Development of sustainable and design-to-cost batteries with (energy-)efficient manufacturing processes and based on advanced and safer materials (Batt4EU Partnership)

Expected Outcome:

Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following outcomes:

• Development of next generation low-cost batteries for improving the affordability of electric mobility, enhancing the competitiveness of the European battery value chain, while lowering the share of Critical Raw Materials (CRM)[1];
• Improved adaptation and flexibility of advanced and sustainable production processes in European battery manufacturing;
• Improved adaptation/flexibility of design-to-circularity strategies.

Scope:

Proposals are expected to target technologies for design-to-cost batteries, with little reliance on CRMs, from one of the following two main technologies:

• Liquid electrolyte lithium-ion batteries with lithium manganese iron phosphate (LMFP) or manganese-rich HLM (high lithium, manganese) as cathode materials (design-to-cost lithium-ion batteries for mobility[2]);
• Sodium-ion batteries for mobility applications.

The projects are expected to demonstrate, at the end of the project, the following:

For HLM and LMFP chemistries, at the cell level:

• Gravimetric energy density and volumetric energy density of at least 220 Wh/kg (for LMFP) and 250 Wh/kg (for HLM) and 550 Wh/L (for both) at operational temperature, respectively;
• Charging duration of 20 minutes (20-80% SoC);
• Cycle life of >4000 cycles for LMFP and >1500 cycles for HLM at 80% depth of discharge;
• Electric Vehicle (EV) grade cell format and capacity;
• A feasible pathway towards a competitive cost of 50-75€/kWh at pack level by 2030.

For sodium-ion batteries at cell level:

• Gravimetric energy density and volumetric energy density of 180-200 Wh/kg and 400+ Wh/L at operational temperature, respectively;
• Cycle life of 4000-6000 cycles at 80% depth of discharge;
• Charging duration of 20 minutes (20-80% SoC);
• EV grade cell format and capacity;
• A credible pathway towards a competitive cost level of 50-75€/kWh at pack level by 2030.

Projects are expected to demonstrate the production of cell prototypes at pilot level and feasibility of compatibility (or improvement) of the developed materials with regards to at least one of the following cell production processes:

• Dry or aqueous processing technologies;
• Advanced electrode drying processes;
• Improved cell formation processes and aging protocols;
• Improved energy efficiency of processes in dry rooms.

Proposals are expected to provide the corresponding state-of-the-art benchmark for the selected production process and compare the project’s compatibility or improvement targets to said benchmark.

Furthermore, projects are expected to demonstrate the feasibility of compatibility (or improvement) of the developed materials with regards to at least one of the following:

• Design for sorting, dismantling, separation, cost-effective repairing/regeneration, and safe recycling (including direct recycling);
• Adapting Sensing solutions to improve lifetime and state of health detection;
• Quantification of degradation mechanisms at early stage to determine the best strategy for beyond the first life.

The Commission initiative for Safe and Sustainable by Design[3] (SSbD) sets a framework for assessing the safety and sustainability of chemicals and materials which should be considered as a reference for project proposals.

Whenever the expected exploitation of project results entails developing, creating, manufacturing and marketing a product or process, or in creating and providing a service, the plan for the exploitation and dissemination of results must include a strategy for such exploitation. The exploitation plans are expected to include preliminary plans for scalability, commercialisation, and deployment (feasibility study, business plan) indicating the possible funding sources to be potentially used (in particular the Innovation Fund).

Proposals could consider the involvement of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC)[4] whose contribution could consist in providing added value regarding integral evaluation of safety of materials. For further information on the JRC’s possible contribution to the projects, please, search for additional publicly available information on the JRC’s website (EU Science Hub) on the NCP portal, or request specific information from the JRC (JRC-NCP-Network@ec.europa.eu)

JRC shall assure that all the other applicants receive the same information on the JRC’s possible contribution to the project (e.g., via the topic-specific FAQs under the Funding and Tenders Portal).

Projects are expected to collaborate and contribute to the activities of the Coordination and Support Action defined under the topic HORIZON-CL5-2025-D2-02-06.

To strengthen the European battery ecosystem, projects are expected to use materials, products and equipment produced in EU Member States and countries associated to Horizon Europe, unless it is demonstrated that no valid option exists. The procurement strategies should be described in the proposal, especially and to the furthest extent possible the place of production of the elements.

This topic implements the co-programmed European Partnership on Batteries (Batt4EU). As such, projects resulting from this topic will be expected to report on the results to the European Partnership on Batteries (Batt4EU) in support of the monitoring of its KPIs.

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Activities are expected to achieve TRL6 (for manganese-rich HLM) and TRL7 (for lithium manganese iron phosphate and sodium-ion) by the end of the project – see General Annex B. Activities may start at any TRL.

[1] Regulation - EU - 2024/1252 - EN - EUR-Lex (europa.eu)

[2] https://bepassociation.eu/our-work/sria/

[3] https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/research-area/industrial-research-and-innovation/key-enabling-technologies/chemicals-and-advanced-materials_en

[4] https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/laboratories-z/battery-energy-storage-testing_en

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