reach
The United States leads with 12 patent records, followed by Europe (EPO) with 4 and WIPO (PCT) with 3. India and Malaysia each account for 1 record. The limited PCT and EPO coverage means that outside the United States, freedom-to-operate in key bus-market jurisdictions — including China and other Asian markets — may not yet be fully contested by existing filers, though independent verification is warranted.
US-dominantGo beyond the landscape: Eureka’s TRIZ Solution agent breaks down an R&D problem and returns patented concept solutions, each with a technical approach and cited patent & literature evidence.
| Applicant | Collaborator | Co-filings |
|---|---|---|
| GESANG WANGJIE | LCB International Inc | 7 |
| CHA WEI | LCB International Inc | 7 |
| Kia Corporation | Hyundai Motor Company | 2 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
LCB International commands propulsion control; institutional players target charging and grid integration
Two tiers are visible: a single dominant commercial entity focused on hybrid and propulsion control architecture, and a set of academic and OEM entrants addressing narrower technical sub-problems.
LCB International Inc
LCB International Inc holds 7 patent families, the largest portfolio in the corpus. Its technical focus spans B60K 6 (vehicle propulsion and drive), B60L 7 (electric vehicle propulsion), and B60W 20 (hybrid and joint vehicle control) — all at 7 filings each — indicating a tightly integrated, full-drivetrain control strategy. The portfolio was built through co-filing with named inventors Gesang Wangjie and Cha Wei, giving the company a concentrated but coherent IP position.
families: 7Nanyang Technological University
Nanyang Technological University holds 3 patent families, ranking second. Its technical emphasis falls on B60L 11 (electric vehicle propulsion) and H02J 7 (power supply and grid systems), each at 2 filings, reflecting a research orientation toward charging integration rather than full drivetrain control. No momentum trend data is available for this applicant in the evidence, so trajectory is evidence pending.
families: 3| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Council of Scientific and Industrial Research | 2 | ▲ new entrant |
| Gillig LLC | 2 | ▲ new entrant |
| Texas A&M University | 1 | ▲ new entrant |
How leading applicants differ by technology route
Route coverage across the main technology branches in the current evidence set.
| Player | B60K 6 · Vehicle propulsion & drive | B60L 50 · Electric vehicle propulsion | B60L 7 · Electric vehicle propulsion | B60W 20 · Hybrid/joint vehicle control | B60K 1 · Vehicle propulsion & drive |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LCB International Inc | Strong · 7 | Absent | Strong · 7 | Strong · 7 | Absent |
| Hyundai Motor Company | Moderate · 1 | Strong · 2 | Absent | Absent | Strong · 2 |
| Alstom Transport Technology | Absent | Strong · 2 | Absent | Absent | Strong · 2 |
| Council of Scientific and Industrial Research | Absent | Strong · 2 | Absent | Absent | Absent |
Frequently asked questions
The evidence identifies 18 patent families in scope across nine applicants globally.
LCB International Inc is the largest single holder with 7 patent families, built through co-filing with named inventors. Nanyang Technological University is second with 3 patent families.
The United States leads with 12 patent records, followed by Europe (EPO) with 4 and WIPO (PCT) with 3. India and Malaysia each account for 1 record, indicating limited coverage outside North America and Europe.
The evidence classifies this field as in decline, with annual filings having peaked in 2021 at 6 families and easing back since. The corpus is small and growth has not resumed, though publication lag means recent-year counts may be understated.
H02M (power conversion) and H02K (electric motors and generators) each have very thin coverage — 2 and 1 patent records respectively — despite being technically central to drivetrain design. B60G (vehicle suspension), B62D (motor vehicles and steering), and G07C (fleet monitoring) are also sparse.
Yes. The most active co-filing pairs are Gesang Wangjie with LCB International Inc (7 families) and Cha Wei with LCB International Inc (7 families), reflecting an inventor-corporate collaboration model. Hyundai Motor and Kia co-filed 2 families as a corporate group.
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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.
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