Europe’s future depends on sustainable, resilient electrified systems. To strengthen the continent's strategic autonomy, competitiveness, and environmental resilience, Europe needs to manufacture low-cost, safe and sustainable batteries and rapidly integrate them into mobility systems. However, three major problems (limited access to critical raw materials, fragmented supply chains, and long development cycles) have contributed to the recent cancellation or downsizing of more than 600 GWh of planned European battery manufacturing capacity.
OLiMPUS will manufacture a pilot series of Made-in-Europe battery cells that overcome these three problems. Specifically, OLiMPUS will design and produce 132 EV-grade pouch and prismatic cells (10–80 Ah). OLiMPUS cells are designed to be high-performance and long-lifetime. They are affordable, safe, sustainable, and readily manufacturable using European-sourced materials and process equipment.
Advanced characterization, operando sensing, and hybrid physics-based and AI models will accelerate development, identify degradation mechanisms early, improve lifetime prediction, and reduce testing time. Digital twins will evaluate the total cost of ownership and lifecycle impacts in maritime, heavy-duty, and passenger EV applications. OLiMPUS cells are expected to achieve EUCAR safety level 2–3 and UN38.3 transport certification, enabling safer cell-to-pack architectures with higher pack-level energy density and lower manufacturing and certification costs. The manufacturing process has also been designed to be safe and sustainable, including via aqueous and quasi-dry electrode processing and the use of low-CO2 synthetic graphite.
By 2032, industrial partners aim to mass-produce OLiMPUS materials, cells, packs, and EV systems in Europe. Preliminary techno-economic assessment estimates competitive costs of 56–65 €/kWh at cell level and 67–75 €/kWh at pack level. The project also supports circularity and compliance with the Batteries Regulation through recycling-by-design strategies targeting 80–90% recycling-by-mass. Compared with NMC811||graphite systems, OLiMPUS is expected to reduce lifecycle CO2eq emissions by ~1.8 Mt by 2050 while strengthening European value chains.
The consortium combines eight leading research organisations and eight industrial partners spanning the full battery value chain, from advanced electrode and electrolyte materials to cell manufacturing, modelling, recycling, and mobility-system integration. Together, the partners combine world-class R&D, pilot manufacturing, industrial upscaling, and system integration capabilities to deliver viable, scalable, and safer European LMFP||graphite batteries for road and maritime mobility.