Abstract:

This paper puts forward methodology to study research relating to vehicle electrification using Scopus publications. The global research landscape was mapped, and the 16 most active countries were analyzed. Vehicle electrification publications are rewarded with a high citation impact, including corporate actors, to a great extent. China dominates in vehicle electrification research and enabling technologies, and China’s position is set to become even more dominating. Battery research has grown rapidly with a high citation impact, whereas the research volume for the other enabling technologies was more constant during 2017–2021. Automakers’ research that has led to scientific publications was specifically studied. Ford Motor Company was the automaker with the highest vehicle electrification publications during 2017–2021. It is concluded that the analysis of vehicle electrification publications gives an overview of the rapidly developing field. Moreover, studying automakers’ involvement in such research is one way of obtaining one perspective on their strategies and priorities.