World Electric Vehicle Day
The R&D&I reference center for batteries in Southern Europe, BATTECH, leads two strategic projects in the field of electric mobility, aimed at the development of batteries for vehicles electric lighter, more sustainable and free of critical materials such as cobalt, which add up to a budget that exceeds 23 million euros.
One of the projects is the European consortium MARBEL, coordinated by Eurecat and with an 11,703,385 euro budget. MARBEL will design, develop and demonstrate a new compact, modular, weight-optimized and high-performance battery pack, with greater useful life, greater energy efficiency in charging and energy use, based on a robust and flexible BMS (Battery Management System) system, as well as ultra-fast charging and battery cooling.
In the words of the business developer of BATTECH and technical coordinator of the project, Alberto Gómez, the European project MARBEL “develops a new concept of a lighter and more sustainable battery, with higher energy density and shorter charging times with the aim of accelerating the mass market adoption of electric vehicles”.
The European project COBRA is led by IREC and has a budget of 11,857,352.50 euros. COBRA is focused on the development of a new, unique cobalt-free battery system that combines several features, such as a higher energy density, a low cost, the increase in cycles and the reduction of critical materials, with the aim of responding to the deficiencies currently presented by electric vehicle batteries.
IREC senior researcher and COBRA coordinator, Jordi Jacas, emphasizes that “cobalt is a scarce and polluting material and we are very close to being able to replace this critical element without this implying a decrease in battery performance”. In addition, he has highlighted that “we invest a lot of effort in improving the environmental sustainability of the global system to reduce its carbon footprint”. As has pointed out by Jordi Jacas, the innovation promoted within the framework of the project “presents easy adaptation to production lines and greater adoption in the market, while helping to strengthen Europe’s position in this field”.
BATTECH, specialized research, testing and innovation in the field of batteries
Promoted and established by the Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC) and the Eurecat technology center, BATTECH provides specialized research, development, testing and innovation in the field of batteries with the aim of improving the transfer of knowledge to the industry in this area, from a perspective focused on the circular economy and sustainability to cover the entire value chain of batteries as a reference center for R&D&i.
BATTECH fully covers from the development of the materials that make up cells, as fundamental parts of batteries, to the integration of large batteries into energy systems and sustainable mobility, as well as the second life and recycling of these.
Find the press release in Catalan (CAT) and Spanish (ES):
