Breakthrough innovations for future mobility

Background and scope

The European Union has charted a path to climate neutrality by 2050 with an ambition to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels. The transport sector, including road transport, aviation, waterborne and rail, has however been steadily increasing its emissions at an average yearly rate of 1.7% since 1990. 

The resulting emissions are also one of the main contributors to environmental and health problems, which are particularly acute in urban areas. The Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy includes an action plan to deliver on a 90% cut in mobility emissions by 2050, delivered by a smart, competitive, safe, accessible, and affordable transport system. This encompasses all road vehicles, aircraft, rail, waterborne vessels, infrastructure and new mobility services in increasingly climate-neutral cities and rural areas. The electrification of road transport alongside the increasing electrification and use of zero and low carbon fuels of waterborne transport and aviation are expected to reduce these emissions, but further breakthroughs beyond the drivetrain are needed to deliver an effective and safe low emission transport system. 

This Challenge therefore focuses on supporting companies developing cost-effective and scalable deep tech breakthroughs that will help deliver reductions in mobility-related emissions in its many facets, from the manufacture of vehicles to their use. It also includes approaches that deliver improvements in the efficiency of the transport system through for example the use of digital tools. It thereby develops capabilities in areas such as sensing, manufacturing and resource efficient technologies alongside sustainable alternative fuels identified under the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP), and thereby addresses risks to the EU’s future strategic autonomy. Energy vectors based on electrification and hydrogen fall outside the scope of this Challenge call but can be supported through the Open calls. However, digital tools for charging and capacity management are in scope

Specific objectives

The start-ups and SMEs to be supported under this Challenge must focus on developing cost-effective and scalable solutions that deliver against at least one of the following areas:

• Breakthroughs in the design, manufacture, assembly and operation of road vehicles, waterborne vessels, aircraft, or rail that contribute significantly to reduce their environmental footprint; 
• Disruptive technologies that contribute to increase operational efficiencies and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, secondary and other harmful emissions and noise for Heavy Duty road vehicles, waterborne vessels, aircraft or rail, multimodal transport and/or their related infrastructure; 
• Sustainable fuels for hard-to-abate sectors such as aviation and maritime, including retrofitting solutions; and 
• Breakthroughs in the development and integration of digital tools ranging from sensors to the application of Artificial Intelligence to enhance autonomous transport solutions and more sustainable energy use on land, water or in the air, improve the connectivity and efficiency of vehicles and the transport system including capacity management, and smart and bi-directional charging functionalities.

Projects must take into account the Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) framework, including Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and circularity approaches. Companies selected under this Challenge will become part of the ecosystem fostered under the European industrial partnerships in the areas of Clean Aviation, Towards zero-emission road transport (2ZERO), Connected, Cooperative and Automated Driving (CCAM), Zero-emission waterborne transport and Transforming Europe's rail system. Furthermore, connections with the Industrial Alliance “Renewable and Low-Carbon Fuels Value Chain” will be encouraged.

Expected outcomes and impacts

This Challenge contributes to the strategic autonomy to the EU, the objectives of the European Green Deal, the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy and the Net-Zero Industry Act, which seeks to foster the EU’s net-zero technology industrial base - products, components, and equipment necessary for manufacturing net-zero technologies - to deliver an affordable, reliable, and sustainable clean transport system.

By developing and scaling up breakthrough innovations for future mobility, the Challenge is expected to:

• increase the competitiveness and economic autonomy or security of European companies across the mobility value chain;
• support the scaling up of technologies that materially reduce mobility-related emissions, including a quantification on how they reduce emissions or increase efficiency of transport, or provide more affordable or inclusive mobility;
• deliver improvements in accessibility, safety, security, connectivity, flexibility and efficiency of the transport system including new mobility services and models; 
• develop new skills and create jobs in the EU.

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EIC Work Programme 2025

The EIC Challenges are extensively described in the EIC Work Programme. For more information about this challenge, please go to the corresponding section of the EIC Work Programme.