Electric motors are powering more and more cars. But what happens to them when they have had their day? They contain valuable materials such as rare earths, which have hardly been recycled to date. A new large-scale project aims to change this.
The ReDriveS research project, in which the TU Bergakademie Freiberg is also involved, was officially launched in mid-January. A total of 25 partners from industry, SMEs and science are working on automatically dismantling electric axle drives and recovering the raw materials. The Federal Ministry of Economics is funding the project with over 16 million euros. In total, ReDriveS has a volume of more than 25 million euros.
Digital helpers for sustainable recycling
Another component of the project is digital twins. These are virtual images of the drives that contain all the important information about the design and materials. This digital data should be usable across all manufacturers. This means that the recycling plants know exactly how to dismantle different engines.
The project is helping to reduce dependence on raw material imports. At the same time, CO₂ emissions are reduced in the production of new electric cars. Schaeffler AG is coordinating ReDriveS. More than 80 project participants met at the company headquarters in Herzogenaurach to kick off the project. The project will run for 36 months. The results should help to meet future recycling quotas and make the electric mobility value chain more resilient.
