Strategies, tools and concepts for optimised road Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) long-haul logistics use cases (2ZERO Partnership)

The grant opportunity focuses on developing strategies, tools, and concepts for optimizing the use of Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) in long-haul logistics as part of the Horizon Europe program, particularly under the 2ZERO Partnership initiative. The aim is to support the transition to zero-emission transport, aligning with the EU's climate goals.

Eligible applicants include a variety of entities such as startups, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), large enterprises, universities, and research institutes, reflective of Horizon Europe’s emphasis on collaboration across sectors. Funding is provided through a lump sum grant, classified under HORIZON Innovation Actions, with expected funding amounts ranging generally from €1 million to €5 million, albeit specifics are not explicitly stated in the documentation provided.

The grant operates as an open call with a single-stage application process, with submissions due by September 4, 2025. The opportunity encourages consortium proposals, as multi-stakeholder collaboration is often stressed in Horizon Europe initiatives. Geographic eligibility extends to EU member states and associated countries, and potentially, certain international partners under specified conditions.

Projects funded under this grant should be at the validation or demonstration stage, focusing on practical applications of BEVs in logistics. Proposed initiatives should seek to address challenges related to battery range, total cost of ownership, and charging strategies to enhance operational efficiency and promote the scalability of HD-BEVs in logistics operations. This encompasses developing new operational models and digital tools aimed at improving logistics performance and cross-border interoperability.

The call also underscores the importance of incorporating insights from real-life transport missions and emphasizes the necessity for data sharing in accordance with Open Science principles. While specific co-funding requirements are not outlined, there tends to be an expectation for contributions from consortium members in Horizon Europe projects.

Overall, this grant aims to facilitate the adoption of Battery Electric Vehicles in long-haul logistics by fostering innovation, collaboration, and practical demonstration of concepts that meet both environmental standards and operational efficiency in freight transport.

This is a Horizon Europe call, specifically HORIZON-CL5-2025-04-D5-06, focused on "Strategies, tools and concepts for optimised road Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) long-haul logistics use cases (2ZERO Partnership)". It falls under Cluster 5 of the Horizon Europe Programme, specifically the Call 04-2025 (WP 2025). The action type is a HORIZON Innovation Action (HORIZON-IA), utilizing a HORIZON Lump Sum Grant [HORIZON-AG-LS] model grant agreement.

The call is currently open for submission with a single-stage deadline. The opening date was May 6, 2025, and the deadline for submissions is September 4, 2025, at 17:00:00 Brussels time. The topic budget for the year 2025 is 5,000,000 EUR, and it is expected that around 1 grant will be awarded.

The expected outcomes of the projects funded under this call are: accelerated uptake of Heavy Duty (HD) Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) across the EU and Associated Countries through innovative logistics models, addressing the need to optimise battery size and charging strategies across various logistics scenarios; enhanced reliability and effectiveness of road freight systems enabled by the development and implementation of software tools for decision-making considering truck configurations, charging strategies, missions, and efficient operational planning of routes and services, including charging and interoperable cross-border services; an increased portfolio of real-life HD-BEV operational demonstrations for long-haul and cross-border operations and associated logistics models; and enhanced understanding of EU and Associated Countries stakeholders’ needs for integrating HD-BEVs in logistics operations, including long-term novel usage models.

The scope of this call is to explore and validate diverse strategies and applications for the scalability of HD-BEVs based on real data from logistics operators, as the current market application of these vehicles is largely confined to transport tasks with restricted range and considerable repetition. The development of new application models should showcase the potential flexibility of HD-BEVs and assist end-users in establishing innovative usage frameworks and models.

Proposals are expected to address the following aspects: derive in-depth insights and lessons learned from current long-haul transport missions in the EU and Associated Countries along major road arteries towards overcoming the limitations determined by vehicle range and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), and propose cost-effective HD BEV based logistics and operational models, building on modular vehicles set up and sound charging strategies; test and validate in real demonstrations new logistic operational concepts and models allowing a scalable deployment of HD-BEV in long-haul transport missions, optimising the different variabilities of a shipment; develop and test associated digital tools for effective, robust integration in the overall logistics operations and fleets, and facilitating interoperable cross-border services; base real-life demonstrations on existing fleets of operators with different categories of vehicles and missions, including at least 8 different types of long-haul missions in different climatic conditions, including cross-border missions, and involve several logistic companies and/or logistic users; develop scenarios for optimum balance of vehicles’ performance and configuration, charging strategies and solutions, including information on the distance dependency as a function of vehicle combinations, location and capacity of charging stations and payload demands; and allow strategies for firm upscaling of HD-BEV implementation, taking into account the logistics operational models, the performance of complete vehicle combinations also considering the effects of on-board batteries on the ageing and energy recuperation.

The project(s) should take into account Open Science, its practices and learning, and the project’s results will be enacted in line with FAIR principles for data. This topic implements the co-programmed European Partnership on ‘Towards zero emission road transport’ (2ZERO), and projects resulting from this topic will be expected to report on the results to the European Partnership ‘Towards zero emission road transport’ (2ZERO) in support of the monitoring of its KPIs.

The admissibility conditions include proposal page limits and layout as described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes and Part B of the Application Form. Eligible countries are described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes, with specific provisions for non-EU/non-Associated Countries. Other eligible conditions are subject to restrictions for the protection of European communication networks, as described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.

Financial and operational capacity and exclusion are described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes. Evaluation and award criteria, scoring, and thresholds are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes. Submission and evaluation processes are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual. The indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement is described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.

Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme. The legal and financial set-up of the grants is described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes.

The application form templates are available in the Submission System, including the standard application form (HE RIA, IA). Evaluation form templates will be used with the necessary adaptations, including the standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA). Guidance is provided in the HE Programme Guide. The Model Grant Agreements (MGA) include the Lump Sum MGA. Call-specific instructions include a detailed budget table (HE LS) and guidance on lump sums.

Additional documents include the HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 1. General Introduction, HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 8. Climate, Energy and Mobility, HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 14. General Annexes, HE Programme Guide, HE Framework Programme 2021/695, HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764, EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509, the Decision authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme, Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment, EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement, Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual, Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions, and Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement.

There are 6 partner search announcements available. LEARs, Account Administrators, or self-registrants can publish partner requests for open and forthcoming topics after logging into the Portal, as well as any user having an active public Person profile.

To access the Electronic Submission Service, click on the submission button next to the type of action and the type of model grant agreement that corresponds to your proposal. To access existing draft proposals for this topic, log in to the Funding & Tenders Portal and select the My Proposals page of the My Area section.

The call aims to accelerate the adoption of heavy-duty battery electric vehicles in the EU logistics sector by developing and demonstrating innovative logistics models, software tools, and charging strategies. It seeks to address the limitations of current HD-BEV applications, particularly in long-haul transport, by optimising battery size, charging infrastructure, and operational planning. Projects should derive insights from real-world transport missions, test new operational concepts, develop digital tools, and demonstrate scalable HD-BEV implementations, ultimately contributing to a more reliable, effective, and sustainable road freight system.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types are not explicitly stated in the provided text. However, given the nature of Horizon Europe calls, eligible applicants typically include a mix of entities such as universities, research institutes, SMEs, large enterprises, and other organizations capable of conducting research and innovation activities. The specific eligibility criteria are detailed in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.

Funding Type: The primary financial mechanism is a grant, specifically a HORIZON Lump Sum Grant, as indicated by the type of MGA (Model Grant Agreement) being HORIZON-AG-LS. The call also includes HORIZON Innovation Actions (HORIZON-IA), HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions (HORIZON-RIA) and HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions (HORIZON-CSA).

Consortium Requirement: The text does not explicitly state whether a single applicant or a consortium is required. However, the partner search announcements and the collaborative nature of Horizon Europe projects suggest that consortia are common and often encouraged, if not required. The indicative number of grants for each topic sometimes indicates that more than one grant may be awarded, suggesting that multiple entities could be involved across different projects.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility includes the EU and Associated Countries. Non-EU/non-Associated Countries may also be eligible if they have made specific provisions for funding their participants in Horizon Europe projects, as detailed in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.

Target Sector: The program targets the climate, energy, and mobility sectors, with a specific focus on road transport and logistics. The thematic focus is on strategies, tools, and concepts for optimized road Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) long-haul logistics use cases, aligning with the European Partnership on ‘Towards zero emission road transport’ (2ZERO).

Mentioned Countries: The opportunity explicitly mentions the EU and Associated Countries. It also refers to non-EU/non-Associated Countries that may have specific funding provisions.

Project Stage: The expected maturity of the project for this opportunity ranges from research and innovation (RIA) to innovation actions (IA), indicating a focus on development, validation, demonstration, and potentially early stages of commercialization and scale-up. The emphasis on real-life demonstrations suggests projects should be at least at the validation or demonstration stage.

Funding Amount: The funding amounts vary depending on the specific topic within the call, ranging from €1.6 million to €22.5 million. The indicative number of grants per topic also varies, with some topics expected to fund one project and others expected to fund two.

Application Type: The application type is an open call with a single-stage submission process.

Nature of Support: Beneficiaries will receive money in the form of a lump sum grant.

Application Stages: The application process involves a single stage.

Success Rates: The success rates are not explicitly mentioned.

Co-funding Requirement: The text does not explicitly mention a co-funding requirement. However, Horizon Europe projects often require some level of co-funding, which is detailed in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide and related annexes.

Summary:
This Horizon Europe call, part of Cluster 5 and the 2ZERO Partnership, focuses on advancing the use of Heavy Duty Battery Electric Vehicles (HD-BEV) in long-haul logistics across the EU and Associated Countries. The call aims to address the challenges and gaps hindering the widespread adoption of HD-BEVs, such as limited range, high Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), and the need for optimized charging strategies. The call invites proposals for Innovation Actions (IA), Research and Innovation Actions (RIA) and Coordination and Support Actions (CSA) that develop and demonstrate innovative logistics models, digital tools, and operational concepts to enhance the reliability, effectiveness, and scalability of HD-BEV deployments. Projects are expected to derive insights from real-life transport missions, test new operational models, develop digital twins for optimization, and involve fleet operators in demonstrations. The funding amounts vary by topic, ranging from €1.6 million to €22.5 million, and the call is open to a range of eligible entities from the EU and Associated Countries, with potential participation from non-EU/non-Associated Countries under specific conditions. The application process is a single-stage submission, with a deadline of September 4, 2025. This initiative aims to accelerate the uptake of zero-emission road transport and contribute to the EU's climate and mobility goals.