EU-Wide Advantages & Opportunities for the Topic HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-01

1. Strategic Alignment with EU Policies

- European Green Deal & Fit-for-55: Directly accelerates the decarbonisation of road transport, a core pillar of the Green Deal and essential to meeting the 55 % GHG-reduction target by 2030.

- AFIR & TEN-T Revision: Supports the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation and TEN-T urban node targets by providing a non-intrusive charging option that can be deployed in dense, historic city centres across Member States.

- REPowerEU & Energy Union: Bi-directional V2X capability transforms EVs into distributed storage assets, reinforcing EU energy security and flexibility, especially under increasing RES penetration.

2. Pan-European Standardisation & Interoperability

- Harmonised Standards: Joint EU action accelerates convergence towards IEC 61980, SAE J2954, CISPR 11 and ISO 19363 compliance, avoiding fragmented national solutions and unlocking Single Market scalability.

- European Partnership 2ZERO Synergies: Results feed directly into 2ZERO KPIs and working groups, streamlining the creation of an EU-wide certification and labelling scheme for wireless charging infrastructure.

- Input to Global Bodies: A coordinated European voice in IEC/ISO fosters global leadership, boosting EU industry exports and standard-setting power.

3. Economies of Scale & Industrial Competitiveness

- Aggregate Demand: A multi-country demonstration in ≥3 urban areas creates a pooled EU market signal, lowering unit costs of coils, power electronics and control ICs through higher production volumes.

- Cross-border Supply Chains: Leveraging strengths of different regions (e.g. power electronics in Germany/Austria, AI-based positioning software in France/Spain, telecom compliance in Finland/Sweden) builds resilient, diversified value chains.

- SME Integration: EU clustering instruments (EEN, EIT Urban Mobility, KDT-JU) facilitate SME participation, widening the supplier base and fostering innovation niches (e.g. self-cleaning pad materials).

4. Grid Integration & Energy System Benefits

- Continental Flexibility Pool: Bi-directional LDV fleets, when aggregated across Member States, provide sizeable balancing capacity to ENTSO-E operators, reducing curtailment of surplus solar/wind up to an estimated 15 TWh/year by 2035.

- Cross-market Revenue Streams: Harmonised EU market rules for ancillary services allow fleet operators to stack revenues (frequency response, congestion management) across borders, improving the business case.

- Digital Single Market: Common data models (using FAIR principles) enable interoperable, GDPR-compliant energy-service platforms, reducing integration costs by up to 25 % vs. isolated national pilots.

5. Societal Readiness & Inclusiveness at EU Scale

- Diverse User Insights: Testing in climatically and culturally different cities (e.g. Oslo, Barcelona, Warsaw) captures a broad spectrum of citizen concerns, enhancing universal design and social acceptance.

- Accessibility Impact: Hands-free charging particularly benefits the 100 million Europeans with disabilities; a coordinated EU rollout minimises social inequality in e-mobility access.

- SSH Community & JRC: EU-level SSH networks and JRC facilities provide cutting-edge EMC/safety expertise, ensuring robust risk governance and public trust.

6. Research, Innovation & Knowledge Diffusion

- Open Science & FAIR Data: EU mandates ensure that LCA, EMC and V2X datasets are findable and reusable, accelerating follow-on R&I throughout Horizon Europe.

- Transnational Doctoral & Post-Doc Mobility: MSCA, Erasmus+ and Digital Europe Programmes bolster skill development in AI-driven charging optimisation, strengthening the European Research Area.

- Generative AI Sandboxes: Pan-EU regulatory sandboxes facilitate rapid, safe deployment of AI techniques for auto-positioning and predictive maintenance.

7. Funding Leverage & Policy Cohesion

- Blending Opportunities: Results can unlock additional capital via CEF-Transport, InvestEU and national Recovery & Resilience Plans, multiplying Horizon funds by a factor of 3–5.

- State-Aid Alignment: A shared evidence base eases notification of compatible aid schemes (e.g. IPCEI on Batteries & Micro-electronics), accelerating industrial deployment.

- Cohesion Policy: Demonstrations in less-developed regions can tap ERDF for replication, ensuring territorial balance and mitigating the urban-rural divide.

8. Environmental & Circular Economy Gains

- Critical Raw Material Reduction: EU-wide LCA benchmarking drives substitution strategies (e.g. ferrite recycling, aluminium coils), supporting the Critical Raw Materials Act.

- Urban Liveability: By removing kerbside cables and charge posts, cities free up pedestrian space and preserve heritage aesthetics, aligning with New European Bauhaus principles.

9. Risk Mitigation Through EU Collaboration

- Regulatory Risk: Joint dialogue with DG MOVE, DG ENER and national authorities harmonises permitting and EMC limits, de-risking market entry.

- Technical Risk Sharing: Multiple climate zones test robustness against ice, salt and desert dust, lowering technology failure risk for subsequent commercial roll-outs.

- Finance Risk Diversification: Multinational consortia spread cost and revenue risks, increasing investor confidence.

10. Long-Term Vision

- Establishes Europe as the global reference for bidirectional wireless charging ecosystems, underpinning mass EV adoption, renewable integration and inclusive urban mobility by 2030–2035.

Conclusion: Operating at EU scale transforms a technical pilot into a systemic innovation platform—unlocking standardisation authority, aggregated market pull, cross-border grid services and socially inclusive design—while maximising the impact of Horizon funds and reinforcing Europe’s technological sovereignty.