Electric vehicle technology in China: An exploratory patent analysis Original Research Article

Currently, the electric vehicle (EV) technology is of great interest in China and around the world. This paper first conducts a comprehensive review of Chinaʹs EV policies and the development of Chinaʹs EV technology, and then analyzes the domestic performances of Chinaʹs EV technology and its international competitiveness by adopting the recently developed concept of transnational patents. The results show an outstanding performance for Chinaʹs EV technology in the domestic market, but a relatively poor performance in the international markets. Finally, several main factors causing the inconsistent performance of Chinaʹs EV technology are proposed and discussed.