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Research and innovation
News article23 February 2018

Commission launches €10 million EIC Horizon Prize for innovative batteries for electric vehicles

The European Commission has launched the fifth of six European Innovation Council (EIC) Horizon Prizes, on Innovative batteries for eVehicles, worth €10 million. 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 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. The battery should also be of relatively low cost, durable, safe and fully recyclable. The Prize aims to tackle the challenge of the slow uptake of zero emission electric vehicles so far, mainly due to the limitations of existing batteries, which are expensive and have limited ranges and long recharging times.

Carlos Moedas, Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, said:

This prize will boost the use of electric vehicles. This is good for air quality and health of people living in cities. It will also help Europe to enhance its battery manufacturing capabilities and maintain its leading position in scientific innovation.

The Prize will contribute to the objectives of the Commission’s Clean Mobility Package, which aims to reduce CO2 emissions, boost deployment of clean vehicles and foster an integrated industrial policy on batteries that will be invented and produced in the EU. To ensure such competitive, independent and innovative battery manufacturing the Commission has initiated an EU battery alliance bringing together industry, the innovation community and Member States.  

The deadline to apply to the EIC Horizon Prize on Innovative batteries for eVehicles is 17 December 2020. More information including the Rules of Contest is available on the EIC website.

Background

The 2018-20 Work Programme of Horizon 2020, published on 27 October 2017, introduced measures to support market-creating innovation through a pilot phase of the European Innovation Council. With a budget of €2.7 billion, the EIC pilot brings together existing instruments such as the SME Instrument, Inducement Prizes, Future and Emerging Technologies, and Fast Track to Innovation.

EIC Horizon Prizes are particularly ambitious as they are expected to trigger innovations in areas where important societal problems need to be solved. These Prizes call for breakthrough solutions which should demonstrate their feasibility or potential so that innovators can take them quickly to the market.

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Publication date
23 February 2018