Today took place the final event to disseminate the results of the research project whose objective was to technically, environmentally and economically improve the lithium-ion batteries used in hybrid and electric vehicles.

The initiative was led by a consortium led by Ferroglobe Innovation, in collaboration with CETIM Technological Centre, ENSO Innovation, ABCR Labs and Ártabro Tech.

The final event to disseminate the results of the ECO-SMART BATT project took place today at the Innovation Centre in Arteixo (A Coruña), an initiative that has developed innovative technologies that bring us ever closer to achieving sustainable electromobility. Specifically, research focused on finding solutions to significantly improve the energy density, cost and sustainability of lithium-ion batteries.

Today, we are facing major environmental and technological challenges, such as batteries with low energy yields, short lifespan or environmental impact, insecurity of supply of critical raw materials, as well as their cost-effectiveness. To reduce this problem, ECO-SMART BATT was born in 2020, with a consortium led by Ferroglobe Innovation in collaboration with CETIM Technological Centre, ENSO Innovation, ABCR Labs and Ártabro Tech.

The main objective of ECO-SMART BATT has been the sustainable and smart manufacturing of different products and nanocomposites to form a new generation of high energy density lithium-ion battery products. Specifically, the project sought to improve third and fourth generation batteries used in hybrid and electric vehicles.

Final event for the dissemination of results

The event was attended by Patricia Argerey, director of the Agencia Gallega de Innovación, who emphasised that the 2020 call of the Fábrica del futuro, fábrica inteligente y sostenible de la industria 4.0 aid programme, to which the project belongs, in addition to promoting public-private cooperation, aims to stimulate companies to develop their R&D activities in Galicia, drive the mobilisation and attraction of private capital, as well as boost the competitiveness of the business fabric in Galicia.

During the conference, all the ECO-SMART BATT partners explained in their presentations the results obtained in the project. Some of them are the technical improvements achieved in lithium-ion batteries, which allow an increase in capacity and energy density thanks to the use of silicon and environmental improvements, with the implementation of the optimisation of the production process of micrometric and nanometric silicon powder of high purity and the establishment of processes for obtaining this raw material, reducing the carbon footprint with respect to current extraction processes.

From CETIM Technological Centre, the head of Digital Industry, Elena Hidalgo, explained how Industry 4.0 technologies, such as Digital Twins, have been used to optimise these production and traceability processes for silicon metal and cellulose nanofibres. In addition, a robotic cell was designed and implemented for the battery assembly process and a traceability control system was developed.

ECO-SMART BATT has also achieved economic improvements, thanks to the constant evaluation and optimisation of the processes, as this has made it possible to find a balance between the cost and quality of the product, as well as to implement energy saving measures.

From Ferroglobe Innovation, José Manuel Míguez, head of the project, said: “El proyecto ECO-SMART BATT ha permitido el desarrollo una línea avanzada de silicio para baterías, que es el material que permitirá mejorar las prestaciones de los vehículos eléctricos”.

This project is subsidised by the Agencia Gallega de Innovación within the framework of the 2020 call of the Fábrica del futuro, fábrica inteligente y sostenible de la industria 4.0 aid programme. The grants awarded under this programme have been co-financed by the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) under Axis 1 (Promoting research, technological development and innovation) of the FEDER Galicia 2014-2020 operational programme. The project is supported by the Second Vice-Presidency and the Regional Ministry of Economy, Enterprise and Innovation.