TEMPEST at the Road Transport Research Conference 2026

TEMPEST is advancing the development of safe, lightweight, recyclable, and high-performance battery systems tailored to the future needs of road transport and mobility. TEMPEST focuses on next-generation solutions that combine safety-by-design principles with improved performance and reduced environmental impact.

For the second consecutive year, Jeremy Warren from TEMPEST will present its latest progress at the Road Transport Research Conference (RTR) 2026, one of Europe’s flagship platforms for showcasing results from EU-funded and Horizon Europe projects in road transport. The conference brings together hundreds of stakeholders from research, industry, and policy to explore innovations across green vehicles, urban mobility, logistics, intelligent transport systems, automated driving, safety, and batteries.

At RTR 2026, TEMPEST will contribute to technical exchanges on advanced battery systems for road transport, highlighting concrete outcomes achieved as the project approaches its final development phase. The project’s participation underlines the value of collaborative European research in turning scientific advances into practical, scalable solutions.

TEMPEST will once again take part in the EU-INGENIOuS clustering group, alongside EXTENDED, NEXTBAT, and VERSAPRINT. Together, these projects will jointly showcase complementary advances in safety, electro-thermal performance, recyclability, digitalisation, and reduced environmental footprint within a dedicated session on sustainable, high-performance battery technologies.

Milestones 8 and 9 Achieved: From Digital Design to Experimental Validation

The TEMPEST Project has successfully completed two major technical achievements that advance its digital design tools and experimental verification strategy.

Milestone 8: Development and Validation of Advanced Simulation Models

As part of Milestone 8, advanced finite-element (FE) models of critical parts and demonstrators have been developed and validated against experimental results. These validated models now serve as reliable digital tools that allow the project team to virtually optimise manufacturing processes and assess component performance before physical production.

Using these simulation capabilities, the team can:

  • Predict impact behaviour, vibration response, and mechanical performance under environmental degradation
  • Refine structural designs to enhance performance and durability
  • Significantly reduce the number of physical tests required, lowering development costs
  • Support the design of safer and lighter structures

The integration of validated digital models is a key step toward accelerating design cycles and improving overall project efficiency.

Milestone 9: Comprehensive Experimental Campaign and Model Validation

Milestone 9 focused on an extensive series of experimental tests designed to evaluate material and component behaviour across a wide range of conditions. The experimental campaign included:

  • Mechanical testing of the composite battery housing material in tension, compression, bending, and shear
  • Impact testing using drop-tower experiments to assess resistance and failure modes
  • Moisture absorption testing and correlation with property degradation
  • Battery cell testing, covering electrochemical performance, thermal behaviour, and ageing
  • Validation tests on sheet moulding compound (SMC) plates and assembled battery housings

These experimental activities enabled thorough evaluation of strength, stiffness, impact resistance, moisture effects, safety performance, and ageing characteristics. A major outcome was the validation of the FE simulation models with experimental data, demonstrating strong agreement between numerical predictions and physical measurements. This alignment significantly increases confidence in the digital design tools developed within the project.

The successful completion of Milestones 8 and 9 confirms that the project’s simulation and testing methodologies are effective, verified, and ready for final optimisation and industrial deployment.