Results of a patent analysis and a market study to assess future concepts of hybrid vehicles

Due to changing requirements of automotive customers, society and politics, alternatives to the well-known pure internal combustion engine drives are needed as propulsion concepts. One possibility is the hybridization of an en-gine together with at least one electric motor. By different interconnections of these drive units, a wide variety of propulsion topologies can be provided.To estimate future concepts, developments reflected in patent applications are used. Basis is an overall analysis of patent applications filed with the European Patent Office. By extracting cumulations of filings in individual categories, trends of developments can be derived.Applicants based in Europe mainly file a wide range of different topologies of parallel hybrid concepts. Primarily, these are based on further development of the known components. In particular, P1-, and, more recently, P2- and P12-hy-brids are frequently found. In contrast, the majority of Applicants based in Asia are focused on power-split hybrids. Toyota, the largest Applicant for patents in the field of hybrid vehicles, is focused on continuously variable transmissions. Other Applicants from Asia are focused on parallel-serial hybrids. In the US, due to a smaller number of applications no profound statements can be made.For a vehicle with a retail price of approx. € 20,000, a hybrid powertrain concept is presented based on a simplified three-cylinder gasoline engine in order to achieve the ambitious cost target.