Project description
A breakthrough for Europe’s lithium battery industry
Europe’s competitiveness in lithium (Li) battery cell development and manufacturing has been a growing concern, risking the loss of a crucial technology for the EU’s electrification goals. In this context, the EU-funded IMAGE project aims to revitalise Europe’s position in this crucial technology. By establishing a production-oriented research and development framework, the project will seek to sustainably develop European battery cell manufacturing competence and capability. Specifically, it will chart a well-documented roadmap toward cost-effective and competitive battery cell production, supporting the burgeoning electric vehicle industry. Key objectives include the development of generic production techniques for high-energy Li-metal battery cells, identifying energy- and resource-efficient manufacturing technologies, and creating a flexible production framework to adapt to technological advancements.
Objective
As of today, Europe remains not competitive in terms of Lithium battery cell development and especially manufacturing. This lack of competence and competitiveness could quickly spiral down into a complete loss of this key technology for electrification in the EU.
Thus IMAGE will significantly contribute to sustainably develop the European Li-battery cell manufacturing competence and capability by creating a competitive, production-oriented research & development framework within Europe. A realistic and well-documented roadmap towards the manufacturing of cost-effective and competitive battery cells within Europe will emerge. This will be enforced by establishing a distributed battery cell production base that will be able, after careful upscaling of production, to supply the now burgeoning electric vehicle industry. From this context, the main goal of IMAGE is to push European’s Li-battery industry and academia to take over a leading role in the development and manufacturing of Next Generation Li-Ion cells. IMAGE has the following major objectives:
1) Develop generic production techniques for next generation battery cells based on high specific energy Li-metal battery cells. This will include a modular development approach that will be easy to up-scale while remaining flexible and safer to replace in case of any contingencies and market/ manufacturer configuration changes.
2) Identify energy and resource efficient cell manufacturing technologies and assets tailored to the existent European industrial infrastructure. This will include the identification of bottleneck factors and challenges that could be addressed in the present European industrial context.
3) Develop a progressive, multiple-tier technological and production framework that is able to cope with the inherent technological changes and advancements characteristic to this dynamic field. Thus, there will be several technologies covered by IMAGE, each having different technological maturity level.
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RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinator
8020 Graz
Austria