To strengthen EU’s global competitiveness and resilience, the updated Industrial Strategy calls for accelerating the green and digital transitions of key European ecosystems. UNICORN foresees functional electronics as an enabler & catalyser of EU mobility’s twin transition. Using a car-as-a lab, UNICORN is aiming at increasing the circularity-driven functional integration of electronics in automotive, while simultaneously embedding eco-design principles in their development and ensuring net beneficial effect on climate change mitigation. UNICORN will demonstrate a capability to design & develop innovative green and circular technologies for automotive electronics, based on four electronic systems (composite-embedded, in-molded, textile/plastic and rubber-integrated) taken from industrial use cases for a battery casing, a dashboard, a seat/door system and a tire. Solutions will 1) encompass lightweight, low impact and/or bio-based materials for (flexible) substrates, films, encapsulation, inks, solvents, adhesives and flat cabling & interconnects; 2) validate resource/energy efficient, net shape, additive, printing, encapsulating and (reversible) bonding manufacturing processes for circuitry, sensors, gauges, antennas, interconnects; and 3) implement design for material circularity via reversible design, modularity, form factors to increase disassembly and recovery of valuable material. For harnessing benefits of these technologies, UNICORN will set a new methodology for net impact assessment and eco-design guidelines for automotive electronics designers & developers. It will establish a vision and roadmap on the role of functional electronics for supporting EU mobility climate targets, and set the blueprints for transfers in further application sectors. UNICORN gathers 12 partners (7 companies) mutualising skills and pilot/industrial capacities on flexible, printed & organic electronics, circularity & regulatory competences and business leaderships in Automotive.

VIMMP facilitates and promotes the exchange between all materials modelling stakeholders for the benefit of increased innovation in European manufacturing industry. VIMMP will establish an open-source, user-friendly, powerful web-based marketplace linking beneficiaries from different manufacturing industry sectors with relevant materials modelling activities and resources. To enable a seamless and fully integrated environment, VIMMP is built on solid taxonomy and metadata foundations, including those centred on materials models, software tools, communities, translation expertise and training materials. VIMMP is a true marketplace, offering a substantial boost to all providers of tools and services; integrating modelling platforms based on Open Simulation Platform (OSP) standards that will be pursued in collaboration with the EMMC. Thus, any software owner can easily integrate models and certify codes to adhere to OSP standards. The Translator function will be supported by novel, collaborative tools that use metadata to combine models on an abstract logical level. OSP standards enable Translators and End User to build and deploy workflows quickly. VIMMP contributes novel avenues for coupling and linking of models, which will be validated in the context of three overlapping industry applications: personal goods, polymer nanocomposites and functional coatings. Data repositories relevant to modelling will be developed and integrated in VIMMP, including a novel input parameter repository for mesoscopic model, also materials properties and associated validation data. VIMMP will comprise a full set of education and training resources relevant for a wider range of manufacturing industry. VIMMP users will profit from lowering risk and upfront cost, greater speed and agility of deploying materials modelling and realising the wide range of demonstrated economic impacts.

ZEvRA's main objective is to improve the circularity of light-duty EVs throughout their entire value chain, from materials supply and manufacturing to end-of-life (EoL) processes, which aligns with the European Union's goal of achieving zero CO2e emissions by 2035, particularly in the EV value chain. To do so, ZEvRA will develop a Design for Circularity (DfC) methodology and a holistic circularity assessment aimed at improving the production of electric vehicles (EVs) based on the 9Rs. This methodology will be validated by developing zero emission solutions for the most important automotive materials, covering > 84% material mix: steel, three versions of aluminium (wrought, casting, and foam), thermoplastics composites (long and continuous fibre-reinforced), unfiled/short fibre plastics, glass, tyres and Rare Earth Elements (REE). These solutions will be supported by a set of digital tools to support the manufacturing of the use cases, the assessment of circularity, traceability, and the virtual integration of components into a full replicable vehicle. To maximise the outreach of our methodology and zero emission solutions, ZEvRA will develop a dedicated training & upskilling programme for the automotive workforce and academia, together with activities aimed at increasing awareness & acceptability of the proposed zero emission solutions. Lastly, circular business models targeting EoL and logistics aimed at improving the economic feasibility of circularity in EVs are advanced. ZEvRA’s innovations aim to improve zero emission approaches in the life cycle and value chain of at least 59% of European EVs by 2035 through the 5 OEMs and Tier 1’s that are part of the consortium, which includes industry and academia covering the entire automotive value chain.