The FUTURE-RADAR project will support the European Technology Platform ERTRAC (the European Road Transport Research Advisory Council) and the European Green Vehicle Initiative PPP to create and implement the needed research and innovation strategies for a sustainable and competitive European road transport system. Linking all relevant stakeholders FUTURE-RADAR will provide the consensus-based plans and roadmaps addressing the key societal, environmental, economic and technological challenges in areas such as road transport safety, urban mobility, long distance freight transport, automated road transport, global competitiveness and all issues related to energy and environment. FUTURE-RADAR will also facilitate exchange between cities in Europa, Asia and Latin America on urban electric mobility solutions. The FUTURE-RADAR activities include project monitoring, strategic research agendas, international assessments and recommendations for innovation deployment as well as twinning of international projects and comprehensive dissemination and awareness activities. Overall it can be stated that FUTURE-RADAR provides the best opportunity to maintain, strengthen and widen the activities to further develop the multi-stakeholder road transport research area, for the high-quality research of societal and industrial relevance in Europe.

DownToTen will seek to develop a reliable and robust methodology to enhance the regulatory approach in the assessment of particle number emissions in the sub 23nm region (down to at least 10nm), focusing on state-of-the art automotive powertrains with direct injection gasoline engines, but also diesel ones, under real-world operation conditions. To this end, DownToTen will first investigate and quantitatively describe the nature and the characteristics of nanoparticles <23 nm (formation, origin, physical and chemical character), and will set up a synthetic aerosol bench for fundamental studies at instrument level for the facilitation of metrology and evaluation purposes. Existing, proposed and under development instruments will be evaluated against rigorous criteria for the measurement of sub 23 nm particles, with emphasis on their applicability as portable emissions systems (PEMS). The best candidate systems will then be thoroughly tested in a well-defined set of criteria and under varying conditions of challenging aerosol from a variety of sources, to select the most promising combinations for further usage. At the next steps, a PN-PEMS demonstrator will be selected to materialise the relevant findings and suggestions, and its efficiency to determine PN emissions of current and future engine and vehicle technologies will be explored in the laboratory and in real world conditions (RDE). Further, an appropriate sampling and measurement methodology for <23m particles will be proposed based on literature survey and the laboratory and on-road testing results, which will assist in the determination of future PN emission limits and conformity factors for vehicle and engine type approval, primarily for RDE. DownToTen also aims to assess the fraction of particles left of control from current and future regulations, which will assist researchers to better understand the impacts of exhaust particles on air pollution.

Thermoelectric materials have been studied for several decades now. Improved TE materials are emerging with the so-called second-generation thermoelectric (GEN2 TE) materials: silicides and half-Heusler. These materials are low-cost, based on most earth-abundant elements and eco-friendly materials, and can impact positively European industry and society by converting wasted heat into electricity. As GEN2 TE materials are attracting a growing interest, pilot lines resulting from partnerships between public research institutes, industrial research teams and SME are emerging in Europe. The aim of the INTEGRAL project is to upscale the GEN2 TE material technology using existing pilot lines and growing SMEs, in order to address mass markets TE needs (automotive, heavy duty trucks, autonomous sensors and industry waste heat recovery). The INTEGRAL project is unique since it gathers in a complete value chain the major companies (including SMEs and startups) developing GEN2 TE advanced materials in Europe and cutting-edge research centers. INTEGRAL will allow the industry to step up towards advanced manufacturing and commercialization of systems integrating multifunctional TE materials (on a nano-based approach), through material customization, next techniques for characterization and process control and up-scaled pilot-line demonstrations of reliability, reproducibility and mastered material consumption. Furthermore, the large-scale processes which will be developed for producing nanostructured materials within the INTEGRAL project will explore a wider range of applications outside thermoelectrics, in particular where customization of electrical or thermal properties of sintered or casted materials are needed. Finally, a technology transfer will be performed from research activities to pilot-lines, towards the commercialization of the new generation of advanced materials with a circular economy vision.