The Two Nobel Prize–Winning Battery Patents Behind Every EV

In 2019, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry went to three scientists — John Goodenough, M. Stanley Whittingham, and Akira Yoshino — for the development of lithium-ion batteries. The technology in their patents now powers billions of smartphones, laptops, and every major electric vehicle on the road.

What's remarkable is that the foundational patents were filed in the 1970s and 1980s, long before electric vehicles were practical or smartphones existed. Here's what those patents actually covered.

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Patent 1: The First Rechargeable Lithium Battery (1975) — US4009052

Stanley Whittingham, working at Exxon in the mid-1970s, invented the first practical rechargeable lithium battery. His patent described using lithium as the anode (the negative electrode) paired with titanium disulfide as the cathode (the positive electrode).

The key insight: lithium ions could move between the electrodes during charge and discharge cycles. This "intercalation" chemistry — ions sliding in and out of the crystal structure of the electrode material without destroying it — is the same fundamental principle in every lithium battery made today.

What it covers: An electrochemical cell using a lithium anode and a chalcogenide cathode, capable of being recharged by reversing the current.

The problem it didn't solve: Whittingham's batteries used metallic lithium, which is unstable. Under certain conditions, lithium deposits would form needle-like structures (dendrites) that could pierce the separator and cause fires. This limited commercialization until Goodenough's work.

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Patent 2: The Cobalt Oxide Cathode (1981) — US4302518

John Goodenough, then at Oxford, solved Whittingham's problem by replacing the titanium disulfide cathode with lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO₂). His 1981 patent described a cathode material that could store roughly twice the energy density of previous designs — and was far more stable.

This was the breakthrough that made lithium-ion batteries commercially viable. Sony licensed the technology in 1991 and launched the first commercial lithium-ion battery. The rest is history.

What it covers: Electrochemical cells using lithium intercalation compounds — particularly lithium cobalt oxide — as cathode materials, achieving high voltage and high energy density.

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Why these patents expired before the EV revolution

Whittingham's patent: filed 1975, expired ~1995 Goodenough's patent: filed 1981, expired ~2001

Both patents expired long before the electric vehicle market took off. Tesla's first Roadster launched in 2008. The Nissan Leaf came in 2010. By then, the fundamental chemistry was freely available to any manufacturer.

This is exactly how the patent system is supposed to work: protect the inventor long enough to recoup investment, then release the knowledge to benefit society. Whittingham's and Goodenough's patents funded early research but expired in time for the technology to power a global clean energy transition.

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What's still patented

The basic chemistry is public. What's still protected: specific battery management systems, charging algorithms, thermal management approaches, and the software that prevents your battery from degrading too fast. The race in EV patents today isn't about the fundamental electrochemistry — it's about optimization.

Explore clean energy patents →