#WeDrive2Zero: Interview with Thilo Bein, Pillar 4 co-leader
Please briefly introduce yourself
My name is Thilo Bein, I am responsible for the strategic research planning and the coordination of all public funded projects of the Fraunhofer-Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability. Within is role, I represent Fraunhofer and our institute in most of the automotive related networks such as ERTRAC, EARPA, 2Zero and CCAM. My current research focus is on circular economy, life cycle assessment, sustainable materials and digitalisation. Within 2Zero, I am the Co-Chair from Research and the co-leader of Pillar 4 on LCA approaches and circular economy aspects for sustainable and innovative road mobility solutions.
Why did you apply as 2Zero co-leader?
I have strong background on lightweighting, resource efficiency and sustainable materials. The next step further is to implement a circular economy to decouple resource use from economic growth and to strengthen the resource sovereignty of Europe, both ensuring European competitiveness. Being an enthusiast of circular economy approaches, I volunteered to coordinate this topic in the SRIA developed for the 2Zero Partnership (still under the umbrella of EGVIA). Consequently, I applied as co-leader for this pillar when 2Zero was established together with Carsten Weber (FORD) and, later, together with Gladys Moreac-Njeim (AMPERE).
Can you provide a brief overview of the technology area “Digital Development”?
Digital Development is a key technological area driving innovation across the mobility eco-system. It encompasses advancements such as Software-Defined Vehicles, digital twin technologies, collaborative development environments. These digital enablers are foundational for managing and analysing vast volumes of data throughout the vehicle lifecycle, supporting impact assessments, system optimisation and circular economy integration.
In fact, innovations in this area directly supports Pillar 4, which focuses on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Circular Economy (CE) approaches. Pillar 4 highlights the urgent need for harmonised, consistent and comparable LCA methods as a critical step towards achieving competitive, zero-emission road transport. Key research challenges include the lack of standardised real-life data, the limited availability of robust LCA/CE tools, and the absence of unified strategies and definitions for implementing circular economy models effectively.
To address these gaps, digitalisation is a central enabler. Technologies such as digital twins are increasingly recognised as essential tools to support comprehensive LCA and CE strategies. By enabling continuous data collection and analysis across the product lifecycle, they allow for more accurate impact assessments and improved circularity planning. As such, this area of work not only supports Pillar 4 but is also closely linked to Pillar 1, which addresses vehicle technologies and components, by enabling smarter, more sustainable vehicle design and operation from the outset.
Why is this technology area so relevant?
This technology area is particularly relevant because, as already outlined, leveraging a high degree of digitalisation and automation significantly enhances the adoption of CE and LCA approaches. These are essential for the development of competitive, affordable and zero tailpipe emission vehicles, while also contributing to a broader reduction in the environmental footprint of all vehicle types. Moreover, this digital transformation supports the European ambition to gain technological leadership in green mobility solutions.
Are there any outcomes or relevant achievements worth highlighting?
Digital tools play an important role in all of the projects of this area, either to accelerate the design process, for virtual testing and impact assessment or to support manufacturing and integration. Newly started projects, such as TWIN-LOOP or CODE4EV within the context of digital developments and Software-Defined Vehicles, additionally enable LCA and CE approaches by simplifying the assessment of the use and creating the basis for track-and-trace of vehicles. At the same time, these projects are accelerating the development process with higher quality and less cost.
While these newly launched projects are still at an early stage, with no concrete results yet, they set promising goals in the field. TWIN-LOOP aims to develop an open TwinOps framework and digital tools that leverage high-performance computing and real-world EV data to continuously improve energy consumption, vehicle health monitoring and user experience throughout the vehicle lifecycle. CODE4EV focuses on creating a collaborative development framework for electric SDVs, including digital design tools, modular hardware architectures and runtime virtualisation — with use cases such as predictive maintenance, energy optimisation and smart motion control.
Is there anything mentioned in the SRIA that is not currently addressed by existing projects?
So far, only a few aspects of the SRIA have been taken-up by a limited number of projects. In the areas of LCA, CE and digital development, only four projects have received funding. Several important elements are still not addressed — for instance, digitalisation-enabled advanced design methods, such as the use of digital twins, the integration of real-life data into the design process, or the implementation of track-and-trace systems for vehicles and their usage, are yet to be covered.
When it comes to LCA, the digital generation and management of data remain under-represented. Regarding CE, the digital connection to manufacturing processes and End-of-Life strategies is still missing.
In the context of digital solutions for Software-Defined Vehicles, some synergies with the above-mentioned areas are evident but they have not been fully explored yet.
SDVs, indeed, represent a strategic enabler for achieving both digital transformation and decarbonisation goals. Software-based architecture allows for continuous optimisation of energy performance, lifecycle monitoring and predictive maintenance — all essential to maximising the efficiency and sustainability of electric and connected fleets. In this sense, SDVs are a clear cross-sector opportunity between CCAM and 2Zero, they could be jointly addressed in the next Framework Programme through coordinated R&I efforts that integrate digital vehicle design, real-time data use and system-level optimisation.
What is also missing is a comprehensive digital framework to describe and analyse the entire road transport system — including its interdependencies and resource flows across system boundaries — which is essential for a purpose-driven, digitally enhanced product development.
Are these gaps not covered by WP2025, WP2026, or WP2027?
Some of the gaps are addressed in the upcoming calls for WP2025 – 2027, such as the track and trace issue or design for circularity. However, a consistent digital development framework linking product development with manufacturing and end-of life and impact assessment is still missing.
What would be critical to be addressed in FP10 to make Europe more competitive and strategically autonomous?
In order to strengthen European competitiveness and reducing the dependency on critical resources, a fully digital circular economy is needed, embracing stakeholders beyond the current automotive community. A digital framework based on digital twins enabled product passes has to be developed allowing us to generate, manage and exchange data along the full life cycle of a vehicle and its component, along supply chains and along value chains. Such a framework should be linked with Software-Defined Vehicle initiative and digital enhanced development processes and could be based on the current projects digital twin and collaborative development framework for EVs.
Advanced digitalisation will play a key role in fully harnessing renewable energy sources and enhancing grid flexibility. To support this shift, it is essential to develop and utilise large, high-quality datasets that include information such as the state of charge (SoC) of electric vehicles, users’ driving behaviours across Europe, and EV charging patterns. This data will be critical for building the advanced digital tools needed to connect the mobility and energy sectors.
In parallel, a physical framework needs to be established to enable the 9R principles. For this, large-scale projects have to be established, demonstrating that both frameworks together, hand in hand, allows for new business models and a commercially viable circular economy approach strengthening European competitiveness.
Which main EU policies are addressed or supported by the projects of the technology area you are presenting?
Digital development framework or, in general, digitalisation, are key for many EU policies. Without digital driven LCA and CE the Green Deal targets to becoming climate neutral cannot be met. More recently, the Clean Industrial Deal with its Competitive Compass relies on digital twins, a digital-driven circular economy and LCA. In particular, underneath the automotive action plan, the Software-Defined Vehicles initiative is considered as highly relevant for European automotive competitiveness.
