Periodic Reporting for period 2 - LEVIS (Advanced Light materials for sustainable Electrical Vehicles by Integration of eco-design and circular economy Strategies)
Período documentado: 2022-08-01 hasta 2024-07-31
Lightweight is an indispensable feature in automotive applications in general, and especially in electric vehicles, since it contributes to improving vehicle efficiency in terms of kWh consumed per km and vehicle range. Reduced weight will lead to faster market growth of EVs replacing traditional internal combustion engine vehicles, which will ultimately contribute to reaching the target greenhouse gas emissions reduction by 2050.
By adopting an eco and circular design concept all the way from the design phase up to the end-of-life stage, LEVIS has developed, verified and demonstrated lightweight components and structures for electric vehicles with enhanced sustainability, improved raw material use, energy and cost efficiency, and reduced weight with yet high structural integrity and reliability. LEVIS’ results have been built on the use of multi-material solutions based on fibre-reinforced thermoplastic composites integrated with metals, produced using cost-effective and scalable manufacturing technologies. The benefit and competitiveness have been showcased through three real-case demonstrators: a suspension control arm, a battery holding set and a cross-car beam.
New sustainable materials, suitable manufacturing/assembly procedures, advanced simulation methodologies/workflows and innovative sensing/monitoring technologies have been developed, implemented and validated. Recyclable resins and bio-resourced and recycled CFs have been developed and used for enhanced sustainability. A circular-design approach has been adopted for constructing the structural parts to maximise their service life and enable easy, effective and efficient dismantling and recovery of the materials with sufficient quality for second use.
By adopting an eco and circular design concept all the way from the design phase up to the end-of-life stage, LEVIS has developed, verified and demonstrated lightweight components and structures for electric vehicles with enhanced sustainability, improved raw material use, energy and cost efficiency, and reduced weight with yet high structural integrity and reliability. LEVIS’ results have been built on the use of multi-material solutions based on fibre-reinforced thermoplastic composites integrated with metals, produced using cost-effective and scalable manufacturing technologies. The benefit and competitiveness have been showcased through three real-case demonstrators: a suspension control arm, a battery holding set and a cross-car beam.
New sustainable materials, suitable manufacturing/assembly procedures, advanced simulation methodologies/workflows and innovative sensing/monitoring technologies have been developed, implemented and validated. Recyclable resins and bio-resourced and recycled CFs have been developed and used for enhanced sustainability. A circular-design approach has been adopted for constructing the structural parts to maximise their service life and enable easy, effective and efficient dismantling and recovery of the materials with sufficient quality for second use.
Thanks to the innovations in materials and processes, supported by novel simulation methods, new demo parts have been designed, manufactured and validated. The initial objective was to lower the weight between 20 and 40%, with final savings of around 30% in all demos.
Bio-based CFs have been developed using commercial bio-based fibres as precursor and optimising process parameters, reaching the mechanical KPIs. These new bio-CFs have been included in the suspension arm and the battery box.
Advanced simulation workflows have been developed for enhanced structural integrity and life prediction, with multi-scale models to understand the links between processes, materials and properties and a fatigue model that evaluates the stiffness degradation depending on the amount of matrix damage.
Printing and surface mounting processes have been used to develop sensors for life monitoring and predictive failure detection.
Suitable end-of-life strategies for disassembly, recycling and reuse of parts in new automotive parts have been deployed, including an on-demand dismantling technology for disassembly of multi-material structures and an optimized low-temperature pyrolysis technique that enables the recovery of CFRP with minimized mass loss and maximum retained thermomechanical properties.
All the technologies have been implemented in or linked to the demonstrators previously referred. The demonstrators have been validated by the end-users following their own protocols, in order to reach the objective TRLs defined.
To demonstrate the positive environmental impact and techno-economic feasibility, LCA and LCC studies of the demos were conducted to evaluate and compare them with their corresponding benchmarks across their entire life cycle, providing quantitative economic indicators.
To demonstrate the replicability of the solutions, EV components that could benefit from the innovations were identified, and a material properties analysis was performed for the top-ranked components, followed by an estimation of the anticipated weight reduction and the emission reductions.
To maximise the market implementation of the results, the key exploitable results have been identified, managing the IPR within the consortium, developing tailored business strategies for each KER, and ensuring that the LEVIS technologies are well-positioned for uptake by industry.
Active participation in events and conferences helped increase awareness of the innovations among potential beneficiaries. The consortium organized a final conference and exhibition at the Global Automotive Components and Suppliers Expo, which attracted a wide range of visitors. Collaboration with sister projects under the Green Vehicles call created synergies and extended the outreach, promoting shared knowledge and joint dissemination.
Bio-based CFs have been developed using commercial bio-based fibres as precursor and optimising process parameters, reaching the mechanical KPIs. These new bio-CFs have been included in the suspension arm and the battery box.
Advanced simulation workflows have been developed for enhanced structural integrity and life prediction, with multi-scale models to understand the links between processes, materials and properties and a fatigue model that evaluates the stiffness degradation depending on the amount of matrix damage.
Printing and surface mounting processes have been used to develop sensors for life monitoring and predictive failure detection.
Suitable end-of-life strategies for disassembly, recycling and reuse of parts in new automotive parts have been deployed, including an on-demand dismantling technology for disassembly of multi-material structures and an optimized low-temperature pyrolysis technique that enables the recovery of CFRP with minimized mass loss and maximum retained thermomechanical properties.
All the technologies have been implemented in or linked to the demonstrators previously referred. The demonstrators have been validated by the end-users following their own protocols, in order to reach the objective TRLs defined.
To demonstrate the positive environmental impact and techno-economic feasibility, LCA and LCC studies of the demos were conducted to evaluate and compare them with their corresponding benchmarks across their entire life cycle, providing quantitative economic indicators.
To demonstrate the replicability of the solutions, EV components that could benefit from the innovations were identified, and a material properties analysis was performed for the top-ranked components, followed by an estimation of the anticipated weight reduction and the emission reductions.
To maximise the market implementation of the results, the key exploitable results have been identified, managing the IPR within the consortium, developing tailored business strategies for each KER, and ensuring that the LEVIS technologies are well-positioned for uptake by industry.
Active participation in events and conferences helped increase awareness of the innovations among potential beneficiaries. The consortium organized a final conference and exhibition at the Global Automotive Components and Suppliers Expo, which attracted a wide range of visitors. Collaboration with sister projects under the Green Vehicles call created synergies and extended the outreach, promoting shared knowledge and joint dissemination.
LEVIS aims to provide the means to efficiently develop, verify and scale up the production of sustainable, lightweight materials and structural parts for electric vehicles, pursuing enhanced energy and cost efficiency through the entire vehicle lifecycle. To assess this impact, LEVIS’ outcomes have been showcased in three real-case demonstrators. Moreover, the end-of-life recovery, reuse and recycling of the developed components have been assessed, and the possibility of extending the eco-design, production and end-of-life processes to other vehicle components has been evaluated.
LEVIS has focused on achieving a significant weight reduction (around 20-40%), adopting sustainable processes with an equivalent final cost, thanks to the optimised deployment of advanced light materials. Along with vehicle weight reduction, the novel sensor technologies will enable the monitoring of the structural integrity during the service life of the components, to identify safety and performance issues early. One-shot production approaches will be adopted to speed up production and reduce the time-to-market of the new components. To cover the whole lifecycle, strategies for the circular use of the end-of-life elements will allow the recycling of 80% of the materials. This has been validated through a Life Cycle Assessment for the project demonstrators, while the techno-economic viability has been assessed in a Life Cycle Costing report.
Five industrial partners dedicated to the manufacturing of vehicle components, with a strong presence in the market, will facilitate the adoption of the project results by a wide range of European industries. Besides the direct integration and market uptake of the lightweight components developed in the demonstrators, the manufacturing, dismantling, repairing, recycling, recovery and remanufacturing processes, together with the structural health monitoring techniques, will be deployed in the life cycle of other automotive components through new projects to be carried out by the RTOs of the consortium. Thanks to an equivalent cost for the end users, the project developments will minimize the market entry barriers, providing benefits not only to the final customers but also to the environment and society, through the associated reduction in energy consumption and emissions.
Some key figures:
- 27 % average weight reduction (all demos)
- 23 % average reduction in GWP (at component level)
- Recycling rates > 80 %
- Reduced overall structural weight (BIW) by 31 % through replication of the technologies in other components
- 5,4 % reduction of GWP estimated at vehicle level
LEVIS has focused on achieving a significant weight reduction (around 20-40%), adopting sustainable processes with an equivalent final cost, thanks to the optimised deployment of advanced light materials. Along with vehicle weight reduction, the novel sensor technologies will enable the monitoring of the structural integrity during the service life of the components, to identify safety and performance issues early. One-shot production approaches will be adopted to speed up production and reduce the time-to-market of the new components. To cover the whole lifecycle, strategies for the circular use of the end-of-life elements will allow the recycling of 80% of the materials. This has been validated through a Life Cycle Assessment for the project demonstrators, while the techno-economic viability has been assessed in a Life Cycle Costing report.
Five industrial partners dedicated to the manufacturing of vehicle components, with a strong presence in the market, will facilitate the adoption of the project results by a wide range of European industries. Besides the direct integration and market uptake of the lightweight components developed in the demonstrators, the manufacturing, dismantling, repairing, recycling, recovery and remanufacturing processes, together with the structural health monitoring techniques, will be deployed in the life cycle of other automotive components through new projects to be carried out by the RTOs of the consortium. Thanks to an equivalent cost for the end users, the project developments will minimize the market entry barriers, providing benefits not only to the final customers but also to the environment and society, through the associated reduction in energy consumption and emissions.
Some key figures:
- 27 % average weight reduction (all demos)
- 23 % average reduction in GWP (at component level)
- Recycling rates > 80 %
- Reduced overall structural weight (BIW) by 31 % through replication of the technologies in other components
- 5,4 % reduction of GWP estimated at vehicle level