CLUSTER MEMBERS – ACTIVE PROJECTS

RHODaS

REINVENTING HIGH-PERFORMANCE POWER
CONVERTERS FOR HEAVY-DUTY ELECTRIC TRANSPORT

RHODaS is a European research project that develops solutions to improve powertrains for electric long-haul vehicles, such as trucks. The 4-year project started in May 2022 and receives funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe multiannual financial framework.

The project aims to improve integrated motor drive electric powertrains for multiple wheel drive architectures with more efficient materials, new semiconductors, better thermal management and standardisation of manufacture of power converters. RHODaS will develop a prototype and a digital twin to test the efficiency of the results achieved with standard tests and with data driven optimisation.

9

partners

6

countries

EM-TECH

INNOVATIVE E-MOTOR TECHNOLOGIES COVERING E-AXLES AND
E-CORNERS VEHICLE ARCHITECTURES FOR HIGH-EFFICIENT AND SUSTAINABLE E-MOBILITY

The EM-TECH project brings together participants from industry and academia to develop novel solutions to push the boundaries of electric machine technology for automotive traction. These goals will be achieved through innovative direct and active cooling designs, virtual sensing functionalities for the high-fidelity real-time estimation of the operating condition of the machine, enhanced machine control, bringing reduced design and operating conservativeness, electric gearing to provide enhanced operational flexibility and energy efficiency, digital twin based optimisation, embedding systematic consideration of Life Cycle Analysis and Life Cycle Costing aspects since the early design stages, and adoption of recycled permanent magnets and circularity solutions.

12

partners

5

countries

HIPE

HIGH PERFORMANCE
POWER ELECTRONICS INTEGRATION

The HiPE project is part of the EU Call “HORIZON-CL5-2021-D5-01-02. Nextgen vehicles: Nextgen EV components: Integration of advanced power electronics and associated controls (2ZERO)” and aims to develop a new family of highly energy efficient, cost-effective, modular, compact and integrated wide bandgap (WBG) power electronics solutions for the next generation of battery electric vehicles (BEVs).

The project’s outputs will be:

  • A scalable and modular family of WBG-based traction inverters
  • A family of integrated WBG-based bidirectional on-board chargers (OBCs) and HV/LV DC/DC converters
  • Integrated, fault-tolerant and cost-effective GaN-based power electronics for high-voltage ancillaries and chassis actuators
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partners

7

countries

HIGHSCAPE

HIGH EFFICIENCY, HIGH POWER DENSITY, COST-EFFECTIVE, SCALABLE AND
MODULAR POWER ELECTRONICS AND CONTROL SOLUTIONS FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES

Focused on BEV architectures with distributed multiple wheel drives, and, specifically, in-wheel powertrains, HighScape will explore the feasibility of a family of highly efficient power electronics components and systems, and including integrated traction inverters, on-board chargers, DC/DC converters, and electric drives for auxiliaries and actuators. The proposed solutions will be assessed on test rigs and on two differently sized BEV prototypes.

Through HighScape, the participants will establish new knowledge and industrial leadership in key digital technologies, and, therefore, directly contribute to Europe’s Key Strategic Orientations as well as actively support the transformation towards zero tailpipe emission road mobility (2Zero).

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partners

7

countries

SCAPE

SWITCHING-CELL-ARRAY-BASED POWER ELECTRONICS CONVERSION FOR FUTURE ELECTRIC VEHICLES

A new promising player in powering sustainable e-mobility and promoting zero-emission transport is ‘on the road’!

SCAPE brings together innovation-driven partners in a 4-year EU-funded endeavor to revolutionise the design and implementation of power converters for next generation electric vehicles.

Moving away from traditional approaches in powering e-mobility, SCAPE aims to cater for the lack of standardization on the EV power conversion system designs across different vehicles and contribute both to a cost-reduction in the EV powertrain and to an increased performance of power electronics for NextGen electric vehicles.

9

partners

5

countries

POWERDRIVE

POWER ELECTRONICS OPTIMISATION
FOR NEXT GENERATION ELECTRIC VEHICLE COMPONENTS

With the purpose of transforming road transportation in Europe to zero-emission mobility, POWERDRIVE project aims at developing next generation, highly efficient, cost-effective, and compact power electronics solutions that integrate a portfolio of technologies for multi-objective optimisation of electric powertrains of battery electric vehicles.

These integrated solutions can be applied to both low and high-performance vehicles, and they will be suitable for diverse types of electric vehicles.

10

partners

8

countries

MULTI-MOBY

SAFE, SECURE, HIGH PERFORMING MULTI-PASSENGER AND MULTI-COMMERCIAL USES AFFORDABLE EVS

The Multi-Moby is an ambitious project aiming at quickly finalising the results of a cluster of European GV and FoF projects addressing the development of technology for safe, efficient and affordable urban electric vehicles. A fleet of multi-passenger and multi-purpose commercial vans will be manufactured.
The project has been ongoing for almost 2.5 years, and three of the six Multi-Moby electric vehicles (EVs) have been completed.  The six vehicles include pick-ups, vans, and passenger vehicles with a 4-wheel-drive (4WD) on-board centralised powertrain architecture, with powertrain options of two 15 kW 100 V air-cooled highly efficient powertrains based on permanent magnet assisted synchronous reluctance motors, two 9.5 kW 48 V air-cooled powertrains with belt transmissions, and two 15 kW 48 V liquid-cooled powertrains.
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partners

7

countries

MAXIMA

MODULAR AXIAL FLUX MOTOR FOR AUTOMOTIVE

The goal of MAXIMA is to create an affordable and adaptable axial flux electric machine for the automotive industry that offers enhanced performance, incorporates strategies to reduce the use of critical rare earth metals, and has minimal environmental impact.
To enhance performance, an innovative multiphysics design process will be employed, incorporating novel thermal management concepts. Furthermore, a Digital Twin will be constructed, to facilitate the development of an optimal control strategy for operating the electrical machine at its maximum potential. To minimize costs, the electrical machine and its manufacturing process flow will be jointly designed.
The end-of-life considerations for the electrical machine, including the recycling of rare earth metals used in permanent magnets, will be thoroughly examined. The Life Cycle Assessment will be conducted to analyze the environmental impact of each solution throughout its entire life cycle. Recommendations for mitigating impacts across various environmental impact categories will be provided, with a primary focus on reducing impacts related to climate change and mineral resource scarcity.
Upon completion of the MAXIMA project, prototypes will be produced to conduct testing, assessment, and validation of the novel concepts explored in the project, including the modular design of the electrical machine, the optimal control based on Digital Twin, and the manufacturing/recycling process flow.
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partners

6

countries

VOLTCAR

DESIGN, MANUFACTURING, AND VALIDATION OF ECOCYCLE ELECTRIC TRACTION MOTOR

To fight climate change, the transportation sector has been transitioning towards electric vehicles. Unfortunately, despite the benefits of such a move, the dependence of current electric traction motors on rare earth permanent magnet materials is costly and causes supply risk. The EU-funded VOLTCAR project will provide a revolutionary technology that allows for an impactful reduction of these materials while exceeding the state-of-art performance, cost and reliability requirements. The renewed design methodology and resulting novel high-speed motor could offer improved sustainability, allowing for circular value chains, recycling and reduced use of rare resources. Moreover, it would improve the power density of the motors and the energy efficiency of the vehicles and finally offer improved durability and lower costs.
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partners

6

countries

EFFEREST

EFFICIENT USER-CENTRIC ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS FOR OPTIMIZED EVS

EFFEREST aims to advance energy-efficient electric vehicle (EV) designs by novel use of data and matching enhanced user acceptance with efficient vehicle operation. Real fleet behavior knowledge will be used to make significant enhancements. Users will benefit from personalized data and the option to choose vehicle performance, encouraging energy savings during regular usage. The project involves 10 partners from industry and research, covering the entire EV value chain.

Ultimately, EFFEREST seeks to enhance Europe’s competitiveness, strengthening industrial leadership in digital, enabling, and emerging technologies to make EVs more appealing to the global mass market.

The EFFEREST project, funded by the EU, represents a significant step forward in the journey for greener transportation solutions.

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partners

6

countries

SMARTCORNERS

USER-CENTRED OPTIMAL DESIGN OF ELECTRIC VEHICLE WITH SMART E-CORNERS

In-wheel motors (IWMs) have become a mature technology that is well-suited for new user-centric electric vehicles (EVs). IWMs can be integrated in multi-functional and controllable modules consisting of the electric powertrain, friction brake and suspension/steering actuation. By combining several vehicle functionalities in a compact solution, the modules offer substantial opportunities to enhance the design and the operation of EVs. This is the starting point of the SmartCorners project. Using machine learning and AI, an adaptive multilayer control strategy will be implemented with historical and current data from the vehicle, its environment, and users, including relevant EV fleets. This approach will pave the way toward software-defined vehicles, ena-bling rightsizing, holistic optimisation, innovative fault mitigation and actuator allocation strategies as well as more efficient, adaptive, predictive, and personalised system operation. SmartCorners will bring a so far un-explored authority level over: i) vehicle design, through skateboard-like chassis configurations; ii) energy management aspects, covering pre-conditioning and predictive thermal management during EV operation; iii) comfort and functional aspects, in terms of user-centric cabin thermal management, and pre-emptive vehicle body control; and iv) dismantling process and recycling of the vehicle. The development and industrialization of the project outcomes will be accelerated by comprehensive and integrated simulation, design and validation methodologies to decrease development time and cost, and support the uptake of AI-based solutions. In con-clusion, SmartCorners will provide a significant competitive advantage of the European industry and contrib-ute to achieve key strategic orientations C and A of the EU Strategic Plan.
11

partners

5

countries

MINDED

THERMAL AND ENERGY MANAGEMENT FOR INCREASED DRIVING RANGE OF AN ELECTRIC MINIBUS INCLUDING IMPROVED USER-CENTRIC DESIGN AND THERMAL COMFORT

MINDED addresses in full the “expected outcome” and “scope” of the HORIZON-CL5-2023-D5-01-01 topic by delivering a battery electric IVECO eDaily minibus with 20% improved range at 0°C against the 2023 baseline. This is achieved by introducing a highly efficient heating system based on infrared (IR) panels, controlled by a novel user-centric HMI, embedding an optimised thermal and energy management strategy (TEMS) for improved comfort and reduced energy consumption. These activities are complemented with the demonstration of a new HVAC unit based on a heat pump, capable of reducing the vehicle’s cooling energy requirements by 15% against the baseline, while leveraging the efforts made on the HMI and TEMS. To do so, MINDED encompasses 10 Technology Bricks, organised in three AREAs:

  • AREA I: Heating and Cooling System, including (1) IR heating panels, (2) thermal cabin insulation, (3) a thermal mannequin for evaluating passenger comfort, (4) the optimised HVAC unit featuring an e-compressor with gas bearings, (5) the required ECUs, and (6) the user-centric HMI.
  • AREA II: Digital Twin and Control Strategy, including (7) a new digital twin model, (8) an AI-based algorithm for predicting driving behaviour, (9) the TEMS, and (10) a comfort control strategy for determining optimal settings.
  • AREA III: Demonstration and Performance Evaluation, demonstrating the IVECO eDaily minibus on the dynamometer at TRL7 and the HVAC unit on the ThermoLab testbed at TRL6.

Beyond the range improvement, MINDED demonstrates a cost reduction of 5% at vehicle level from simplified systems’ installation and reduced battery requirements, and a development time reduction of 30% achieved using the digital twin model and AI. The project generates its primary impact in the bus and minibus vehicle segments, with the MINDED Technology Bricks expected to equip 75% of the IVECO bus fleet by 2035, while delivering technologies exploitable in the medium/heavy commercial electric vehicles market.

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partners

6

countries

HEFT

NOVEL CONCEPT OF A LOW COST, HIGH POWER DENSITY AND HIGHLY EFFICIENT RECYCLABLE MOTOR FOR NEXT GENERATION MASS PRODUCED ELECTRIC VEHICLES

Climate change has created an increased need for innovation in various sectors, including the automotive industry. Many corporations are striving to fulfil this need by developing and producing electric cars. However, the production process remains inefficient and environmentally harmful. The EU-funded HEFT project will reverse this trend by introducing a revolutionary synchronous motor for electric cars, which will be recyclable, cost-efficient and require fewer materials while producing fewer emissions and creating novel European circular economies. HEFT is a research project that brings together the expertise of universities, research centers and companies in electric motors, advanced materials and circularity, from basic research to the development and testing of new materials and components.
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partners

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countries

The research leading to these results have received funding from European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme H2020 and Horizon Europe.

Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA). Neither the European Union nor the funding authority can be held responsible for them.