In intellectual property news, the US Patent and Trademark Office recently published a patent application filed by Hyundai Motor Company directed to solid-state battery technology. Many industry experts suggest that solid-state batteries could be one of the next big things in the EV industry because of their higher energy density, faster charging capabilities, longer life span, and safety attributes. With the publication of its recently filed patent application on solid-state batteries, it is clear that Hyundai is now clearly in the race with the likes of Toyota, LG Corp., Kia, Honda, BMW, Ford, and others to develop the first commercially viable solid-state lithium-ion EV battery.

The Hyundai patent application explains that in an all-solid-state battery, a conventional pressing jig is used to apply constant fixed pressure to the laminated structure of a battery cell without any ability to vary that pressure. Thus, if the volume of the cell changes, e.g., during the charging and discharging state, the pressure applied to the cell may be significantly changed, leading to unsatisfactory effects, including a reduction in pressure on the laminate structure. In the application, Hyundai claims to have designed a system for pressurizing the laminate structure using fluid and a controller for controlling the pressure applied to the laminate structure based on information received from the battery cell about the state of the battery, e.g., the charging/discharging state and/or temperature state. The application has not yet been examined by the US Patent and Trademark Office, and whether Hyundai will, in fact, receive a US patent protecting its disclosed designs and what the scope of that protection might be remains to be seen.