Specifications tableSubjectTransportation, Management of Technology and InnovationSpecific subject areaVehicle powertrains, Electric vehicles, Patent bibliometricsType of dataCSV files, and tables in the article. How data were acquiredThomson Reuters' Derwent Innovations Index. Data formatRaw and processed data. Parameters for data collectionWe collected and contracted a global patents dataset on ICEV, HEV, and BEV over 1985--2016.  The database was extracted and processed using a combined search strategy of IPCs and keywords and IPCs codes as well as 'patent families' and 'priority dates. 'Description of data collectionOf the total of 78,732 patents, we located 49,154 patents in the ICEV technological field, 10,888 patents in the HEV field, and 18,690 patents for the BEV field.  Patents are described in terms of various features such as title, abstract, claim, priority, application and publication date, IPCs, assignees/applicants, inventors, and cited references.\
Data source locationThe University of Newcastle, 409 Hunter Street, Newcastle, NSW, 2300, AustraliaData accessibilityWith the articleRelated research articleMirzadeh Phirouzabadi, A., Savage, D., Blackmore, K. & Juniper, J. (2020) 'The evolution of dynamic interactions between the knowledge development of powertrain systems'. * Transp.  Policy,* 931--16.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2020.04.018. 

Value of the data•A global patents database is documented on ICEV, HEV, and BEV over 1985--2016.•The full dataset describes every patent in terms of descriptive features such as publication number, title, abstract, claim, priority date, application date, publication date, IPC codes, assignees/applicants, inventors, and cited references.•Applying a variety of instruments such as social network analysis and regression models, researchers can exploit the full patents dataset not only for investigating and modelling their global knowledge dynamics and structures, but also for forecasting their evolutionary advancements.•The granted patents in other powertrain technological fields can extend our database. 

1.  Data {#sec0001}
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A global patents database, used in [@bib0001], documents the patents granted in the powertrain technological field of internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEV), hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) and battery electric vehicle (BEV) over 1985--2016.  While these vehicle powertrains are satisfying the same transportation need of modern society, they are different in terms of comprising components.  The ICEV powertrain is comprised of the core components of combustion engine, fuel tank, fuel system, exhaust system and transmission.  The BEV powertrain, on the other hand, is comprised of the core components of battery packs, battery charger, power convertor and controller, and traction motor.  The HEV powertrain crossovers both the ICEV and BEV powertrains and hybridises their components in a smaller version [@bib0002]. 

Over the period of 1985--2016, a total of 78,732 patents were located in the technological field of all the three powertrains; 49,154 patents in the ICEV field; 10,888 patents in the HEV field; and 18,690 patents in the BEV field. [ Table 1](#tbl0001){ref-type="table"} show the absolute, relative and cumulative number of patents that were annually granted in each technological field.  The Supplementary Appendix includes an Excel file which contains the absolute, relative and cumulative number of patents presented in the table. Table 1The absolute, relative and cumulative number of patents in each powertrain technological field (1985--2016).Table 1Absolute numberRelative numberCumulative numberYearBEVHEVICEVBEVHEVICEVBEVHEVICEV1985323180.93%0.62%98.45%323181986113290.30%0.30%99.40%436471987213790.52%0.26%99.21%6410261988813382.31%0.29%97.41%14513641989923962.21%0.49%97.30%237176019901634913.14%0.59%96.27%3910225119913165045.73%1.11%93.16%701627551992592050610.09%3.42%86.50%1293632611993841954612.94%2.93%84.13%21355380719941354364316.44%5.24%78.32%34898445019951098083010.70%7.85%81.45%457178528019961388492012.08%7.36%80.56%59526262001997196157104114.06%11.26%74.68%79141972411998209229113113.32%14.60%72.08%100064883721999254220116915.46%13.39%71.15%125486895412000251233145512.94%12.02%75.04%1505110110,9962001268254148113.38%12.68%73.94%1773135512,4772002271295162912.35%13.44%74.21%2044165014,1062003327377209411.69%13.47%74.84%2371202716,2002004422390185115.85%14.65%69.51%2793241718,0512005470472230714.47%14.53%71.01%3263288920,3582006616587280015.39%14.66%69.95%3879347623,1582007686666284716.34%15.86%67.80%4565414226,0052008824622315017.93%13.53%68.54%5389476429,15520091183736280625.04%15.58%59.39%6572550031,96120101789876309731.05%15.20%53.75%8361637635,058201124331009340635.53%14.73%49.74%10,794738538,464201225081019336736.38%14.78%48.84%13,302840441,83120132166908295735.91%15.06%49.03%15,468931244,78820141825736219538.37%15.48%46.15%17,29310,04846,9832015926529139632.48%18.55%48.97%18,21910,57748,379201647131177530.25%19.97%49.78%18,69010,88849,154Sum18,69010,88849,15423.74%13.83%62.43%------Total78,732

Another Excel file has been included in the Supplementary Appendix which lists every single patent in terms of the following descriptive features[1](#cit_1){ref-type="fn"} [@bib0003].•Title: a patent\'s title is a precise, concise descriptive English statement about the main content of the invention.•Abstract: a patent\'s abstract is a brief (250--500 words) summary of the content, novelty, claims and disclosures of the invention in English.•Claim: a patent\'s claim defines the subject matter and the protection boundaries (i.e. the extent or scope of protection) in terms of technical features that can be legally enforceable.•Application number: a patent\'s application number refers to a local filing number that is assigned to the patent document by the patent office once the application is legally accepted.  It initiates with a two-character code of the country within which the application is filed.•Application date: a patent\'s application date refers to the date on which an application for the invention is legally accepted in a patent office, only if the least filing requirements are fulfilled.•Publication number: a patent\'s publication number refers to a serial number assigned to the patent after its publication, which initiates with a two-character code of the country the patent is published.•Publication date: a patent\'s publication date refers to the date on which the patent documents have been publicly disclosed.•Priority date: since it\'s legal to file separate applications for the same invention with different patent offices around the world, the mention of priority date in a patent refers to the original application date or the date on which the invention was originally filed in a patent office.•International Patent Classification: it is an international system of hierarchical language independent symbols that classify patents in accordance with their technical domains and fields.•Inventor(s): the mention of inventor(s) in a patent refers to the person(s) who contributed to the conception of the invention.•Assignee(s)/applicant(s): the mention of assignee(s)/or applicant(s) in a patent refers to the individual(s) or organisation(s) recognised as the legal recipient(s) of all or limited rights of the patent.•Cited references: cited references in a patent refer to those patents that have been used and cited by the inventor(s) in the patent documents. 

2.  Experimental design, materials, and methods {#sec0002}
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We acquired the patents granted in each powertrain field from Thomson Reuters\' Derwent Innovations Index (DII) [@bib0003].  It is recognised as one of the most comprehensive patent databases in the world \[[@bib0004]--[@bib0006]\].  We collected the data in November 2018, and the database covers the period of 1985--2016.  We extracted the data using a combined search strategy of IPC codes and keywords recommended by \[[@bib0005],[@bib0006]\] as well as 'priority dates' and 'patent families.'  Our combined search strategy is shown in [Table 2](#tbl0002){ref-type="table"}.  Not only we diminished the chance of including any patents unrelated to a technological field through keywords and IPCs \[[@bib0004]--[@bib0006]\], but also through the DII feature of 'patent families[2](#cit_2){ref-type="fn"}' we avoided the multiple counting of the same inventions which are usually filed in various national patenting systems \[[@bib0004],[@bib0005],[@bib0007]\].  The extracted patents were eventually ordered based upon the earliest priority date[3](#cit_3){ref-type="fn"} in patent families. Table 2The combined search strategy adopted from \[[@bib0005], [@bib0006]\].Table 2Keywords and IPC as well as priority datesThe ICEV powertrain•Keywords in title and abstract: ((automobile\* OR vehicle\* OR car\*) AND (\"internal combustion engine\*\" OR \"diesel engine\*\" OR \"IC engine\*\"))•IPC codes: (F01\* OR B60\* OR F02B\* OR F02D\* OR F02F\* OR F02M\* OR F02N\* OR F02P\*)•Time Span: priority dates set to between January 1st, 1985 and December 31st, 2016.The BEV- powertrain•Keywords in title and abstract: ((automobile\* OR vehicle\* OR car\*) AND (\"electric vehicle\" OR \"electric automobile\" OR \"electric car\") AND (battery OR batteries))•IPC codes: (H02k\* OR H01M\* OR B60L011\* OR B60L003\* OR B60L015\* OR B60K00101\* OR B60W001008 OR B60W001024 OR B60W001026)•Time Span: priority dates set to between January 1st, 1985 and December 31st, 2016.The HEV powertrain•Keywords in title and abstract: (\"hybrid propulsion\" OR \"hybrid electric vehicle\*\" OR \"hybrid vehicle\*\" OR \"hybrid automobile\*\" OR \"hybrid electric car\*\" OR \"hybrid car\*\")•IPC codes: (F02\* OR F16H\* OR B60K006\* OR B60W020 OR B60L00071\* OR B60L000720)•Time Span: priority dates set to between January 1st, 1985 and December 31st, 2016. 

We assured the quality of the patents database by a manual check for at least 5% of the database [@bib0004]; 2460 patents in the ICEV field; 545 patents in the HEV field; and 940 patents in the BEV field \[[@bib0005],[@bib0006]\].  A patent was considered valid in a technological field if the claim of the patent could contain "... the categorized technology as well as the possibility of an automotive utilization" \[4, p79\].  The results of the manual validity check reached a good performance since for all the powertrain fields the performance was above 85.00% [@bib0004]; 87.25% for the ICEV field; 89.80% for the HEV field; and 88.25% for the BEV field \[[@bib0005],[@bib0006]\]. 

CRediT authorship contribution statement {#sec0002a}
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**Amir Mirzadeh Phirouzabadi:** Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Software, Validation, Visualization, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing. ** David Savage:** Conceptualization, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Supervision, Writing - review & editing. ** Karen Blackmore:** Conceptualization, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Supervision. ** James Juniper:** Conceptualization, Methodology, Supervision. 

Declaration of Competing Interest
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None. 

Appendix.  Supplementary materials {#sec0004}
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Image, application 1

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. 

For each patent in the dataset, a link as well as a PDF copy has been provided that contain and show all the descriptive features online. 

"A patent family pools all patent applications that are made in different countries for the same invention by a common inventor" \[4, p78\]. 

With the use of the priority date of a patent it is unnecessary to include any additional lags to offset the pendency matter (18 months on average).  This is because the priority date depicts the closest date to the submission of the invention [@bib0008]. 

Supplementary material associated with this article can be found, in the online version, at [doi:10.1016/j.dib.2020.106042](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2020.106042){#interref0001}.