Project duration: 1 January 2018 – 31 March 2020
Objective
Sales of electric vehicles (EV) show a clear upward trend in the coming years, where the EV market share is expected to grow from the current value of 3% up to 50% in 2050.
However, the new powertrain elements of the electric-powered vehicles (in particular battery, electric engine and power electronic systems) require working under certain conditions that are seriously influenced by extreme temperatures (cold and heat) and largely influence the efficiency performance of such elements, even being able to damage or directly disable the entire vehicle.
Such elements require a cooling circuit, responsible for keeping their components within a very narrow temperature window to optimize the electric vehicle autonomy and decrease energy losses. To do so, the cooling circuit materials must comply with the following requirements:
• Excellent insulation properties, in order to keep accurate temperature range.
• Maximum lightness, in order not to penalize EV autonomy.
The solution (technology)
Rubber, which is a non-recyclable and critical raw material (CRM) and is currently used in the cooling circuits, can no longer fulfil these demanding specifications. Therefore, OEM suppliers like CIKAUTXO, which provide ducts and components for water cooling circuits to the main vehicle manufacturers (such as VW, GM, FORD, RENAULT-NISSAN, DAIMLER, BMW or FIAT), are therefore facing a new business opportunity to develop structures made of new materials replacing natural rubber which comply with the new EV cooling demands.
GRIMEV project will, therefore, develop a new two-layer structured lightweight and recyclable material with improved thermal insulation for the cooling circuits of electric powered vehicles. The new material will be based on TPV (thermoplastic vulcanizates) and will lead to considerable environmental benefits like recyclability and, even more relevant, to the technical and economic feasibility of electric vehicles.
The final aim of the project is to start large-scale commercialization of the new cooling circuits one year after the end of the project. To do so, GRIMEV will first define the requirements of advanced EV cooling systems, develop the material, develop the manufacturing process of the cooling ducts, and finally manufacture a set of conduction prototypes that will be thoroughly modeled and tested both at a lab and real vehicle scale.
Partnership
- CIKAUTXO S. COOP., Spain (Lead partner)
- Centro Ricerche Fiat S.C.p.A. (CRF – C.R.F.), Italy
- French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), France
- Deutsches Institut für Kautschuktechnologie e.V., Germany
- Katholieke Universiteit te Leuven (KU Leuven), Belgium
- MONDRAGON GOI ESKOLA POLITEKNIKOA S. COOP. (MGEP), Spain