DigiTain Project

Sustainable vehicle development goes digital

In the “DigiTain” project, academia and industry researched innovative approaches to enable new vehicles to be developed and certified entirely digitally in the future. The new methods were validated in a practical setting using a technology demonstrator.

April, 2026. Vehicle development—and powertrain systems in particular—is undergoing a fundamental transformation. While in the past, the focus was primarily on performancemetrics such as driving dynamics as well as safety-related and economic criteria, ecological aspects are now increasingly coming to the fore. Policy makers, society, and industry alike demand vehicles that are safe, powerful, and cost-efficient. At the same time, they must also be environmentally friendly and resource-efficient.

But how can this demand be put into practice?

In the three-year research project “DigiTain,” which concluded in March 2026, researchers and industry partners worked to rethink vehicle development processes—from development through certification. The focus was on digital methods that make it possible to account for environmental, technical, and economic requirements early in the development process.

The team tested the developed methods on a technology demonstrator that combines a fuel cell powertrain with a high-voltage battery system (HV battery). Fraunhofer EMI contributed to the subprojects “Sustainability”, “Hydrogen Tank System”, “HV Battery System”, and “Digital Methods and Models”.

© Fraunhofer EMI, basierend auf 3D motion / adobe.stock.com und vecteezy.com
As part of the DigiTain project, 28 partners from industry and academia worked on developing digital processes, methods, and models. The goal was to efficiently develop, evaluate, and integrate sustainable electric drive architectures using digital tools.

Project participation

Subproject “Sustainability”: New Approach to Sustainable Vehicle Development (NEP)

Traditionally, the environmental assessment of a vehicle only takes place at a late phase of product development. This means that environmental aspects are only considered once the fundamental technical decisions have already been made. However, this approach is no longer appropriate, as it is inefficient and usually leads to suboptimal, unsustainable solutions.

At the same time, there is a lack of suitable digital processes, methods, and tools to integrate environmental aspects into vehicle development from the very beginning. This is where DigiTain comes in: The goal of the project was to develop digital processes, methods, and models that enable holistic and sustainable vehicle and powertrain development from the very start. A central component of this was the so-called sustainabilityoriented development process (NEP). This approach ensures that environmental and economic aspects are taken into account throughout the entire development process—from the initial concept phase through to final certification.

© ARENA2036 e.V.
Environmental and economic sustainability criteria in vehicle and powertrain architecture development are becoming increasingly important in politics, society, and industry.

Subproject “Hydrogen Tank System”: Sustainability Through Recycling

The technology demonstrator developed in the project combines a fuel cell unit with a high-voltage battery system. A key component is the high-pressure hydrogen storage tank made of high-performance carbon fibers, which have been impregnated with an epoxy resin and wound around a plastic core.
Carbon fiber-reinforced plastics (CFRP) are ideal because they are extremely strong and can therefore withstand high pressures of around 700 bar. However, their disadvantage is their energy-intensive production; furthermore, important material properties are lost during recycling.

Fraunhofer EMI has developed a laser-based process for recovering the fibers. In this process, laser-assisted pyrolysis decomposes the plastic component of the composite material, while the carbon fibers are continuously unwound without damage and can thus be reused.

Subproject “HV Battery System”: Safety of Electrical Energy Storage Systems

Safe batteries are becoming increasingly important in light of the growing number of electric vehicles on German and European roads.

In the subproject “HV Battery System” (high-voltage battery system), Fraunhofer EMI developed new testing methods that enable the precise characterization and validation of vehicle batteries. The data obtained from these tests was incorporated into improved simulation models, which allow for more reliable design and safety assessment of battery systems. These methods enablefuture vehicle generations to be developed more quickly and safely.

Subproject “Digital Methods and Models”: Less Testing, More Sustainabilit

Mandatory crash tests, consumer safety tests such as NCAP, and manufacturers’ internal tests ensure that vehicles are safe. However, these experimental tests involve significant resource consumption, high costs, and long development times. The growing use of virtual product development offers a promising solution here. Numerical simulation and digital modeling are increasingly supplementing or replacing physical tests. To ensure their predictive capability, these models must be validated through experimental testing.

In the subproject “Digital Methods and Models,” Fraunhofer EMI researched new methods for efficient validation. By identifying optimal test configurations for validation tests, these methods allow the experimental effort to be minimized while simultaneously maximizing the information content for validating the simulation models used.

The approaches developed in the project demonstrate how sustainability, safety, and efficiency can be digitally integrated as early as development phases—an important step toward more resource-efficient next-generation vehicles.

Funding body