The project is coordinated by SINTEF, one of Europe’s largest research organizations, and taps twelve partners across Europe whose expertise spans the battery value chain—from materials to end-use in electric vehicles (EVs) and marine vessels.

“High-performance and affordable electric mobility is a cornerstone technology for reducing air pollution in cities and enabling the future of the Green Transition,” says Dr. Simon Clark, Research Scientist and project coordinator from SINTEF. “The cost and lifetime of electric vehicles are largely determined by the battery pack, which can be heavy and expensive. HYDRA is developing advanced battery materials, cell designs, and manufacturing methods to address these challenges in a sustainable way.”

Corvus Energy’s primary contribution and project focus will be advanced battery characterization as well as performance and lifetime modeling.

“We are humble to be recognized as one of the battery technology experts in such a prestigious research project and we are excited to work alongside the other project partners,” says Lars Ole Valøen, Chief Technology Officer at Corvus Energy. “By collecting high level expertise from across the value chain to collaborate on such a comprehensive scope, will create the momentum needed to accelerate the development towards the next generation batteries free of critical raw materials.”

Valøen  continues: “For Corvus, this means we can shorten the time to market for more sustainable, higher performing batteries at a lower cost for our customers. We will also be able to further develop advanced characterization methods and cell modelling framework which will improve battery sizing algorithms and lifecycle analysis for our systems in addition to improved services through our customer portal.”

Elkem, one of the world’s leading companies in the environmentally responsible manufacture of metals and materials, is also partner in HYDRA.

“HYDRA is an important project to progress sustainable manufacturing of next generation battery materials in Europe, and Elkem is pleased to contribute," says Stian Madshus, Vice President of Elkem Battery Materials. "This effort fits well with Elkem's activities to supply solutions to the battery industry and the EV market, including graphite for anodes, silicon for tomorrow’s anodes and silicone solutions for battery packs and modules.”

The project kicked off September 16, 2020 and is expected to take place over a 4-year period.

About HYDRA
Like the mythical beast, the HYDRA project will take a multi-headed approach to solve the challenges that have limited Li-ion batteries in EVs.

The project will combine advances in hybridized battery materials with model-based design to develop optimized designs that balance the needs for energy and power while retaining capacity over many cycles. In this effort, HYDRA enlists the support of preeminent battery research groups in Europe. Additionally, the project mobilizes strong commitment from industry partners across the battery value chain. From materials development, to cell manufacturing, and pack integration, HYDRA will pursue solutions that are feasible, sustainable, and relevant to the needs to the e-mobility industry today.

Ecological and economic sustainability is a key focus of HYDRA. The project will target the development of environmentally friendly water-based processing of cobalt-free cathode materials. This has the potential to significantly improve the cost and safety of the manufacturing process and reduce dependence on critical raw materials (CRMs). The HYDRA concept uses abundant electrode materials like iron, manganese, and silicon, with a net CRM reduction of >85%.

HYDRA will collaborate with other EU battery research projects through the activities of the LC-BAT-5 Cluster.

Project Duration: September2020 – August 2024

Project Budget: €9.4 million

Partners: SINTEF (Coordinator), University of Louvain, FAAM Research Center, The German Aerospace Center (DLR), National Research and Development Institute for Cryogenics and Isotopic Technologies (ICSI) RM Valcea, Solvionic, Corvus Energy AS, Polytechnic University of Turin, Elkem ASA, Johnson Matthey plc, Uppsala University and The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA).