The European Commission has launched a EUR10 million ($12m) prize “challenge” to develop a “safe and sustainable battery” for electric vehicles.
According to the Commission said the challenge is to develop “new materials and chemistries making use of abundant, sustainable low cost materials, which are easily available in Europe”.
The prize will be awarded for the development of a prototype battery that can power an electric vehicle “with similar performance in terms of range and charging time as a conventional petrol/diesel powered small family vehicle”.
However, the Commission said the battery should also “be of relatively low cost, durable, safe and fully recyclable”. The deadline to apply is 17 December 2020.
The initiative is the fifth of six European Innovation Council (EIC) Horizon Prizes on innovative batteries for e-vehicles. The EIC Horizon Prizes are part of the first phase of the European Innovation Council under Horizon 2020, the EU’s Research and Innovation Framework Programme.
The challenge came as the European Union unveiled a 20-point action plan to guide development of an EU “batteries alliance“.
