The mobility of the future demands innovative solutions – now more than ever before. The transition to electric mobility offers enormous potential, but also poses complex challenges. How can batteries be produced more sustainably, used more efficiently, and recycled sensibly at the end of their life? This is precisely where Festo and Comau come in, because with their pioneering automation solutions they contribute to resource-saving recycling management. You can find out here that this is more than just a statement.
With 50 years of experience and a global presence, Comau, a Stellantis Group company, is a world leader in advanced and sustainable automation solutions.
"In addition to developing innovative and user-friendly technologies, our portfolio includes products and systems for vehicle production as well as advanced digital and robotic solutions to meet the production needs of fast-growing markets such as logistics, renewable energy, and shipbuilding," says Francesco Beccarisi, Innovation & Process Technologies at Comau. The market for electric mobility is growing sustainably. "Although lithium-ion batteries will remain the dominant technology in the automotive sector for the next 5 – 10 years, the market will see a significant increase in demand for next-generation batteries, such as solid-state batteries."
New technologies and more efficient, sustainable and cost-effective manufacturing processes are needed to support the large-scale industrial production of next-generation batteries and to accelerate the energy transition.
"Electric mobility and the significant investments made in recent years mark the beginning of the evolution of transportation," explains Claudio Giovando, Global Key Account Manager Automotive & Electric Vehicles Business Developer at Festo. "In addition to solutions for manufacturing cells, battery modules, and electric motors, Festo has been interested from the outset in closing the production cycle of the batteries themselves in order to reduce waste and promote the reuse of materials. This will help to reduce the extraction of rare and limited raw materials that would otherwise not be able to meet the demand of this fast-growing market."
The energy and ecological turnaround in the transport sector is becoming a reality. "In line with the European Union's decarbonization targets, the European Commission has adopted the Fit for 55 legislative package, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles by 55% by 2030, and 100% by 2050," confirms F. Beccarisi. "Electrification is therefore the future of mobility."
The demand for more efficient and sustainable production of batteries and electric motors is undoubtedly one of the most important challenges for companies operating in various phases of the automotive and transportation industry. "For the energy transition to be truly sustainable, not only the efficient production of state-of-the-art electrification technologies but also the environmental impact of batteries at the end of their service life must be managed," explains F. Beccarisi. Comau has therefore joined the Battery Regeneration Project, which is supported by Class, a non-profit organization, and Cobat, a platform for recycling management services. The aim is to create an Italian supply chain for the recycling and reuse of lithium batteries.
The focus on sustainability has prompted Festo and Comau to address the important issue of recycling or reusing old batteries from electric vehicles. This is how Flexible Battery Dismantling (Flex-BD) came about. This project is about "developing an automation solution for the automated dismantling of battery packs right down to the modules", explains F. Beccarisi. "The modules can be recycled into black mass via the shredding process or reused to produce new batteries."
The project, for which Comau received the Innovation Award at SMAU 2023, "aims to create a highly flexible station that can dismantle various types of battery for electric vehicles", explains C. Giovando. "It has brought together various European players, including Festo and Comau, to develop high-quality solutions for a more sustainable economy."
Various Festo technologies were used to create the Flex-BD station, "from electromechanical actuators with motors and drives through to certified MS6-SV safety valves with quick exhaust function, ensuring that the system area will be shut down in the event of a hazard or emergency," explains C. Giovando. These components were chosen to facilitate format adjustment and automatically compensate for the positioning of the battery packs. "This led to the creation of an efficient and innovative station that can work with different types of battery packs and minimizes the need for manual intervention."