Sustainable Mobility: Accelerating the Transition to Electric Vehicles

As the world shifts toward decarbonizing transportation, sustainable mobility solutions are essential to reducing the sector’s environmental impact and meeting net-zero targets.

Traditional Challenges

The transportation sector contributes around 25% of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions and is a key driver of air pollution, including nitrogen oxides (NOx). Transitioning to sustainable mobility is challenging due to:

• High production costs of EVs and their batteries.
• Dependence on scarce minerals like lithium and cobalt.
• Limited vehicle range, especially for long-haul, aviation, and maritime applications.
• Fire safety and battery lifetime issues, which require innovation for safety and durability.
• Challenges in recycling and ensuring sustainable battery production.

Benefits of Deep-Tech Integration

Innovative solutions are needed to increase the adoption of electric passenger vehicles (cars, buses, trams) and sustainable public transport. Deep-tech innovations include but are not limited to:

• Novel battery chemistries (Sodium-ion, Sulphur, LFP, Silicon anodes, Solid state electrolytes, etc) 
• Optimized battery/EV architectures (energy-saving drivetrains, etc). 
• Battery Management and Cooling Systems. 
• Fire protection - new materials (e.g. aerogels, ceramics, foams, coatings, etc.)
• Charging infrastructure esp. fast charging. 
• Innovative processes to reduce battery production costs and emissions. ● Recycling of battery and EV materials. 
• Supercapacitor-battery hybrid systems.

By incorporating these cutting-edge technologies, Europe can overcome major barriers to EV adoption, such as cost, range anxiety, and infrastructure limitations.

Market Potential

The race to electrify transportation is gaining momentum globally, with Europe leading in EV adoption. In 2020, Europe overtook China as the largest EV market, with electric vehicle sales growing by 41%. Significant investments are being made, including Tesla’s Gigafactory in Berlin and Volvo’s €860 million upgrade to its Torslanda plant.

Europe’s transition to electrification is supported by government initiatives like REPowerEU, which aim to reduce carbon emissions, decrease dependence on fossil fuels, and stimulate innovation in clean energy technologies.

Call for Innovation

Companies developing solutions in Sustainable Mobility are invited to apply to D2XCEL, a pan-European scaling program aimed at accelerating the growth of ventures addressing key challenges in electrification. If your startup is focused on EV technology, battery advancements, or charging infrastructure, D2XCEL offers free access to mentorship, investors, and market opportunities.

A full description of this market opportunity can be found here.

D2XCEL invites investors, lead customers, mentors, and network partners to join the network and have access to top-performing ventures in this vertical.

This project has received funding from the European Union under grant agreement Nº101121100. Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.