The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) launched today (May 11) a new Patent Landscape Report on Decarbonizing Heavy-Duty Road Transport at the International Transport Forum (ITF) Summit in Leipzig, Germany. The report, which draws on contributions from the International Road Transport Union (IRU) and the World Economic Forum (WEF), provides a comprehensive patent-based analysis of innovation trends in the technologies driving the decarbonization of trucks and buses worldwide.

The report follows WIPO's Technology Trends: Future of Transportation report published in 2025, the third publication in WIPO's Technology Trends series, which analyzed more than 1.1 million patent families across all transportation modalities, including land, sea, air and space, through the lens of two overarching megatrends: sustainability and digitalization. While that report provided a broad, cross-modal view of innovation trends, this new Patent Landscape Report serves as a targeted follow-on, focusing specifically on heavy-duty road transport, a segment of land transportation identified in the broader analysis as critical but underexplored.

Heavy-duty road transport, which includes trucks and buses, is an important but often overlooked contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions. Road freight accounts for 40% of road transport's total energy consumption, and trucks and buses are responsible for approximately 31% and 9% of road transport sector emissions, respectively. Yet, about 94% of this sector continues to run on fossil fuels, making it one of the most urgent targets for decarbonization action.

The report analyzes more than 158,000 patent families (inventions) published between 2000 and 2024 across four core technology areas: low-emission energy sources, energy infrastructure, vehicle efficiency, and fleet digitalization. Its findings reveal a sector undergoing rapid technological change, but one where innovation momentum and real-world deployment are not yet fully aligned.

Electrification Leads, Hydrogen Gains Ground

Battery-electric solutions have emerged as the dominant decarbonization pathway for heavy-duty vehicles. The share of patents related to decarbonization technologies has grown from just 7% of all heavy-duty transport patents in 2000 to approximately 20% in 2024, with batteries alone accounting for 73% of all low-emission energy source patents in 2024. Energy infrastructure patents have seen growth exceeding 2,200% over the same period, primarily from patents related to charging solutions and smart grids.

Hydrogen technologies, while still smaller in scale, are gaining significant momentum. Patent activity related to fuel cells and hydrogen infrastructure roughly doubled between 2019 and 2024, suggesting hydrogen could play an important complementary role, particularly in long-haul applications where battery-electric solutions face range and charging constraints.

A Geographically Concentrated Innovation Landscape

Innovation activity is highly concentrated. China leads in absolute patent volumes, with annual patent publications by Chinese inventors rising from just 11 in 2000 to around 7,300 in 2024. The United States, Japan, Germany and the Republic of Korea round out the top five. Sweden and Germany stand out for their exceptionally high relative specialization in heavy-duty decarbonization technologies, reflecting the strength of their truck manufacturing industries. India has emerged as the fastest-growing innovation location in several technology areas, driven by government initiatives supporting electric bus deployment.

Corporate giants dominate the innovation landscape. Toyota leads patent rankings across all technology areas, followed by Volkswagen, Hyundai, Ford and General Motors. Notably, no universities or public research institutions appear among the top patent holders, underscoring the mature, industry-driven nature of innovation in this sector.

Gap Between Innovation and Deployment

Despite impressive patenting growth, the report highlights a gap between innovation activity and infrastructure deployment. The International Council on Clean Transportation estimates that the European Union alone will need between 60,000 and 80,000 public heavy-duty chargers by 2030 compared to an estimated 1,500 currently in operation.

IRENA's analysis, which forms a dedicated chapter of the report, identifies electrification as the leading pathway and sets out targeted recommendations across policy, infrastructure, business models and skills development to accelerate the transition. Contributions from IRU and WEF provide additional industry perspective on the operational and commercial realities facing fleet operators as they navigate the shift away from diesel.

Click here to access the full report.

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