Solid-state EV battery

This invention

This invention is a solid-state lithium-metal battery built for electric vehicles. It pairs a sulfide-based solid electrolyte — which acts as the separator between electrodes — with a protected lithium-metal anode. The goal is higher energy density and better thermal stability than conventional cells that rely on flammable liquid electrolytes. It belongs to rechargeable battery technology, and specifically to the fast-moving world of all-solid-state lithium batteries that use sulfide electrolytes and metallic lithium anodes for next-generation energy storage.

Where it fits

Your invention sits squarely in Batteries & Fuel Cells (H01M), which dominates this set of results — about 60.8× more concentrated here than in the overall patent corpus. That tells you you're in a tightly clustered, well-developed corner of energy storage. It also reaches into Clean Energy (Y02E) and Clean Transportation (Y02T), which reflect the EV angle. This is a real, actively pursued direction. Filings appear steadily from 2003 onward, with notable activity in 2018 and 2022. Several groups have been busy here — Toyota most prominently, with 17 patents in this set, along with Polyplus Battery Company, Mitsui Mining & Smelting, and SolidEnergy Systems. The field also connects to Nanotechnology (B82Y), which these results touch less often — a thread worth following.

Closest related work

US-12046712-B2 — Solid-state battery (QuantumScape Battery Inc · 0 citations · 13-member family)

Filed in 2024, this recent patent describes a solid-state cell that combines an oxide electrolyte in contact with the anode and a sulfide electrolyte in contact with the cathode. It shows how QuantumScape, which has 1 patent in this set, pursued the same energy-density and stability goals you're targeting. Their approach uses a layered, dual-electrolyte strategy to handle the different chemistries an anode and cathode demand. It's a useful window into how recent players engineer the sulfide-electrolyte interface.

US-7282295-B2 — Protected active metal electrode and battery cell structures with non-aqueous interlayer architecture (Polyplus Battery Company · 261 citations · 30-member family)

This heavily cited patent centers on protecting a lithium-metal anode with an ionically conductive, impervious protective layer that shields the active metal from harmful reactions. It shows how Polyplus, an active player here, tackled the core challenge of stabilizing a reactive lithium-metal anode — which is central to your "protected lithium anode" concept.

US-11349176-B2 — Separator for all-solid-state batteries, method for producing the same, and all-solid-state battery (Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha · 0 citations · 6-member family)

Filed in 2022, this recent Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha patent describes a separator built from solid electrolyte layers engineered to balance tensile strength and ion conductivity. It shows how Toyota, the most active group in this set, approached the sulfide-electrolyte-as-separator design at the heart of your invention, addressing the practical mechanical and conductivity trade-offs involved.

US-2016233549-A1 — High Salt Concentration Electrolytes For Rechargeable Lithium Battery (SolidEnergy Systems · 45 citations · 12-member family)

This patent describes electrolytes that enable efficient deposition and dissolution of lithium metal on the anode during cycling — a key durability problem for lithium-metal cells. It shows how SolidEnergy Systems approached lithium-metal anode performance from the electrolyte side, offering a useful contrast to your solid-state sulfide route to the same lithium-cycling challenge.

What you can do next

• Explore & build on it. Browse the related work above — new, differentiated ideas often come from combining or improving on existing approaches (a specific anode protection layer, sulfide composition, electrode-electrolyte interface treatment, or EV-scale cell architecture others haven't pinned down).
• If you'd like to protect it. Filing a provisional application (usually with a patent attorney) is a common first step. Most inventions can be protected in some form — what matters is how broad and defensible that protection is, which is where a patent attorney adds value (a very narrow claim may be granted but protect very little).
• If you'd like to make or sell it. The pat