ECOHYDRO aims to develop a new energy efficient filament winding process of hydrogen storage tanks using recyclable materials. We will improve the thermoplastic acrylic resin for in-situ polymerization, which has been used for wind energy and marine applications so far, for the high-speed filament winding process by optimizing the UV polymerization of the resin and developing new filament winding tools and equipment. Especially, we will develop multi-functional resin with fire-resistance, thermal insulation and self-healing capacity which are expected to enhance the safety of hydrogen storage, and hybrid tows to reduce microcracking. We will develop a recycling technology to recover 100% of carbon fibres and resin from hydrogen tanks after their end-of-life. These recovered materials will be used for the rewinding process for new tanks manufacturing. This recycling and rewinding technology will contribute to significant reduction of the cost and of carbon footprint of hydrogen storage tanks. To improve the safety and durability of hydrogen tanks, a new structural health monitoring technology via sensor integration into the tanks in service life, will be developed in combination with data science using AI algorithm. These sensors embedded into the tank during the manufacturing process will be used to monitor the soundness of filament winding process in real time to improve the yield ratio. The developed technologies will be validated by four different types of industrial demonstrators (TRL4) using either compressed gas hydrogen storage cryogenic liquid hydrogen storage, such as aboveground station, tube trailor, truck and bus, and aviation. The industrial partners of ECOHYDRO (Tier 1, end-users) will validate the demonstrator development and prepare a future plan for a higher TRL (4-8) development in terms of the KPIs. Dissemination and communication activities will be performed in relation with other EU projects as well as general public and scientific community.

The Hydrogen Vehicle Ecosystem (HYVE) project is accelerating the UK's transition away from fossil fuels and towards zero-emission fuel cell vehicles. The HYVE consortium is building a large, multi-vehicle-type hydrogen mobility hub in the Tees Valley: a network of hydrogen stations and fuel cell vehicles in daily operations with many vehicle operators. The HYVE Darlington project will build a 5MW green hydrogen electrolyser at Exolum's Riverside Fuels Terminal in Stockton-on-Tees and a public hydrogen refuelling station at Phillips 66's Newton Park Service Station. The station will supply green hydrogen to 22 hydrogen trucks and 6 vans and will be used by 5 large operators in a diverse set of applications. The project partners include: * Phillips 66 & Exolum - Hydrogen supply * Tevva - Truck supply * Electra Commercial Vehicles - Truck supply * Quantron - Truck and van supply * Teesside University - Data monitoring & analytics partner * Element Energy - Project Coordinator The project will catalyse hydrogen vehicle deployment within the Tees Valley and demonstrate a replicable strategy for other cities to kick-start hydrogen mobility ecosystems. Aggregating vehicle suppliers and customers to give hydrogen suppliers confidence to invest in large-scale, high-reliability hydrogen refuelling infrastructure will solve the 'chicken and egg' barrier that has limited UK fuel cell vehicle deployment to date. The consortium's vision is to replicate this project across 10 major UK cities to create the UK's first network of hydrogen refuelling stations providing basic national coverage. This project builds on the work done in the Tees Valley's phase one deployment which demonstrated the potential of a multimodal hydrogen mobility ecosystem by deploying 1 truck, 10 cars, 2 buses and 1 forklift.

Heavy-duty vehicles account for about 25% of EU road transport CO2 emissions and about 6% of total EU emissions. In line with the Paris Agreement and Green Deal targets, Regulation (EU) 2019/1242 setting CO2 emission standards for HDVs (from August 14, 2019) forces the transition to a seamless integration of zero-emission vehicles into fleets. In line with the European 2050 goals ESCALATE aims to demonstrate high-efficiency zHDV powertrains (up to 10% increase) for long-haul applications that will provide a range of 800 km without refueling/recharging and cover at least 500 km average daily operation (6+ months) in real conditions. ESCALATE will achieve this by following modularity and scalability approach starting from the β-level of hardware and software innovations and aiming to reach the γ-level in the first sprint and eventually the δ-level at the project end through its 2 sprint-V-cycle. ESCALATE is built on the novel concepts around 3 main innovation areas, which are: i) Standardized well-designed, cost effective modular and scalable multi powertrain components; ii) Fast Fueling & Grid-friendly charging solutions; and iii) Digital Twin (DT) & AI-based management tools considering capacity, availability, speed, and nature of the charging infrastructures as well as the fleet structures. Throughout the project lifetime, 5 pilots, 5 DTs and 5 case studies on TCO (with the target of 10% reduction), together with their environmental performance via TranSensusLCA will be performed. The ultimate goal is to develop well-designed modular building blocks with a TRL7/8 based on business model innovations used for 3 types of zHDVs {b-HDV,f-HDV,r-HDV}. Furthermore, 3 white papers will be produced, one of which will contribute defining the pathway for reducing well-to-wheel GHG emissions from HDVs based on results and policy assessments.

The "Road to Hydrogen" is a demonstration project undertaken in the Teesside hydrogen valley to trial the first 19t GVW rigid truck powered by hydrogen fuel cells in the UK. Lessons learnt in this project will generate the insights required to improve the confidence of regional stakeholders, contribute to the long-term success of the Teesside Hydrogen Hub and will support the development of a local hydrogen supply chain. The consortium includes Electra, the only UK-based OEM capable of providing a H2FC HGV in the given timeframe, Durham University a major academic institution with strong links to the Tees Valley, and Transport Research Laboratory and Element Energy organisations with substantial experience managing, monitoring and evaluating hydrogen trials. The project is also supported by Sainsbury's, a national retailer who will operate the truck from a local distribution centre, and Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council, which has a large public logistics fleet in which to operate the truck if required. The project will deliver several innovations in relation to systems integration, hydrogen trial designs, and automation of the monitoring and evaluation process of hydrogen fuel cell vehicle trials. The project will engage with different stakeholder groups' and will investigate their awareness, perceptions, and attitudes towards hydrogen heavy goods vehicles. The project will identify future business opportunities in the region, to identify the needs to develop a thriving hydrogen ecosystem. While this project is regional in nature, the outcomes are expected to help other regions across the UK to develop hydrogen transport hubs. Elements such as vehicles' reliability, costs, technical performance, operational constraints; policy landscape (enablers and barriers); and stakeholders' views will be easily applied UK-wide. Some of the other aspects such as the Hub's plans and roadmaps while niche, will also indicate some of the activities that other regions seeking to develop a hydrogen valley may want to pursue.

**Problem** The range of zero-emissions vehicles (ZEV) for road freight and the initial up-front cost of ownership are widely cited as the most common reasons why fleet operators are not transitioning to ZEVs. In the case of battery-electric HGVs (eHGV), a subset of ZEVs, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) simply increase the number of battery cells in the vehicle in order to extend the range of the vehicle. While this boosts the range, it introduces new challenges. It first significantly increases the cost of the vehicle as battery cells are one of the most expensive components, pricing out most consumers. Secondly, it increases the CO2 emissions at the time of manufacturing, meaning the environmental benefits of a eHGV are less meaningful. **Observation** A key observation is that driving style---how a driver accelerates, brakes and steers---is the single biggest factor why a BEV range by the Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP) standard is not replicated by consumers on public roads. **What is the product & how is it disruptive** In response to this Creation Labs are developing the first Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) that is specifically optimized for energy efficiency to extend the range of eHGV. The active ADAS solution is a Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Level-2 autonomous system that controls the vehicle under the supervision of the driver. The ADAS is innovative as it leverages computer vision and artificial intelligence (AI) to understand the context of the road, the vehicle's electric powertrain, and regenerative braking systems to control the vehicle in an optimally energy efficient manner. Intuitively, it knows when it is most appropriate for the vehicle to coast using no energy and to maximise the percentage of braking, which is regenerative, recharging the vehicle's battery. Project partner Electra Commercial Vehicles knows the challenges of eHGV range first hand from their 50 eHGVs they have sold to customers. They will be providing the test eHGV for the project and bring extensive automotive and electronics experience to the consortium. **How does the product address the problem** The ADAS helps to solve the eHGV range issue by controlling the vehicle optimally to extend the range. The device and software help to extend the range at a fraction of the price of installing additional batteries. Additionally, the extended range is achieved through a manufacturing process which has a smaller carbon footprint than alternatives.

Project EPIC is an industrial manufacturing project developing a next-generation integrated electric powertrain (IEPT) for commercial vehicles up to 44 tonne GVW. The consortium comprises Meritor, Danfoss, and Electra. Meritor leads in global axle and drive system engineering, Danfoss develops advanced electric motors, and Electra specialises in electric vehicle integration. The IEPT product will consist of a single motor with an integrated SiC inverter, integral multispeed gearbox and differential, and foundation brakes optimised for regenerative braking. The powertrain will typically suit 4x2 or 6x2 commercial vehicle configurations but other configurations including off-highway, construction and vocational vehicles are also supported. Drive systems exist today with remote mount motors but still rely on drivelines and traditional axles. Existing eAxles rely on two motors to achieve the required torque and power, which adds cost and complexity. The EPIC solution eliminates the driveline and need for multiple motors. Shorter wheelbase EU trucks are especially unable to utilise the area between the frame rails due to the driveline presence, which limits battery storage thereby limiting the vehicle range. With this novel powertrain, the space becomes accessible. The powertrain will share the same chassis mounting as existing axles allowing for easy vehicle application, while its fully integrated nature offers further benefits over remote mount solution including: * Increased storage for batteries and/or hydrogen between frame rails * Approximately 363 kg weight savings * Smaller packaging envelope * High modularity for wide application coverage * Increased range and/or payload * Greater overall efficiency We project to eliminating 4.2 million tonnes of CO2 per year by 2025\. The high efficiency, and reduced weight and space of the powertrain will improve range and/or payload and therefore potentially improving CO2 reduction in a highly criticised sector. The extensive benefits of this new powertrain will equally provide accelerated adoption of battery-electric, fuel cell, and range-extended hybrid commercial vehicles. To deliver the project, Meritor will create a Centre of Excellence in Cwmbran with expanded testing facilities and R&D team. Danfoss will develop and assemble motors with integrated inverters at a Low- Carbon Innovation Centre near Edinburgh. Electra will assemble vehicles with plans to complete durability and field running at U.K. test tracks and on public roads. The vehicles will also be used to demonstrate the technology to major global vehicle manufacturers, fleets, and other potential end users. The total U.K. project expenditure of £82m is projected to create 189 jobs in the U.K. while safeguarding approximately 500\.

Electric vehicle batteries need replacing when the usable capacity decreases to a level where the range is significantly impacted, this typically happens when only 80% of the original capacity remains. At this point the lithium batteries can be recycled or re-purposed to another industrial application. The problem when attempting to reuse a battery is determine its suitability for another energy storage use. The Battery Passport is equivalent of an odometer for the electric vehicle batteries. It provides a robust mechanism that records battery usage over its life and assures future buyers of their worth, thus reducing the net cost and CO2 footprint of an electric vehicle. Battery Passport works across all battery manufacturers, BMS providers and OEMs. It offers live monitoring of the battery, making information easily accessible to the vehicle owner and manufacturer. In building up this passport of battery data the system learns the regular usage patterns, then offers recommendations to the vehicle owner towards extending in-vehicle battery life by changing behaviour in areas such as maintenance and charging. One unique feature of the Battery Passport is that the integrity of data collected from the vehicle is protected by several cybersecurity mechanisms. Electric Vehicle manufacturers are responsible for the disposal of a battery when it reaches its end-of-vehicle life, recycling is another expense for the manufacturer, where as the transfer of that battery into the second-life market releases the manufacturer from their recycling obligations. Reusing a battery has a number of other benefits, for the battery owner they would receive the income from selling their battery into a secondary market, it would extend the useful life of the battery maximising its potential and by delaying when it has to be recycled it gives the recycling industry time to improve their efficiency rates when processing these lithium batteries.