Electric mobility is no longer a question of whether — it is a question of how to make it sustainable, affordable, and strategically independent. Two challenges shape the next decade: what happens to millions of EV batteries at the end of their first life, and how charging infrastructure can be operated without crippling energy costs.
In Drive2Transform, partner regions from seven Central European countries are turning these questions into use case ideas — concepts the project will now discuss further with interested companies, institutions, and stakeholders. As part of the project, transnational expert groups have identified and developed five priority use cases for the automotive transformation in Central Europe.
After the Autonomous Driving Expert Group, we now present the two use case ideas developed by the Electrification Expert Group — concepts the group selected as particularly valuable for cross-border cooperation.
Use Case 1: Circular Resource Loop for E-Mobility
Europe’s growing EV market will generate millions of end-of-life batteries within the coming decade. Without a coordinated system, the lithium, cobalt, and nickel inside them risk being lost, exported, or processed inefficiently. The use case idea proposes an EU-wide circular system to collect, dismantle, recycle, and reuse critical battery materials — strengthening Europe’s industrial resilience and reducing dependency on imported raw materials.
Five partner regions have contributed Regional Exploitation Plans covering complementary parts of the value chain — from automated dismantling and pre-treatment to hydrometallurgical refining, second-life qualification, and material reintegration. No partner attempts to cover the full chain alone; the strength of the concept lies in this complementarity.
What the Expert Group Found
- Existing automotive corridors can carry batteries in reverse. The logistics networks that already move components and finished vehicles between manufacturing regions can support a transnational circular chain without building new infrastructure. This makes a hub-and-spoke logic both feasible and cost-efficient.
- EU regulation is a binding accelerator, not a guideline. The EU Battery Regulation, the Critical Raw Materials Act, and the Battery Passport set hard deadlines: 65% lithium-ion recycling efficiency by 2025, 50% lithium recovery by 2027 (rising to 80% by 2031), and minimum recycled content (16% cobalt, 6% lithium, 6% nickel) from 2031. Joint compliance solutions — shared traceability platforms, harmonised dismantling protocols, coordinated reporting — lower costs for all partners.
- Feedstock timing requires coordination, not competition. Until around 2030, most recyclable material will come from production scrap rather than end-of-life batteries. Announced European recycling capacities are growing faster than feedstock — creating real overcapacity risk. A transnational allocation logic between partner regions can prevent self-defeating internal competition and maximise total value capture.
- Second-life and machinery export multiply value beyond recycling. Extending battery economic life by 5 to 10 years through stationary storage and remanufacturing captures significant residual value before recycling becomes optimal. In parallel, validating automated dismantling systems within the consortium creates an export pathway for European machinery builders to global markets that will need the same capability.
Use Case 2: Lower Operation and Energy Costs for EV Charging Networks
Charging operators across Europe face rising energy prices, volatile electricity markets, and growing demand for public charging — while many hubs remain dependent on expensive grid energy during peak hours. The use case idea integrates on-site renewable generation, stationary storage, smart-grid functions, and bidirectional charging into a single operational concept that strengthens operator economics and contributes to grid stability.
Five partner regions have contributed Regional Exploitation Plans covering a wide range of operating environments — from workplace charging at industrial employers to Alpine transit and tourism corridors, metropolitan public-transport hubs, and former coal regions in transition. The diversity covers nearly every context a European charging network will encounter.
What the Expert Group Found
- Stacked value is the common principle — no single lever is enough. Renewables, storage, smart pricing, and flexibility services on their own do not make public EV charging economically sustainable. All five partner regions converge on combining these streams. A shared transnational methodology with standardised KPIs would create a European benchmark database for smart charging economics.
- Workplace and fleet charging is the underexploited testing ground. Large industrial employers will soon need to charge thousands of vehicles daily — a perfect environment for AI-driven load management. Solutions developed in this context are directly transferable to other industrial sites across the consortium and create a technology-transfer pathway that follows existing automotive supply relationships.
- V2X and bidirectional charging are the next frontier. Parked vehicles providing grid-stabilisation services while their operators receive reduced energy rates fundamentally changes the economics of both fleet electrification and grid management. Demonstrators across the consortium will provide the business-case data needed for scaling, supported by common standards for vehicle-grid communication and revenue sharing.
- Cross-border transit corridors are the natural showcase. High-power charging hubs along Europe’s busiest international routes — equipped with renewable generation, storage, smart load management, and flexibility services — would demonstrate the transnational applicability of the stacked-value model and test how the concept performs across two national regulatory frameworks at once.
Join the Conversation
The Drive2Transform Electrification Expert Group will convene online on 12 May 2026 to advance these use case ideas into a Transnational Exploitation Plan, which will be validated at the Second D2T Automotive Conference in Linz on 22-23 September 2026.
Are you a battery recycler, machinery builder, charge point operator, fleet manager, energy provider, DSO, municipality, or research institution working on the European electrification transition? We are looking for partners who want to shape the future of circular e-mobility and smart charging in Central Europe. Get in touch to explore how you can contribute.
About Drive2Transform
Drive2Transform (CE0200679) is an EU-funded Interreg Central Europe project connecting nine partner organisations across eight countries. The project supports automotive regions in navigating the transition towards sustainable, digital, and autonomous mobility. This article is the second in a series presenting the project’s five use cases, each developed by dedicated transnational expert groups.