InnoLogBat project takes battery logistics to a new level

In the InnoLogBat project, partners from industry and science have spent three years researching technologies and processes for a sustainable circular battery economy. The successes of the project include a battery passport and a training platform for commercial vehicle batteries.

Image: Vinzenz Neugebauer - Fraunhofer IML

After three and a half years, the research project ‘Innovation Laboratory for Battery Logistics in E-Mobility (InnoLogBat)’, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), is coming to an end. The central theme of the project was the question of how batteries can be handled safely and in a resource-saving manner in a circular economy. The stakeholders involved looked at a wide range of areas – from storage and transport to the supply chain. The Fraunhofer IML, Leipzig University, the Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute, Remondis Industrie Service, Rhenus Automotive and Mercedes-Benz Energy were all involved.

InnoLogBat ran from October 2021 to March 2025 and was funded by the federal government with around 5.2 million euros. According to those responsible, the total project volume was 6.4 million euros. The participants’ successes include advances in computed tomography lithium-ion battery analysis and the BATSAFE initiative to set up a training platform specifically focussed on commercial vehicle batteries. The project has also developed a generally applicable guideline for the storage and transport of high-voltage batteries. As part of the associated transfer project LIBELLE, the participants have also developed a battery passport that “enables complete documentation of the battery’s life from production and use to reuse and recycling,” as the project coordinators write.

For Dr Arkadius Schier, Project Manager of the Innovation Lab, battery logistics is a cornerstone for the successful expansion of e-mobility. “Even though we have taken a big step towards sustainable and safe e-mobility with our research results such as the battery passport or computer tomographic lithium-ion battery analysis, there is still a lot to do and further research is needed,” he added. Only through the interaction of technological progress, economic measures and social change can we shape the drive of the future in a circular economy.

iml.fraunhofer.de (in German)