BYD, a major Chinese manufacturer of pure electric vehicles (EV), is increasing its international presence. An analysis of BYD’s patents related to pure electric vehicles by Nikkei, with the help of experts, found that the number of BYD patents is the most prominent among Chinese companies, with applications also increasing in Japan, the US and Europe. Byd’s self-developed battery “blade battery” has been widely cited by other enterprises’ patents, and may become a presence that cannot be ignored in China and even the world market.
Founded in 1995, BYD first branched out into batteries for personal computers and other products before moving into cars in 2003. In March 2022, BYD stopped production of gasoline cars and began to focus on pure electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHVS). In China, BYD overtook Tesla to take the top spot in sales of new energy vehicles, including pure electric vehicles, in the first half of 2022.
In October, BYD announced the launch of new all-electric passenger cars in major European countries. Three models will be released, moving from trial sales to a formal expansion of the business. It also announced that it will officially enter the Japanese market in 2023. The plan starts with Japan and Europe and takes globalization into its vision. We explored the company’s strengths with the help of patents，With the help of Intellectual Property Landscape, a patent analysis firm based in central Tokyo, we analyzed EV related patent applications from four major Chinese companies that sell EV vehicles in China. Byd had the largest number of patent applications, with 1,557. It is 1.8 times that of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (870 items), which ranked second. Chery Automobile ranked third with 640 deals, followed by Shanghai Automotive Group with 448 deals.
Byd also filed more overseas applications than the other three, showing that the company is looking to globalization. In Europe, 171 applications were made, accounting for 11 percent of the total. In the United States, 139 applications (8.9 percent) and in Japan, 49 applications (3.1 percent). Zhejiang Geely Holding Group has a total of 870 items, compared with 58 items (6.7 percent) in Europe, 33 items (3.8 percent) in the United States, and only 8 items (0.9 percent) in Japan. In addition, there are only a handful of Chery cars, Shanghai Auto is almost zero.
In chronological terms, BYD’s filings began to increase in 2016, reaching 203, up 3.5 times from 2015. In 2016, the company hired a designer to be the head of Audi’s design department in Germany. Patent applications then continued to rise, reaching 349 by 2020.
Post time: Nov-10-2022