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NEWSLETTER #2

Smart Tools for Circular Design

Editorial

Dear Readers, 

The transition toward circular and zero-emission mobility requires not only new materials and design strategies, but also intelligent digital solutions that enable better and faster decision-making. In this second issue of the ZEvRA newsletter, we focus on the digital tools that are being developed to support circular design and sustainable manufacturing across the automotive value chain.

ZEvRA is creating a set of advanced digital applications that optimise vehicle development processes. These include tools that significantly reduce crash simulation time, simulate the performance of recycled materials during processing and in component use, and virtually optimise aluminium alloys before physical prototyping. In addition, the project is developing an automated Life Cycle Thinking assessment tool and an automotive-specific Digital Product Passport to improve transparency, traceability, and data-driven decision-making.

Together, these tools demonstrate how digital innovation can accelerate circularity while maintaining safety, performance, and economic feasibility. We invite you to explore the detailed insights presented in this issue and discover how ZEvRA is shaping the digital foundation for circular electric mobility. 

Daniel Nebel, Fraunhofer IWU
Project Coordinator 

Feature Article

The Digital Tools Powering ZEvRA’s Circular Approach

RISE

The digital tools of the ZEvRA project enable the shift from traditional linear vehicle manufacturing to a harmonised, data driven circular approach. Its purpose is to build and integrate advanced digital tools that enhance material circularity, accelerate design workflows, and strengthen traceability across the automotive value chain. These tools serve as enablers for the Design for Circularity methodology and the material innovations, ultimately ensuring that circularity is quantifiable, comparable, and scalable across Europe’s electric vehicle ecosystem. Five groups of tools are being developed, three supporting components of different material groups and two more supporting circularity across the vehicle as a whole.

For steel repurposing, an AI tool is developed that allows the rapid assessment of a repurposed steel to determine whether it can be used for components that have pedestrian safety requirements. This can be done using conventional simulation, but with the newly developed tool, crash simulation time is reduced from six weeks to just seconds, enabling rapid redesign of repurposed components while maintaining safety requirements.

For fibrereinforced plastics and recycled polymers, the tools provide virtual twin models capable of simulating the performance of the recycled material in both processing and component performance. The underlying developments are in prediction of crystallinity and material models for recycled materials. This allows the comparison of fibre orientation, weld lines, and warpage in recycled compared to virgin plastics, important for evaluating the feasibility of high recycled content.

The last of the material specific tools is for recycled aluminium. These are new analytical correlation models for recycled aluminium alloys that link microstructure, process parameters, and crash performance and through this allow extrusion and casting processes to be virtually optimised before physical prototyping. The resulting models show highly accurate predictions of crystallinity and performance, increasing the confidence in designing and using these recycled aluminium alloys.

Looking beyond component design, a tool for the automation of the Life Cycle Thinking assessment is developed thus digitalising circularity decision making. Here designers gain a tool that evaluates R9 strategies, logistics, assembly, and environmental trade offs in real time. This systematized digital assessment helps identify the most effective circular pathways while ensuring consistency and transparency across different materials and applications.

The final tool in the suite is the creation of an automotive specific Digital Product Passport (DPP). By defining life cycle data and enabling secure data sharing test benches, the DPP prototype demonstrates how material origin, processing history, and recyclability can be tracked throughout the value chain.

Together, these digital tools unlock ZEvRA’s ambition: faster engineering cycles, more reliable use of secondary materials, transparent value chain data exchange, and a replicable foundation for Europe’s circular electric vehicles of the future.

Use-Case Spotlight

Base line evaluation: How the methodology guides pilot case selection

EDAG

The ZEvRA project is pioneering the use of artificial intelligence to advance circularity and sustainability in electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing. A great example of how AI can improve engineering and circularity is EDAG’s AI HIC tool. This digital application is designed to revolutionize how automotive manufacturers assess and reuse sheet metal parts, particularly steel, in vehicle design.

The AI HIC tool addresses a critical challenge in automotive circularity: determining whether hoods are well designed to ensure a high survival rate at pedestrian crashes. This is particularly important to ensure that sheet metal components to be repurposed in new vehicle models. Traditionally, this process requires extensive manual analysis and simulation in the range of weeks, making reuse economically and technically unfeasible. EDAG’s solution leverages artificial intelligence to automate and accelerate this assessment, making sustainable practices more accessible to manufacturers.

At its core, the tool processes data from Computer-Aided Design (CAD), preparing geometry and material information for AI-driven analysis. Using advanced machine learning models, the tool classifies sheet metal parts according to Head Impact Criteria (HIC), a key safety metric for pedestrian protection. Instead of outputting a single HIC value, the AI assigns values to any predefined point providing rapid feedback on its suitability for reuse in the vehicle’s frontal area with an unreached resolution.

The workflow is streamlined and user-friendly. Engineers can import CAD or CAE files, assign material properties, and let the AI process the data. The tool’s analysis features allow users to visualize impact points, compare AI predictions with simulation results, and export findings for further evaluation. Fine-tuning capabilities enable adaptation of the AI model to specific vehicle types or new datasets, ensuring flexibility as design requirements evolve.

By enabling fast, reliable assessment of reused sheet metal parts, EDAG’s AI HIC tool supports the automotive industry’s transition to circularity. It reduces waste, lowers costs, and helps manufacturers meet stringent safety standards while advancing the broader goals of zero-emission mobility. As the ZEvRA Project continues, this tool sets a new benchmark for sustainable innovation in automotive engineering.

 

Partner Spotlight

EDAG Group is a global leader in independent engineering services for the mobility industry, founded in 1969 and headquartered in Germany. With over 8,000 employees at 80 locations worldwide, EDAG delivers comprehensive expertise across the entire vehicle development chain from concept to production-ready solutions. The company’s interdisciplinary teams specialize in complete vehicle development, integration of modern drive concepts (including electric, hybrid, and fuel cell systems), body-in-white engineering, chassis, interior and exterior design, and advanced energy systems. EDAG’s capabilities extend to electrics/electronics, autonomous driving, functional safety, and automotive cybersecurity, ensuring vehicles meet the highest standards of innovation and reliability. Their expertise in virtual development, simulation, and agile methods enables efficient, flexible processes tailored to customer needs. EDAG also supports smart factory solutions and digitalization, optimizing production and supply chain management for maximum productivity. As a trusted partner for OEMs and startups, EDAG combines German engineering excellence with cutting-edge technology to drive the future of mobility.

BENTELER Raufoss AS is part of BENTELER Automotive, a global Tier-1 supplier of chassis and safety systems to the automotive industry. The Raufoss site in Norway specialises in aluminium extrusion-based crash management systems and structural components for passenger vehicles, including electric vehicles. With extensive expertise in extrusion, forming, machining, and assembly of safety-relevant aluminium structures, BENTELER Raufoss delivers industrialised solutions to major OEMs. 

Crash Management Systems (CMS) represent one of the most safety-relevant aluminium applications in modern vehicles. These systems must fulfil strict requirements for energy absorption, stiffness, dimensional accuracy, and integration within vehicle architecture, while remaining compatible with large-scale industrial production. 

Within ZEvRA, BENTELER Raufoss demonstrates a dual sustainability strategy: eliminating primary aluminium and significantly reducing structural weight. 

For the ŠKODA ENYAQ demo vehicle, the company delivers a fully functional Rear Crash Management System (CMS) made from 100% post-consumer scrap (PCS), achieving nearly 50% weight reduction compared to the reference system. In parallel, a Front CMS concept using the same 100% PCS alloy is virtually validated to assess structural performance and integration feasibility. 

By combining circular aluminium use with lightweight design, BENTELER addresses both production- and use-phase emissions, proving that circularity and safety-relevant structures can be aligned with industrial feasibility. 

Through this combined rear demonstrator and front concept validation, BENTELER Raufoss translates circular economy principles into vehicle-level crash management systems with measurable material and operational sustainability impact.

Event Insight

Field Reports – Bringing ZEvRA to Key Industry Platforms

Polymeris

In the past months, Polymeris actively represented the project at major European events and targeted networking formats, fostering dialogue on recycled materials and circular value chains.
From the international stage of the K trade fair to focused academic–industry exchanges in France, Polymeris promoted ZEvRA’s objectives, connected with material suppliers and manufacturers, and gathered valuable feedback through workshops and surveys. These activities contribute directly to understanding market needs, identifying barriers, and strengthening collaboration across the automotive and materials ecosystem.
Below, we highlight Polymeris’ recent outreach activities and their contribution to advancing circularity within the ZEvRA framework.

On October 9, 2025, Polymeris hosted a European networking cocktail party at its booth to promote the European projects it is involved in, notably ZEvRA. Polymeris also took the opportunity to co-organize, with its partners BAX and RKW, a workshop on the sidelines of the K trade show, one of the largest international trade shows for rubber and plastic materials, to promote the ZEvRA project and distribute a survey aimed at gauging companies’ needs for recycled secondary materials or, conversely, sourcing secondary materials that companies could make available for reuse.

On November 27, 2025, Polymeris organized a meeting at Mines d’Alès to facilitate discussion between industry and academia on issues related to the circularity of composite materials. A session presenting ongoing European projects allowed Polymeris to promote the ZEvRA project. The meeting brought together around thirty participants from industry and academia. 

On November 28, 2025, Polymeris co-organized a french webinar on European opportunities and projects related to the automotive industry with its French partners(automotive cluster and association) Cara, Id4mobility, Nextmove, and French Automotive & Mobility Network. Polymeris took this opportunity to highlight the ZEvRA project. The webinar brought together nearly 30 participants from industry and academia.

Looking Ahead

Upcoming Opportunities – ZEvRA at JEC World 2026

ZEvRA will be present at JEC World 2026, the world’s leading trade show dedicated to composite materials and their applications. Taking place in Paris from 10 to 12 March 2026, the event brings together key stakeholders from industry, research, and innovation across the global composites value chain.

At this major international platform, Polymeris will represent ZEvRA alongside a dozen members within a collective pavilion (Hall 5 – Booth F97). ZEvRA partner Compositec will present the ZEvRA recycled fibre composites solution, highlighting how advanced recycling approaches can be integrated into automotive applications while maintaining performance and industrial feasibility.
In addition, Polymeris will host a networking cocktail reception on Tuesday, 10 March 2026 at 12:00 p.m. at Hall 5 – Booth F97. The reception will bring together partners from several European projects, including ZEvRA, and provide an overview of current European funding and collaboration opportunities for SMEs.

Registration details are available here.

We look forward to welcoming stakeholders in Paris and continuing the dialogue on circular composites and zero-emission mobility solutions.

ZEVRA PLATFORM LAUNCH 27/02/2026

Fundació Eurecat

We are happy to share the ZEvRA training platform with our entire community!

Access to https://academy.zevraproject.eu/

This dedicated hub is designed for knowledge exchange and professional growth, with a range of courses and resources developed by the ZEvRA project team. We’re committed to making the platform even better, so you can expect regular updates and fresh content as the project evolves.

Our first three courses are now live, packed with practical information and skills tailored for the ZEvRA community. When you complete a course, you’ll receive an official certificate, plus you can get support from our AI assistant tutor in each course, ready to help you get the most out of your learning experience.  You will also find supplementary materials from previous sustainability initiatives to further expand your knowledge.

Stay tuned for new content and features that will keep the platform dynamic and valuable for everyone. Join our growing learning community and make the most of everything ZEvRA has to offer!

Did you know?

NEWSLETTER #1

The Circular Mobility Challenge

Editorial

Dear Readers,

The transformation toward zero-emission mobility is still accelerating, but the challenge extends far beyond electrification. To achieve a truly sustainable transport system, we must also rethink how vehicles are designed, produced, and reused. The ZEvRA project is tackling this challenge by embedding circular economy principles across the entire value chain — from material recovery to product design and production.

In this first issue, we introduce the ZEvRA Circular Economy Approach — the foundation guiding our eight industrial use cases — and highlight how our partners are turning circular thinking into practical innovation. Over the next year, this newsletter will share our progress, insights, and opportunities for collaboration as we work to make circular mobility a European reality.

As we approach the end of the year, we would also like to take this opportunity to thank all partners and stakeholders for their engagement and support so far. We wish you happy holidays and a successful start to the New Year, and we look forward to continuing our collaboration in the months ahead.

Daniel Nebel, Project Coordinator, Fraunhofer-IWU

Feature Article

The ZEvRA Design-for-Circularity & Harmonized Circularity Assessment Framework

Fundació Eurecat

Transitioning to a more circular electric mobility requires far more than recycling at end of life. starts with smarter decisions much earlier in the design process, supported by robust, transparent assessment methods. ZEvRA’s Design for Circularity (DfC) and Harmonized Circularity Assessment (HCA) framework brings these two elements together, enabling partners to design EV components and vehicles that are circular by design and proven to be circular across their full life cycle.

At the core of the framework is the DfC methodology. It provides designers a clear, practical and structured guidance to ensure that decisions are made using a full Life Cycle Thinking perspective, avoiding burden shifting between life-cycle stages or between sustainability spheres (environmental, economic, social, and circular). The methodology helps identify which circularity strategies truly make sense for each component, based on its technical characteristics and constraints. Instead of generic recommendations, the DfC method offers concrete strategy pathways, focused design prompts, and practical criteria that can be applied directly during concept development.

To ensure that design choices translate into real, measurable outcomes, ZEvRA complements DfC with a HCA at vehicle level. The HCA integrates circularity indicators with the three dimensions of Life Cycle Thinking: Environmental (LCA), Economic (LCC), and Social (S-LCA) creating a single, coherent assessment system that captures potential trade-offs across the whole product life cycle. This integration is essential: a design that increases recyclability but raises carbon emissions, or cost cannot be considered better than another only for taking into consideration one of the four spheres. By connecting circularity with actual life-cycle consequences, ZEvRA avoids the common trap of “improving circularity on paper” while worsening overall sustainability. The HCA framework allows partners to evaluate these effects consistently, transparently, and comparably across all ZEvRA developments.

Together, the DfC and HCA form a closed loop between design intent and validation. DfC guides early-stage decisions, while the HCA quantifies the resulting benefits at solution level, helping OEMs and suppliers understand which circularity strategies deliver real value, and which may require additional effort or data.

By combining methodological clarity with practical application, ZEvRA offers a blueprint for integrating circularity into EV design and development, supporting a future where electric vehicles are not only more resource-efficient but also genuinely sustainable across environmental, economic, and social spheres. 

Use-Case Spotlight

Base line evaluation: How the methodology guides pilot case selection

Fundació Eurecat, Bay Zoltan Research Centre & University of Northumbria at Newcastle

The goal of the ZEvRA project is to explore the opportunities for transitioning the automotive sector toward more sustainable electric vehicle manufacturing. The proposed solutions are planned to be evaluated in terms of sustainability by comparing them to the Business-as-Usual (BaU) scenario, which is one of the main objectives of the project.

As a first step, a Life Cycle Thinking (LCT) assessment was made on the BaU scenario, covering the three pillars of sustainability—environmental, social, and economic dimensions. Environmental aspects are addressed through a full Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the reference vehicle. This includes a sensitivity analysis focusing on one of the model’s variable parameters: the source of electricity used to charge the vehicle. The economic analysis (LCC) aimed to quantify the total life cycle costs of the vehicle, and also investigated the potential impact of typical usage phase variables on these costs. Social impacts were assessed through a Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA) based on the SKODA Enyaq reference scenario, focusing on the most significant social aspects in each life cycle phase. The analysis relied on the PSILCA database, with special attention to individual well-being and social risks.

Conclusions: the life cycle assessment (LCA) of the benchmark vehicle shows that the main environmental impacts—driven largely by polymers, then steel—are climate change, fossil resource use, particulate matter, ionizing radiation, and photochemical ozone formation, with raw material extraction & processing and the use phase being most critical. Electricity use dominates use-phase impacts, so the electricity mix (renewable vs. fossil) and vehicle weight strongly influence total results, making recycling of metals and potentially polymers especially important for reducing burdens.

The Life Cycle Costing (LCC) study of the ŠKODA Enyaq EV over 15 years and 200,000 km (cradle-to-cradle) shows that the total LCC is dominated by manufacturing (≈75%) and followed by use-phase costs (≈25%), while end-of-life costs and revenues are minor. The main cost drivers are raw materials, manufacturing, labour, and administrative activities, so reducing material and production costs can substantially lower total life cycle costs and is consistent with environmental findings. Sensitivity analyses highlight electricity prices, annual mileage, charging behaviour (public vs. private), and discount rates as key factors influencing the EV’s economic sustainability.

The social assessment shows the highest risks in raw material extraction, where issues include human trafficking (e.g. in cotton and copper supply chains), poor health and safety conditions, limited access to clean water and sanitation for local communities, and risks of anti-competitive behaviour, especially in copper production in China and the DRC. Manufacturing and end-of-life phases generally pose low to moderate risks, mainly related to natural disasters, limited sanitation near steel and synthetic rubber facilities, and challenges in promoting social responsibility in plastics, synthetic rubber, and steel value chains in Central Europe. During the use and end-of-life stages, local communities in Central Europe (excluding the Czech Republic) face moderate risks linked to insufficient sanitation coverage, particularly around recycling activities.

All aspects clearly highlight that raw material extraction and processing is the most critical life cycle phase. While ZEvRA project mainly focuses on improving the design and manufacturing stages, these may also indirectly influence earlier stages. To enhance sustainability, it is advisable to improve the efficiency of recovering and utilizing secondary raw materials, based on reliable sources.”

Partner Spotlight

Eurecat, the Technology Centre of Catalonia, plays a central role in ZEvRA by leading the development of the iterative Design for Circularity (DfC) methodology and the Harmonized Circularity Assessment (HCA) framework. These methodologies operationalise Life Cycle Thinking in the assessment of 9R strategies across vehicle components and systems. With more than 750 professionals, an annual turnover exceeding 50 million euros, and a strong portfolio of over 200 national and international R&D projects, Eurecat brings extensive experience in applied research, innovation, and technology transfer. Its work supports more than 2,000 companies across multiple industrial sectors. Within ZEvRA, Eurecat’s contribution focuses on embedding circular economy principles early in the vehicle design process. The DfC methodology provides structured and practical guidance to designers, ensuring that circular strategies are selected based on technical feasibility and full life cycle considerations. This approach helps avoid burden shifting across life-cycle stages or sustainability dimensions. Complementing DfC, Eurecat develops the Harmonized Circularity Assessment, which integrates environmental, economic, social, and circular indicators at vehicle level. Together, these methodologies create a closed-loop framework that links design decisions with measurable outcomes, supporting OEMs and suppliers in developing electric vehicles that are not only circular by design, but demonstrably sustainable across their entire life cycle.

Bay Zoltán Nonprofit Ltd. (BZN) contributes to ZEvRA by conducting the environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and coordinating the Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC) activities, providing a robust sustainability baseline for evaluating the project’s innovations. As a Hungarian applied research centre with decades of experience in EU framework programmes, BZN specialises in applied research, translating scientific research results into analytical insights that support real, industry practice and decision-making. Within ZEvRA, BZN is responsible to carrys out a comprehensive Life Cycle Thinking assessment of the business-as-usual reference vehicle, covering environmental, social, and economic dimensions. The environmental LCA identifies the most relevant impact categories and life cycle stages, highlighting the dominant role of raw material extraction, processing, and electricity use during the vehicle’s life cycle. Complementary social LCA work focuses on key social risks across the value chain, with particular attention to raw material sourcing and impacts on local communities and workers, while LCC focuses on the environmental related cost consequences of the analysed scenarios. These assessments provide essential benchmarks against which ZEvRA’s circular design and manufacturing solutions can be evaluated. By identifying critical impact hotspots and trade-offs early on, Bay Zoltán’s work supports informed design choices and underlines the importance of improving secondary raw material recovery and use. This evidence-based approach ensures that ZEvRA’s innovations are assessed not only for technical feasibility, but also for their broader environmental and social sustainability.

Event Insight

1st Annual ZEvRA Conference

APRA Europe

On 27 November 2025, the first Annual ZEvRA Conference brought together nearly 100 participants, both onsite and online, for an in-depth exchange on advancing circularity in the automotive sector. The conference provided a platform for project partners and external stakeholders from industry, research, and policy to discuss key challenges and opportunities for circular electric vehicle design. 

Three panel sessions addressed central topics shaping the transition towards a circular automotive industry, including the application of circular economy strategies, barriers along the value chain, and future skills requirements for the EV workforce. In addition, hybrid technical sessions showcased progress in recycling-based aluminium foam, highlighting its potential for lightweight and circular material solutions. 

Across all discussions, the importance of harmonised metrics, transparent data flows, and collaboration across sectors emerged as key enablers for circular adoption. The conference underlined ZEvRA’s role in supporting this transition through common methodologies, awareness-raising, and skills development, and set a strong foundation for continued dialogue and collaboration. 

Looking Ahead

2nd ZEvRA Conference – Autumn 2026

APRA Europe

The second ZEvRA Conference will take place in autumn 2026 and will continue the dialogue on advancing circular economy practices in zero-emission mobility. Building on the insights and progress of the first annual conference, the event will focus on project results, industrial implementation, and pathways for large-scale adoption of circular automotive solutions. In addition to industrial and policy-oriented sessions, the conference will include a scientific conference track with a call for papers, providing researchers with the opportunity to present and discuss latest findings related to circular design, materials, manufacturing, and life cycle assessment in the automotive sector. 

Further details on the programme, speakers, and registration will be shared in the coming months. We invite industry, research, and policy stakeholders to follow ZEvRA’s activities and join the discussion. 

Did you know?

ZEvRA’s 1st Annual Conference, taking place on 27th November 2025 (08:45–16:00 CET)

Come and join us for the project’s first conference in Barcelona! Further information and registration can be found here.

Latest updates from the project

Welcome to 2026

14/01/2026 No Comments

We welcome 2026 with a spotlight on ZEvRA partner Northumbria University and their role within the project. Engy Ghoniem from Northumbria University explains how they

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