KreislaufAkkus

 

Motivation & Objective

 

To achieve the aim of being climate neutral by 2050, the EU has been endorsing the use of electric vehicles due to their significant ecological advantages over conventional IC engine vehicles. However, the production of the most critical component of an electric vehicle - the traction battery, is the most resource-intensive process. In addition to the production of the battery, the required charging infrastructure also comes under its environmental burden. Therefore, more sustainable, efficient, and innovative battery system approaches have been in discussion recently.
As an alternative to a mainstream ‘Integrated Battery System’, a ‘Swappable Battery System’ has multiple functional advantages, such as – shorter refueling time, eventually lower infrastructure requirements, and a possibility of integrating electromobility sector into the energy storage sector. However, consideration of resource efficiency, technological feasibility, and business needs is crucial. By recognizing this exact need, the ‘KreislaufAkkus’ project focuses on comparing these two battery system approaches, including their infrastructure requirements, with respect to their economic, ecological, technological, and social acceptance needs. Through such interdisciplinary analysis of these two systems, this project aims at investigating their life cycle potential to provide a decision-making tool for stakeholders.

 

Methodology

 

Initially, status quo and R&D trends in these two battery and charging infrastructure systems will be analyzed. This analysis will be used in the following step to identify the most promising vehicle types and fields of applications from a technical as well as social acceptance point of view. Here, the effects on the battery, vehicle construction, and infrastructural requirements will be examined in more detail through literature research, expert interviews, user surveys, and evaluation of conducted tests. Finally, an ecological and economic evaluation will be prepared by combining the results previously obtained. The aim is to classify the battery systems in terms of decisive parameters such as economic efficiency, resource efficiency, influence on the energy system, and to a decisive extent, the circular economy potential.

 

Duration

 

01 April 2022 – 31 March 2024

 

Funding

The KreislaufAkkus project is being funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) with a total sum of around 0.5 million euros over a period of two years.

 

Participating institutions

RWTH Aachen University (PGS-ESS) Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IÖW GmbH)

Throughout the project, RWTH primarily focuses on the techno-economic analysis of the above-mentioned battery concepts. In addition to its expertise in the field of energy storage systems, its particular focus will be on the charging infrastructure and vehicle design. As a project partner, IÖW Berlin brings its expertise in the field of ecological assessment for sustainable development.