"Scale-up E-Drive": PEM Operates Two Nationwide Showcases
The chair "Production Engineering of E-Mobility Components" (PEM) of RWTH Aachen University operates two of four nationwide showcases as a demonstration space of the new transformation hub "Scale-up E-Drive". The RWTH institution is involved in the project, which is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action with around 4.8 million euros, with the electromobility laboratory "eLab" in Aachen and an e-motor research area in Cologne. The project, which will run until June 2025, is intended to support small and medium-sized enterprises in the technological transition to electric vehicle propulsion.
"The production of all electric powertrain components will very soon be crucial to the success of Germany as a business location," says PEM Director Professor Achim Kampker. "That's why we need to set the course now to secure the value creation and the associated jobs." The nationwide "Scale-up E-Drive" hub will therefore process current trends and industry information, provide pre-competitive and specialist content, and create new collaborations through targeted networking. In the future, a digital platform will provide knowledge about electric motors, transmissions, drive axles, power electronics as well as the integration of high-voltage batteries into vehicles, and will highlight the new opportunities offered by electric powertrain technologies. In addition to offering initial advice on competencies, processes, and products, there will also be training courses.
Aachen focuses on production technology for electric drives
The project partners and their showcases are located in Munich, Stuttgart, Cologne, and Aachen. In the Aachen region, the focus is on production technology for electric drives. In addition to a test center for e-drives, the domestic "eLab" offers, among other things, an infrastructure for battery cell production on a laboratory scale, a battery test center, and a joining technology laboratory. By contrast, a laboratory for the efficient and flexible production of electric motor hairpin stators is being operated on the site of the Ford plant in Cologne as part of the HaPiPro² research project funded by North Rhine-Westphalia's state government. The facility covers the manufacture of this crucial electric motor component as well as its assembly, corresponding welding processes, impregnation and insulation processes as well as final testing.
49 million euros for eleven hub projects nationwide
"Scale-up E-Drive" is one of eleven transformation hubs for the automotive industry, the establishment and implementation of which is being funded by the German government with a total of around 49 million euros. Further information on the project is provided here and here.