Onboard Charger for Passenger Vehicles Patent Landscape
The onboard charger space for passenger vehicles is moderately concentrated, with Jaguar Land Rover holding a clear lead and the top five filers collectively dominating the largest filers’ pool; the United States is the primary filing jurisdiction. Annual volume peaked in 2020 and has since eased, though the field remains active with multiple new entrants appearing in recent years.
Jaguar Land Rover leads a moderately concentrated field
Jaguar Land Rover Ltd holds the top position in the applicant ranking with 20 patent records, establishing a meaningful lead over the next tier of filers — Rivian Holdings, Volvo Truck Corp, and Eaton Intelligent Power, each with 10 patent records.
The top five filers account for 39% of the combined total across the hundred largest filers, indicating moderate concentration: a dominant leader exists but the field is not monopolized, and several challengers operate at comparable scale.
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jaguar Land Rover Ltd | 20 | |
| 2 | Rivian Holdings LLC | 10 | |
| 3 | Volvo Truck Corporation | 10 | |
| 4 | Eaton Intelligent Power Ltd | 10 | |
| 5 | MCCRARY HOMER T | 8 | |
| 6 | GM Global Technology Operations LLC | 7 | |
| 7 | EleapPower Ltd | 6 | |
| 8 | LG Energy Solution Ltd | 5 | |
| 9 | Mercedes-Benz Group AG | 5 | |
| 10 | InvertedPower Pty Ltd | 5 |
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Make My Day Ltd | 4 | |
| 12 | Maruti Suzuki India Ltd | 4 | |
| 13 | Rivian Automotive LLC | 4 | |
| 14 | Ford Global Technologies LLC | 4 | |
| 15 | McCrary Personal Transport Systems | 3 | |
| 16 | The Governing Council of the University of Toronto | 3 | |
| 17 | Preh GmbH | 2 | |
| 18 | Volvo Construction Equipment AB | 2 | |
| 19 | University of Tennessee Research Foundation | 2 | |
| 20 | Dana Heavy Vehicle Systems Group LLC | 2 |
Jaguar Land Rover’s position, built heavily on EV propulsion and magnetics-related claims, suggests that vertically integrated OEMs pursuing proprietary charging architecture hold a structural advantage in this space.
The most recent 18–24 months of filings are subject to publication lag and are likely under-represented; apparent low counts for 2024–2026 should not be read as a signal of reduced interest. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Filings peaked in 2020; EV propulsion dominates the technology mix
The annual filing trend and technology composition together reveal a field that surged sharply in 2020 and has since moderated, while remaining anchored in EV propulsion systems with meaningful secondary coverage in power supply and battery management.
Annual filing trend
Filing activity was negligible before 2018, spiked to its highest recorded level in 2020, then settled into a lower but sustained band through 2021–2024. The 2025–2026 figures are incomplete due to publication lag and should be treated as floors, not final counts.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
B60L (Electric vehicle propulsion) is the overwhelmingly dominant IPC class, reflecting the core charging-system functionality. H02J (Power supply and grid systems) and H01M (Batteries, cells and fuel cells) form a secondary tier, while H02M (Power conversion), H01F (Magnetics), and B60K (Vehicle propulsion and drive) represent smaller but technically relevant branches adjacent to the core.
↗ 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.
Electrical Assembly and Related Methods
An electrical assembly includes an onboard charger (OBC) and a power splitter. The OBC is configured to receive alternating current from a power source. The power splitter is electrically connected with the OBC and is configured to provide an output voltage. The electrical assembly is configured to simultaneously charge at least one battery and provide the… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Methods and systems for an integrated charging sys… | 203 |
| 2 | Power set for vehicles | 104 |
| 3 | Power distribution and circuit protection for a mo… | 77 |
| 4 | Power set for vehicles | 65 |
| 5 | Intelligent public transit system using dual-mode … | 59 |
| 6 | Intelligent public transit system using dual-mode … | 47 |
| 7 | Battery charging system for electric vehicle | 46 |
| 8 | Power distribution and circuit protection for a mo… | 40 |
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 investment
The combination of a post-peak lifecycle, moderate concentration, and several new entrants signals that the field is still contested but that differentiation through adjacent technology branches may be more productive than competing directly in the crowded B60L core.
Post-peak, with sustained but lower annual activity
The lifecycle stage is assessed as declining, with annual filings easing back from the 2020 peak. This does not imply the technology is obsolete — multiple new entrants have appeared recently — but the window for establishing a broad foundational position through volume filing has likely closed. R&D investment should target differentiated claim strategies rather than broad coverage.
Lifecycle: post-peakOne clear leader, a tight challenger cluster, and an open lower tier
Jaguar Land Rover’s lead is material but not insurmountable; Rivian Holdings, Volvo Truck, and Eaton Intelligent Power are each at half the leader’s count. Below the top five, the ranking thins quickly, suggesting the lower tier remains open for entrants willing to build focused, technically distinct portfolios. The 39% share held by the top five of the hundred largest filers confirms moderate rather than extreme concentration.
Moderate concentrationEleapPower and the University of Toronto are the field’s only identified co-filers
The only recorded co-applicant relationship in the evidence is between EleapPower Ltd and the Governing Council of the University of Toronto, with three joint filings. This is a notably thin collaboration network for an automotive electrification topic, suggesting that most IP development is occurring within individual corporate boundaries rather than through open consortia or university partnerships.
Thin ecosystemUS-centric, with Europe and PCT as secondary channels
The United States accounts for the largest share of patent records at 62, followed by Europe via the EPO at 34 and WIPO PCT filings at 20. The United Kingdom and India each have modest representation. China has only 2 patent records in this corpus despite being a major EV market, which may represent a gap in the dataset or a genuine under-filing signal worth investigating for freedom-to-operate purposes.
US-led, Europe secondaryGo 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 |
|---|---|---|
| EleapPower Ltd | The Governing Council of the University of Toronto | 3 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
Jaguar Land Rover leads on propulsion-integrated charging; Rivian enters fast
The two most prominent players differ meaningfully in trajectory: Jaguar Land Rover holds an established portfolio rooted in EV propulsion and magnetics, while Rivian Holdings entered as a new entrant with a focus on EV propulsion and battery systems.
Jaguar Land Rover Ltd
Jaguar Land Rover holds 20 patent records — the largest position in the ranking. Its technology emphasis is concentrated in EV propulsion (B60L 53 and B60L 1) and magnets, inductors and transformers (H01F 29), indicating a strategy that integrates charging architecture with drivetrain and magnetics design. Momentum data for Jaguar Land Rover is not separately listed in the recent-entrant records, consistent with its status as the established leader.
patent records: 20Rivian Holdings LLC
Rivian Holdings LLC holds 10 patent records and is identified as a new entrant in recent filing momentum, with 9 patent records in the most recent period — indicating that nearly its entire portfolio has been built in the recent window. Its technology focus spans EV propulsion (B60L 50 and B60L 58) and battery cells and fuel cells (H01M 10), reflecting a battery-centric approach to onboard charging that complements Rivian Automotive LLC’s separate 4-record position.
patent records: 10| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Rivian Holdings LLC | 9 | ▲ new entrant |
| Volvo Truck Corporation | 3 | ▲ new entrant |
| Eaton Intelligent Power Ltd | 3 | ▲ new entrant |
| GM Global Technology Operations LLC | 7 | ▲ new entrant |
| EleapPower Ltd | 3 | ▲ new entrant |
| Mercedes-Benz Group AG | 3 | ▲ new entrant |
| LG Energy Solution Ltd | 5 | ▲ new entrant |
Under-served adjacent branches worth monitoring
Several IPC classes adjacent to the dominant B60L core show relatively low patent-record counts, suggesting areas where technical coverage is thinner and where focused filings could establish differentiated positions.
H02M · Power Conversion (AC/DC)
H02M covers AC/DC and DC/DC power conversion circuits — the hardware layer directly inside an onboard charger. With only 14 patent records in this corpus, it is notably sparse relative to the system-level B60L claims that dominate. An engineer developing proprietary converter topologies or wide-bandgap semiconductor integration (SiC/GaN) for higher-efficiency OBCs would find limited prior-art density here, making it a technically valuable and entry-accessible adjacent branch.
Search this in Eureka →H01F · Magnets, Inductors & Transformers
H01F, covering magnetics components such as inductors and transformers integral to charger design, has 13 patent records — partly driven by Jaguar Land Rover’s own magnetics filings. Outside that single applicant’s contributions, coverage appears thin. For entrants focused on planar magnetics, integrated transformer design, or EMI-filtering innovations for compact OBCs, this branch presents a plausible differentiation path with limited incumbent density beyond the field leader.
Search this in Eureka →How leaders differ by technology route
Route coverage across the main technology branches in the current evidence set.
| Player | B60L 53 · Electric vehicle propulsion | B60L 50 · Electric vehicle propulsion | B60L 58 · Electric vehicle propulsion | H02J 7 · Power supply & grid systems | B60L 11 · Electric vehicle propulsion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jaguar Land Rover Ltd | Strong · 13 | Moderate · 5 | Moderate · 6 | Moderate · 3 | Absent |
| Volvo Truck Corporation | Moderate · 3 | Moderate · 3 | Strong · 9 | Moderate · 2 | Absent |
| Eaton Intelligent Power Ltd | Strong · 5 | Absent | Strong · 5 | Strong · 5 | Absent |
| Rivian Holdings LLC | Absent | Strong · 8 | Strong · 6 | Absent | Absent |
| InvertedPower Pty Ltd | Strong · 5 | Strong · 3 | Absent | Strong · 5 | Absent |
| EleapPower Ltd | Strong · 6 | Absent | Absent | Strong · 5 | Absent |
| MCCRARY HOMER T | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Strong · 10 |
Frequently asked questions
The corpus covers 122 patent families in scope. The applicant ranking is based on patent records, so individual applicant counts reflect patent records rather than unique family counts.
Jaguar Land Rover Ltd leads with 20 patent records, roughly double the count of the next tier of filers — Rivian Holdings LLC, Volvo Truck Corp, and Eaton Intelligent Power Ltd, each at 10 patent records.
The United States has the highest concentration of patent records at 62, making it the primary jurisdiction for freedom-to-operate review. Europe via the EPO has 34 patent records and should be considered alongside the US. China has only 2 patent records in this corpus, which is worth verifying independently given the size of the Chinese EV market.
The lifecycle assessment indicates that annual filings have eased back from their 2020 peak. The field is in a post-peak phase, though recent-window data is subject to publication lag, so 2024–2026 counts are likely under-represented. Multiple new entrants have appeared in the recent period, indicating continued competitive interest.
The only identified co-applicant relationship is between EleapPower Ltd and the Governing Council of the University of Toronto, with 3 joint filings. The collaboration network is notably thin for an automotive electrification topic, suggesting most IP development is siloed within individual organizations.
H02M (Power conversion, AC/DC) with 14 patent records and H01F (Magnets, inductors and transformers) with 13 patent records are the most technically relevant adjacent branches with comparatively low coverage. B60K (Vehicle propulsion and drive) at 20 records and H01M (Batteries, cells and fuel cells) at 19 records also represent adjacent areas with lower density than the dominant B60L class at 141 patent records.
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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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