CRF, headquartered in Orbassano (near Torino in NW Italy), was established in 1978. Today, as the focal point for research activities of FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles), the mission of CRF is to:

• develop and transfer innovative powertrains, vehicle systems and features, materials, processes and methodologies together with innovation expertise in order to improve the competitiveness of FCA products;
• represent FCA in European collaborative research programs, joining pre-competitive projects and promoting networking actions;
• support FCA in the protection and enhancement of intellectual property.

CRF develops research and innovation along the three principal axes of sustainability: Environmental Sustainability, which encompasses all aspects relating to energy efficiency as well as to the reduction of the impact on the environment over the entire lifecycle of the vehicle; Social Sustainability, focusing on the safety of transportation systems through the development of active, passive, preventive and cooperative solutions while addressing the mobility of all users irrespective of their specific needs; Economically sustainable competitiveness, oriented towards viable innovation, i.e., improving the performance and functionality of new vehicles in a cost-effective manner while reducing the time-to-market of research results.

CRF is the coordinator of the GHOST project and leads the Work Package on Vehicle Integration, Testing and Demonstration.

IVECO is one of 12 brands belonging to CNH Industrial and is one of the world leaders in road transportation. It designs, manufactures and sells a wide range of light, medium and heavy commercial vehicles for road and off-road use.

The key players in its product line-up are the Daily, a vehicle that covers the 2.8 – 7 ton vehicle weight segment, the Eurocargo from 6 – 16 tons, the Trakker (dedicated to off-road missions) and the Stralis, both over 16 tons. The product offer is complemented by a series of aftersales, financing and used vehicle assistance services.

Founded in 1975, Iveco today is present in over 100 countries through its sales network, joint ventures, licenses and affiliates. From its beginning, the company has been committed to safe, efficient and ecological mobility and for more than 40 years has been developing technological solutions that respect the lives of people and the environment.

Toyota operates 53 manufacturing companies in 27 countries and regions, excl. Japan and market vehicles in more than 160 countries, thanks to the support of an approximately. 350.000-strong workforce. Toyota began selling cars in Europe in 1963, has invested over €9 billion since 1990 and directly employs around 20.000 people in Europe.

The European operations are supported by a network of 30 National Marketing and Sales Companies in 53 countries, around 2749 retailers, and 9 manufacturing plants. Toyota Motor Europe (TME) coordinates the European activities of the Toyota group. Within TME, the Technical Centre (in Zaventem) is the location for the Research & Development (R&D), Purchasing and Production Engineering (PE) functions. From here Toyota ensures its cars match European customer’s demands. R&D undertakes body, powertrain, chassis and electronics design, material engineering and evaluation, supported by a strong network of local suppliers.

TME participates in the project actively in the technical feasibility as well as in the business potential analysis of used batteries and circular economy concept and it will also provide expertise on PHV/HV users’ experience and needs and will contribute to the specification of cases

The Mobility, Logistics and Automotive Technology Research Centre (MOBI) is nested at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and is a leader in electromobility and socio-economic evaluations for sustainable mobility and logistics. From a technological perspective, the centre has a leading position in electromobility, thanks to its experience of over 40 years in electric, hybrid and fuel cell vehicles R&D.

In the GHOST project, VUB is the leader of WP4 on battery characterization, testing & modeling. Further VUB provides the project Back-office in support to the Coordinator for management purposes, carries out Life Cycle Analysis in WP8, and leads the consortium for communication and dissemination activities (WP9).

Infineon Technologies Austria AG is one of the largest globally acting manufacturing and research & development centers of Infineon Technologies AG. The headquarter of the Infineon Technologies Austria AG is located in Villach and currently employs around 3600 persons. The manufacturing facility acts as a center of competence for manufacturing of power semiconductor discrete and integrated products. Around 1.200 engineers and researchers in Villach as well as in its subsidiaries in Graz, Linz and Vienna develop semiconductor products for the facility in Villach, as well as for all other manufacturing locations of the organization.

In Ghost Infineon supports the battery characterization for SOC and SOH estimation and assists CRF and Iveco with the integration of the BMS System.

Umicore, is a global materials technology and recycling group, with more than 14,000 employees in 38 countries. Umicore generates the majority of its revenues from clean technologies, such as recycling, emission control catalysts, materials for rechargeable batteries and photovoltaics. The R&D efforts of Umicore involve more than 900 colleagues in 20 research and technical centres worldwide. Their main focus is on developing technologies that address key global challenges like clean mobility and resource scarcity.

Umicore AG & Co. KG is the German subsidiary of Umicore and direct partner of this consortium. Umicore AG & Co KG is located in Hanau (Germany) near Frankfurt with about 1000 employees. Who are working in different business areas to provide raw-materials, products with a broad service portfolio for its clients in different fields of the global market and industry. In our project Umicore AG & Co. KG will be work package leader (WP 8) and will contribute with is long years’ experience of pre-conditioning and dismantling of large Battery systems from XEV cars and buses and last but not least batteries from stationary application in different chemical and physical conditions. With its dismantling know how it will contribute to the new design of battery packs in the direction of reusable, repairable and recyclable construction (concepts) where modularity is essential. Umicore AG & Co. KG sees its contribution and role as a consequents and responsibility to generate sustainability and resource protection of future handling of our products at the end-of-life not only for this project and consortium. Additional Umicore AG & Co. KG will work on conventional engineering to upscale the current manual disassembly line to an automated or at least semi-automated process as the key for the future high volume stream.

ENGIE develops its business (electricity, natural gas and services) providing highly efficient and innovative solutions to individuals, cities and businesses by relying on diversified energy sources, as well as unique expertise in four key sectors: liquefied natural gas, energy efficiency services, independent power production and environmental services. ENGIE is world’s largest independent power provider. These last 15 years have been dedicated to the development of new production capacities, throughout the renewable energies (hydroelectricity, wind power, solar and biomass) responding to the four challenges of the ENGIE group: the continuity of supply, respect of environment, business flexibility and competitiveness. ENGIE is thus potentially a large typical industrial user of the technologies contemplated within this project.

LABORELEC (Belgium, 240 staff, 48M€ turnover) is one of the industrial research laboratories of ENGIE with profound historical background in Electrical technologies, contract research and technical expertise services in electrical power and new energy technology. This research facility plays a very important role in the ENGIE group strategy and in the creation of value by contributing competitive advantages in the field of the technology, which helps the group to become the best user and to answer to different technological demands related to various business cases. LABORELEC combines expert knowledge with state-of-the-art measurement and analysis capability, with practical experience acquired from technical assistance to plant or network operators. LABORELEC implements a creative, solution oriented and open innovation approach, with strong international partners. In the GHOST project, LBE will be involved in WP7 for the second life use of batteries mainly oriented to stationary applications and in WP4 according to customer needs identified will provide requirements and specification for batteries design based on identified use cases.

IKERLAN is a leading knowledge transfer technological centre, providing competitive value to companies. We seek for excellence in R&D&i, thanks to the continuous adaptation to the needs of our customers and the proximity with the business reality. Faithful to our mission, we have been working daily since 1974 to develop solutions that allow our customers to become more and more competitive. We are a cooperative member of MONDRAGON and we are connected to IK4 Research Alliance. Thanks to a unique cooperation model, which combines technology transfer activities, internal research and training of highly qualified personnel, IKERLAN is currently the trusted technological partner of major companies in the country. To meet our goal, we are structured in three technological specialisation units: Electronics, Information and Communication Technologies; Energy and Power Electronics and Advanced Manufacturing. IKERLAN is a centre that is dynamic and open to the world. We are an agent credited by the Basque Network of Science, technology and Innovation, and we have a major cooperation network integrated by renowned European centres and universities, with which we conduct activities of research and training of researchers.

IKERLAN leads the Work Package on Dual Battery System Design, Prototyping and Bench Testing.

Designing the vehicles of tomorrow

Based in Lyon’s vibrant economic hub, EVE System specializes in designing and integrating embedded intelligence and electric and hybrid electric drive systems. Having built its reputation in the automotive sector, the company quickly expanded into many other business sectors that use mobile devices. Today EVE System’s strength lies in the additional industry expertise and diverse applications it can offer to its customers:

– Engineering: using our expertise in electronics, electrical engineering, IT and motorization, we are able to develop the most relevant solutions for our customers.

– Production: our team at EVE System is able to adapt capacity to low or mid volume production of battery systems, chargers and all embedded electronic devices.

– Project management: concentrate on your core business while we manage your projects to deadline and budget.

EVE System in the project will provide its expertise on lithium cells integration.

On behalf of customers, Fraunhofer LBF in Darmstadt develops, assesses and implements customized solutions for mechanical engineering components and systems, especially for safety-related components and systems. This is carried out in the performance fields of Vibration Technology, Lightweight Design, Reliability and Polymer Technology and includes solutions ranging from product design to verification. In addition to the evaluation and optimized design of passive mechanical structures, the Institute designs active, mechatronic-adaptronic functional units and implements them as prototypes. In parallel it develops appropriate forward-looking numerical and experimental methods and testing techniques. Customers benefit from the proven expertise since 1938 of some 400 employees and cutting-edge technology accommodated in more than 11,560 square meters of laboratory and experimental space.

In the ORCA project, Fraunhofer LBF offers profound experience in test rig simulations, driving simulations and elastomeric component modelling. The research institute will support the definition of the energy management and optimization that will be implemented (Task 2.4) and the investigation of the usage of a CNG engine instead of a Diesel engine for heavy-duty vehicles (Task 2.5).

The Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Systems and Device Technology IISB conducts applied research and development in the field of electronic systems for application in, e.g., electric mobility or energy technology. In this connection, the IISB extensively covers the complete value chain from basic materials to entire power electronic systems.

Fraunhofer is involved in Novel electronic design for the module battery management system, in the development of thermal management concepts for the dual battery, in the conceptual design and manufacturing of housing, in the safety assessments and validation.

AVL List GmbH is the world’s largest privately-owned company for development, simulation and testing technology of powertrains (hybrid, combustion engines, transmission, electric drive, batteries and software) for passenger cars, trucks and large engines. AVL has about 3500 employees in Graz (Austria), and a global network of 45 representations and affiliates resulting in more than 8000 employees worldwide. AVL´s Powertrain Engineering division activities are focused on the research, design and development of various powertrains in the view of low fuel consumption, low emission, low noise and improved drivability. The Advanced Simulation Technologies division develops and markets the simulation methods which are necessary for the powertrain development work. The Instrumentation and Test Systems division is an established manufacturer and provider of instruments and systems for powertrain and vehicle testing including combustion diagnostic sensors, optical systems as well as complete engine, powertrain and vehicle test beds.
AVL is the leader of tasks on System Safety and Safety validation of the advanced battery system.

Valeo is an automotive supplier, partner to all automakers worldwide. As a technology company, Valeo proposes innovative products and systems that contribute to the reduction of CO2 emissions and to the development of intuitive driving. In 2015, the Group generated sales of €14.5 billion and invested over 10% of its original equipment sales in research and development. Valeo has 148 plants, 19 research centers, 35 development centers and 15 distribution platforms, and employs 88,800 people in 32 countries worldwide. Valeo is listed on the Paris stock exchange and is a member of the CAC 40 index.
Valeo provides support for the design and experimental validation of battery cooling system, assists the safety tests and the adaptation of the cooling loop control.