Electric Powertrains Patents: Top Companies & Filing Trends 2026
- Filing is concentrated but not locked down. The top five assignees account for 40.0% of the 2,015 records in scope, and the top ten for 51.9% — leaving roughly half the field held by a long tail of single- and few-filing entrants.
- Filing volume has held steady, not slowed. 2021 (154) to 2024 (149) — the last year the data can be treated as complete — moved by only -3%, after a peak of 251 filings in 2023.
- Control and grid classes rival propulsion itself. B60L propulsion claims cover 38.4% of records, but G05B control systems (16.6%) and H02J power/grid systems (15.2%) show the architecture is being contested well beyond the motor and battery.
Filing growth compares 2021 (154 records) with 2024 (149) — 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 2,015 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this landscape covers
This landscape tracks 2,015 published records filed against a search built around electric powertrain and drivetrain terminology combined with control-circuit, power-stage and sensing language. That combination pulls in propulsion hardware alongside the control electronics and diagnostics that sit around it — the parts of the system where switching frequency, current sensing and fault management actually get litigated.
Coverage runs from 2015 through the 2026-08-31 data cut-off. Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, filing counts for 2025 and 2026 are still filling in and should not be read as a slowdown.
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 2,015 records: how filing activity has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses carry the claim volume.
Filing trend, 2017–2026
Annual filings rose from 59 in 2017 to a peak of 251 in 2023. The 2021-to-2024 comparison (154 to 149, -3%) is the most reliable recent read, since the last two years are still filling in under publication lag.
IPC subclass composition
B60L (electric vehicle propulsion) leads at 38.4% of records, with G05B (control systems, 16.6%), H02J (power/grid, 15.2%), H04L (digital transmission, 14.1%), G06N (AI-based computing, 14.0%), H01M (batteries, 13.1%) and H04B/B64D (each 12.7%) showing meaningful overlap. Records commonly carry more than one class, so shares add to well over 100%.
Shares are the percentage of the 2,015 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Electric Powertrains Patent Landscape with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about electric powertrains patent landscape and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaA representative filing
Diagnostic method for electric propulsion system with reconfigurable battery system
An electric propulsion system for a mobile platform includes a battery system connected to positive and negative bus rails, an accessory load having a rotary electric machine, a traction power inverter module ("TPIM"), switches configured to transition the battery modules to a series-connected configuration during a direct current fast-charging operation, and a controller that executes a diagnostic method to determine bus rail voltages and mid-bus values during that reconfiguration.Filed by GM Global Technology Operations LLC, published 2021-03-25 as US20210091575A1.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20190339688A1 | Methods and systems for data collection, learning, and streaming of machine signals for analytics and mainten… | 974 |
| 2 | US20200348662A1 | Platform for facilitating development of intelligence in an industrial internet of things system | 733 |
| 3 | US20210157312A1 | Intelligent vibration digital twin systems and methods for industrial environments | 716 |
| 4 | US20180284758A1 | Methods and systems for industrial internet of things data collection for equipment analysis in an upstream o… | 600 |
| 5 | US20200225655A1 | Methods, systems, kits and apparatuses for monitoring and managing industrial settings in an industrial inter… | 563 |
| 6 | US20200103894A1 | Methods and systems for data collection, learning, and streaming of machine signals for computerized maintena… | 514 |
| 7 | US20190171187A1 | Methods and systems for the industrial internet of things | 458 |
| 8 | US20190033845A1 | Methods and systems for detection in an industrial internet of things data collection environment with freque… | 412 |
| 9 | US20160236790A1 | System and methods for implementing regional air transit network using hybrid-electric aircraft | 395 |
| 10 | WO2019028269A2 | Methods and systems for detection in an industrial internet of things data collection environment with large … | 391 |
Citation counts favour older filings inside any searched corpus — read them as a signal of influence within this dataset, not as a measure of current technical importance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Three findings that shape where a new filing is likely to face prior art, and where it is not.
Half the field sits with a handful of filers
The leader holds 334 records against a fifth-place figure of 94 and a tenth-place figure of 39 — a steep drop-off after the first few names. That gap means the top tier is defensible ground, but the remaining ~48% of records is distributed across a long tail, which is where freedom-to-operate analysis actually needs to focus.
Activity plateaued after a 2023 peak, not declined
The 2021–2024 comparison (154 to 149, a -3% move) shows a field holding its filing rate rather than one that is cooling. Years after 2024 read lower purely because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, not because interest is fading.
Control and power-grid classes are nearly as dense as propulsion
G05B control systems and H02J power-supply/grid classes each sit well above 15% of records, and H04L, G06N and H01M all sit near or above 13%. A powertrain filing that only addresses the electric machine is filing into a narrower slice of the contested space than the propulsion share alone suggests.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to electric powertrains patent landscape, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the gate sits
The ranked leaders span both dedicated automotive and mobility players and diversified industrial groups, with recent-year momentum slowing across most of the tracked assignees.
A wide gap over the field
The top-ranked assignee holds more than three-and-a-half times the fifth-place count of 94, and roughly 8.5 times the tenth-place count of 39. That gap is unusual enough to suggest a deliberate, sustained filing programme rather than opportunistic filing.
Recent-year filing has cooled across tracked assignees
Several previously active filers, including aviation and industrial-conglomerate names, show flat or sharply reduced filing in the latest tracked year. Given the ~18-month publication lag, this looks more like a reporting gap than a real pullback, but it means recent rankings should be read cautiously.
Joint filing is limited but concentrated
Only ten co-assignee pairings appear in the dataset, and they cluster around a small number of corporate-affiliate relationships rather than open industry collaboration. That suggests most of the field is filing independently rather than through joint ventures.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Archer Aviation Inc | 5 | -84% |
| Strong Force IoT Portfolio 2016 LLC | 1 | -75% |
| General Electric Co | 0 | — |
| Johnson Controls Technology Co | 0 | — |
| GM Global Technology Operations LLC | 0 | — |
| CPS Technology Holdings LLC | 0 | -100% |
| Brunswick Corp | 0 | -100% |
| The Boeing Co | 0 | — |
Where to take this next
The dataset points to a field with clear leaders but real gaps in adjacent control and diagnostic claims.
Map freedom-to-operate against the long tail
With roughly 48% of records held outside the top ten assignees, a claim-by-claim review of the long tail matters as much as watching the leader.
Explore the assignee ranking in EurekaTrack the control and power-grid overlap
G05B and H02J classes sit close in density to core propulsion claims, suggesting the contested ground extends well past the motor and battery.
Run a class-level search in EurekaWatch momentum shifts before they show in headlines
Recent-year filing drops across several assignees may reflect publication lag rather than a real pullback — worth monitoring as later years fill in.
Set up monitoring in EurekaCommon questions on electric powertrain patents
One assignee leads the ranked list with 334 records, well ahead of the fifth-placed filer at 94 and the tenth-placed filer at 39. The top five assignees combined account for 40.0% of the 2,015 records in scope, and the top ten account for 51.9%. That leaves close to half the field spread across a long tail of smaller filers, so leadership at the top does not mean the whole space is closed off.
Filing activity peaked at 251 records in 2023 and has held roughly steady since, with the 2021-to-2024 comparison showing only a -3% move (154 to 149 records). Years after 2024 appear lower in the raw trend, but that is mostly an artefact of publication lag, since it typically takes about 18 months for a filing to appear in the published record. Treat 2025 and 2026 figures as incomplete rather than as evidence of a slowdown.
B60L, the electric vehicle propulsion class, appears in 38.4% of the 2,015 records in scope and is the single largest category. Control and regulating systems (G05B, 16.6%) and power supply and grid systems (H02J, 15.2%) are close behind, with digital transmission, AI-based computing and battery classes each appearing in well over 10% of records. Because a single filing can carry several IPC codes, these shares add up to more than 100%, and a filing aimed only at the motor or battery is competing in a narrower slice of the field than the propulsion figure alone suggests.
The clearest gaps sit in areas adjacent to the dominant propulsion and control classes rather than in propulsion itself: current-sensor fault diagnostics, reconfigurable battery bus topologies, switching-frequency thermal management, and AI-assisted power-stage calibration all show comparatively thinner filing density. These are not unclaimed spaces, but they carry less filing pressure than the core B60L and G05B classes, which makes them worth a closer freedom-to-operate look before assuming they are blocked.
US20210091575A1, assigned to GM Global Technology Operations LLC and published 2021-03-25, claims a diagnostic method for an electric propulsion system with a reconfigurable battery system. The claims cover switches that transition battery modules into a series-connected configuration during fast charging, and a controller that runs diagnostics on bus rail and mid-bus voltages during that reconfiguration. It is a useful reference point because it sits at the intersection of battery architecture and control-circuit diagnostics, exactly the overlap the IPC composition data shows is heavily claimed.
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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.