Data Driven Circular Economy in Electrical Mobility

This project establishes a European network to accelerate the circular transformation of the electrical-vehicle (EV) aftermarket and to prepare a competitive proposal for a European funding programme (e.g., Horizon Europe). The EV transition is reshaping service, parts, reuse, remanufacturing and recycling ecosystems, while independent aftermarket SMEs face growing barriers to circular operations, most notably limited access to diagnostic and parts data, fragmented standards and interoperability constraints, and uncertainty about viable circular earning models. At the same time, rapid market entry by new international brands increases the urgency for Europe to strengthen SME competitiveness and resilient circular value chains.
The network brings together applied research partners from the Netherlands (Fontys), Finland (SeAMK), Sweden (Halmstad University) and Belgium (Thomas More). Fontys contributes an integrated combination of three research groups: Business Innovation (circular value propositions and earning models), Sustainable Data & AI Apps (data requirements, governance and interoperability framing), and Moral Design Strategy (stakeholder acceptance and responsible innovation). The international partners add complementary expertise in EV technologies and maintenance systems, implementation pathways for data-driven decision support, and standards/modularity for component reuse.
Over 12 months, the network will execute a focused set of networking activities: align partners on a shared agenda and terminology; connect regional and national focal points with European research and innovation priorities; map consortium gaps and expand the partner base where needed; and translate joint insights into proposal-ready outputs.
The expected impact is a submission-ready EU proposal package and a durable collaboration structure within Fontys and across regions, strengthening European proposal capacity and providing SMEs and regional stakeholders with improved access to European knowledge networks that support circular, data-enabled EV aftermarket business models.