NEXTBAT Project

Start date: june 2023 

End date: november 2026 

Partners: VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, RISE Research Institutes of Sweden AB, Applus+ Laboratories, CEA (Commissariat a l’energie atomique et aux energies alternatives), Fraunhofer Gesellschaft, BSC CNS (Barcelona Supercomputing Center - Centro Nacional de Supercomputación), Valmet Automotive, Idneo, Sunlight Group, Heart Aerospace, Zabala Innovation and CSEM (Centre Suisse d’Électronique et de Microtechnique SA - Recherche et Développement). 

Funding: The initiative is funded by EU and Swiss SERI and by the European Commission with a Horizon Europe program grant of almost 5 million euros. 

Context 

While we are all responsible for greenhouse gas emissions, the fact is that the transport sector accounts for 25% of CO2 emissions in Europe. Focusing on this sector is a clear line of improvement and electrification could be a solution. However, the batteries and materials used for electric mobility today need to be improved.    

On the one hand, the battery industry needs to reduce costs while increasing performance. On the other hand, there is a need for safer and more environmentally friendly batteries. The emergence of new technologies and materials is making it possible to meet this challenge.    

Goals 

The main objective of the project is to accelerate the safe and sustainable electrification of transport and mobile applications in the EU. The secondary objectives of the project are: 

• To provide a new framework for standardising the design of the next generation of battery systems.
• Reduce the carbon footprint of the innovative battery system by reducing production costs through high recyclability of components (100% for hardware, 50-80% for cells) along the production chain.
• Improved battery performance, including a 30-50% increase in energy density and a 25% reduction in battery weight through the use of innovative lightweight materials.
• Extending battery life by a further 20% thanks to its management system when the battery's state of health (SoH) is 80%, through innovative electronic sensing and actuation systems.
• And all of this will contribute to meeting the EU's CO2 reduction target and achieving a climate neutral economy by 2050.   

Metodology 

The project will produce two interoperable prototypes. The first prototype will focus on innovations to increase the energy density of battery designs. The second will focus on innovations to increase power density.    

A joint analysis will then be carried out to finalise design features, combine them and align them with the different requirements of the NEXBAT target uses and applications.   

Next, safety guidelines and methodologies will be established as a result of safety tests carried out by certified laboratories and end users.    

Finally, the disassembly and reuse of EMS parts will be evaluated, together with life cycle analysis.   

Our intervention 

As a testing laboratory and certification body, Applus+ Laboratories is involved in the project from the definition of the test protocols through the testing phase to the certification requirements for the various possible markets and applications.    

The project involves: 

• Our fire experts conducting battery safety tests.
• The electrical and electronics team, working from the creation of test protocols to the definition of the battery roadmap to certification.   

Thanks to our test facilities and experience as a certifier of numerous products, our participation will allow us to support the development of new batteries to promote the electrification of transport systems and other energy storage applications in a safe and sustainable way.