Road Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) optimised user-centric solutions for energy efficiency design and consistent range throughout weather conditions (2ZERO Partnership)
HORIZON Innovation Actions
Basic Information
- Identifier
- HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-05
- Programme
- Cluster 5 Call 04-2025 (WP 2025)
- Programme Period
- 2021 - 2027
- Status
- Closed (31094503)
- Opening Date
- May 6, 2025
- Deadline
- September 4, 2025
- Deadline Model
- single-stage
- Budget
- €2,000,000
- Min Grant Amount
- €2,000,000
- Max Grant Amount
- €2,000,000
- Expected Number of Grants
- 1
- Keywords
- HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-05HORIZON-CL5-2025-04
Description
Project results are expected to contribute to all the following outcomes:
- Validated set of user requirements and usage acceptance limits, e. g. acceptable range loss for cabin climatisation, for different vehicle user groups (e. g. age, income, gender, location, regular usage models) in consideration of driving habits under various weather conditions as a basis for system development;
- Innovative and affordable Light Duty Vehicles (LDV) / Light Commercial Vehicles (LCV) energy management solutions demonstrated with a prototypical system (e. g. mock-up vehicle) in relevant environment and compared with State of the Art. Solutions should be cost effectively fulfilling and balancing user needs (from comfort and air quality aspects such as temperatures, humidity, CO2, to driving range) under extreme weather conditions (-15°C to at least +40°C, aiming to +45°C);
- User and use case specific vehicle range loss (due to climatisation needs) at extreme ambient conditions will be reduced to user acceptance limits. Compared to State of the Art for an affordable system design, the range loss from normal operating conditions (e.g., 10 to 20 °C) to extreme ambient conditions will be reduced by at least 30% without increasing system cost (e.g. energy, battery and thermal management);
- Optimal energy management including integration of future smart cities standards (e.g., speed control, environmental forecasting, swarm information, smart energy management, grid peak load periods) resulting in 10% improvement of energy demand for the thermal system and the powertrain.
Preserving the benefits of right-sized batteries in terms of road BEV affordability, material resource and energy savings while reducing the impact of occasional extreme weather conditions on driving range for both LDV and LCV, especially during longer trips, calls for novel systemic approaches on thermal management. Finding solutions which adequately balance user needs, technical effort and vehicle affordability requires user research (e. g. user acceptance, preferences, and usage scenarios for the vehicles) to set relevant goals and criteria for innovation in the field of thermal management systems and technologies.
Automotive standards (e.g. ISO 7730, ISO 14505-4) should be met, keeping in mind that extreme weather conditions are a critical challenge and should be tackled not only with innovative or improved components, but especially with novel, user-centric and intelligent solutions based on an overall vehicle system approach (can include interface to infrastructure) to minimise energy and simplify thermal systems and which do not lead to increased system or vehicle cost.
Proposals are expected to address all the following aspects:
- Analyse user requirements to identify personalised thresholds of thermal comfort and their different expectations and behaviours, sensitivities, tolerances, and acceptance with regard to various use cases;
- Establish a holistic approach to optimising energy efficiency and relevant thermal functions (system-oriented and simplified solutions based on usage scenarios and inclusion of external data to use energy optimally and avoid oversizing that could also result from cascading engineering safety margins);
- Explore and exploit the potential that connection to the grid offers without overloading the grid especially during extreme weather conditions;
- Develop innovative, safe and intelligent solutions that reduce the loss of range within acceptable limits also addressing the balance of costs, usage models and system complexity when considering extreme weather conditions while meeting automotive standards under normal use;
- Develop innovative vehicle energy management solutions for seldom extreme weather conditions also using predictive energy management, e.g., AI-based functions and intelligent management of auxiliaries, in order to fulfil user preferences and tolerances;
- All developed solutions and concepts must be integrated in a prototype or mock-up vehicle and demonstrated on system level in a relevant environment.
The project(s) should take account Open Science, its practices and learning, and the project’s results will be enacted in line with FAIR principles for data[1].
This topic implements the co-programmed European Partnership on ‘Towards zero emission road transport’ (2ZERO). As such, projects resulting from this topic will be expected to report on the results to the European Partnership ‘Towards zero emission road transport’ (2ZERO) in support of the monitoring of its KPIs.
[1] Final Report and Action Plan from the European Commission Expert Group on FAIR Data, “TURNING FAIR INTO REALITY” - https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/7769a148-f1f6-11e8-9982-01aa75ed71a1/language-en
Destination & Scope
This Destination addresses activities that improve the climate and environmental footprint, as well as competitiveness, of different transport modes.
The areas of rail and air traffic management will be addressed through dedicated Institutional European Partnerships and are therefore not included in this document.
This Destination contributes directly to the Strategic Plan’s Key Strategic Orientations ‘Green transition’, ‘Digital transition’ and ‘A more resilient, competitive, inclusive and democratic Europe’.
In line with the Strategic Plan, the overall expected impact of this Destination is to contribute to the ‘Achieving sustainable and competitive transport modes’.
The main impacts to be generated by topics under this Destination are:
Zero-emission road transport
- Clean solutions for zero tailpipe emission and environmentally friendly mobility for a climate neutral and zero pollution mobility with a higher level of circularity;
- Affordable, user-friendly, inclusive, safe, and secure concepts and technologies that are easy to deploy, considering needs, behaviours, and socio-economic status of end-users;
- Increased global competitiveness of the EU transport sector;
- Increased responsiveness of zero tailpipe emission vehicles and systems to diverse societal interests and concerns;
- Use cases and concepts for zero-emission road mobility of people and goods are successfully and innovatively demonstrated.
Aviation
- New and updated Aviation Research and Technology Infrastructures, where the new research and technologies will be developed and tested;
- Increased understanding and analysis of mitigation options of aviation’s non-CO2 climate impacts. New technologies for significantly lower local air-pollution and noise;
- Accelerated uptake of sustainable aviation fuels in aviation, including the coordination with Member States and private initiatives.
Waterborne transport
- The shipping industry (shipowners, equipment manufacturers, port authorities, terminal operators, and shipbuilders) will have access to high-power low and zero emission fuel solutions by 2030, leading to lower costs, enhanced energy efficiency, risk mitigation, standardised implementation, and improved operational efficiency through data science.
- Port operators and ship owners will benefit from increased safety and technical standards on ammonia and hydrogen bunkering, including failure scenarios and risk mitigation;
- The shipping industry will benefit from lower-cost and flexible battery-based solutions as primary sources of energy, higher safety standards and broader electrification solutions;
- Shipowners, ship operators and port authorities will have access to OPS (Onshore Power Supply) solutions that will enable them to comply with the current and incoming legislative framework;
- Policy makers and shipowners will benefit from access to accurate information and assessment methods on the direct energy savings resulting from the use of wind-assisted propulsion (WAP) systems under current legislative frameworks like FuelEU Maritime, contributing to the assessment of GHG intensity of energy used on-board. Shipowners, shipbuilders, and European shipyards will have access to commercially viable, cost-efficient, and easy-to-retrofit WAP solutions deployed at commercial scale, particularly for long-distance shipping;
- Shipyards will have innovative holistic intelligent design tools for various retrofit solutions, enhancing the competitiveness of European shipyards and marine equipment providers;
- Governments, port authorities, and shipping companies will benefit from access to standardised systems and tools for monitoring air pollutants and fuel consumption of ships, enabling compliance with current and incoming regulations on ship emissions;
- Policymakers and enforcement bodies will benefit from innovative tools to fulfil the requirements of the Ship Sourced Pollution Directive resulting in an increased environmental protection of sea waters.
Transport related environment and health
The better monitoring of the environmental performance and enforcement of emissions regulation and biodiversity protection in order to reduce the overall environmental impact of transport (e.g., as regards biodiversity, noise, pollution and waste) on human health and ecosystems.
Eligibility & Conditions
General conditions
1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout
2. Eligible Countries
described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.
A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.
3. Other Eligible Conditions
The following exceptions apply: subject to restrictions for the protection of European communication networks.
described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.
4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion
described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.
5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds
are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes.
5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes
are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual.
5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement
described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.
6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants
Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2021-2027) – and in actions under the Research and Training Programme of the European Atomic Energy Community (2021-2025). [[This decision is available on the Funding and Tenders Portal, in the reference documents section for Horizon Europe, under ‘Simplified costs decisions’ or through this link: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/horizon/guidance/ls-decision_he_en.pdf]].
described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Specific conditions
Not applicable.
Application and evaluation forms and model grant agreement (MGA):
Application form templates — the application form specific to this call is available in the Submission System
Standard application form (HE RIA, IA)
Evaluation form templates — will be used with the necessary adaptations
Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA)
Guidance
Model Grant Agreements (MGA)
Call-specific instructions
Additional documents:
HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 1. General Introduction
HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 8. Climate, Energy and Mobility
HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 14. General Annexes
HE Framework Programme 2021/695
HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764
EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509
Decision authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme
Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment
EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement
Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual
Support & Resources
Online Manual is your guide on the procedures from proposal submission to managing your grant.
Horizon Europe Programme Guide contains the detailed guidance to the structure, budget and political priorities of Horizon Europe.
Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ – find the answers to most frequently asked questions on submission of proposals, evaluation and grant management.
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Latest Updates
The call for proposals HORIZON-CL5-2025-04 closed on 04/09/2025. 167 proposals were submitted to the call. The breakdown per topic is:
HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-01 (IA): 8
HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-02 (IA): 7
HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-03 (IA): 10
HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-04 (RIA): 12
HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-05 (IA): 9
HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-06 (IA): 5
HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-07 (CSA): 5
HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-08 (RIA): 1
HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-10 (IA): 3
HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-11 (IA): 12
HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-12 (RIA): 16
HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-13 (IA): 5
HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-14 (IA): 5
HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-15 (IA): 6
HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-16 (CSA): 4
HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-18 (CSA): 1
HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-19 (CSA): 4
HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D6-01 (RIA): 19
HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D6-02 (CSA): 1
HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D6-11 (RIA): 23
HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D6-12 (IA): 11