Automated and digitized circular economy solutions for electric axle drive systems as key technologies in electromobility
In March 2023, the EU Commission announced measures under the Critical Raw Materials Act to secure the supply of critical raw materials. One goal is to cover at least 25 % of the EU’s annual demand—especially for rare‑earth magnets—through recycling. The ReDriveS project is tackling this challenge: for the first time, cross‑industry solutions are being developed for automated, robot‑guided disassembly systems for electric axles and innovative recycling processes for rare‑earth metals, supported by digital tools. ReDriveS strengthens the resilience of the electric‑motor supply chain by providing economically and environmentally viable circular‑economy solutions. The focus is on valuable materials such as NdFeB magnets, as well as aluminum, magnesium, and copper alloys from end‑of‑life electric axles. The aim is to produce sintered NdFeB magnets from these recyclates that meet the requirements for use in automotive drive motors. Recycling electric axles significantly improves the environmental balance of electric mobility, because the currently dominant primary supply routes carry high environmental burdens. After the project concludes, the consortium will possess the potential to industrialise the findings. A pre‑competitive collaboration along the value chain is intended to enable commercial utilisation. As a national flagship project, ReDriveS establishes the technological and digital foundations for the German automotive and recycling sectors, further reducing the CO₂ footprint of electric vehicles and meeting future recycling mandates. By creating a standardised digital twin (DPP) of the parts to be disassembled, the robot‑guided disassembly cells, and corresponding decision‑support tools, an appropriate disassembly strategy can be derived. Concepts for industrialisation/generalisation to additional components are being developed.
The research project ReDriveS is funded by Federal Ministry for economy and energy.