Sister projects exchange perspectives for a more intelligent and resilient European e-mobility ecosystem

Two Horizon Europe projects — SCAPE and RHODaS — met in Barcelona (and online) for a Joint Workshop on Shared European Challenges in E-Mobility. With SCAPE approaching its final stretch and RHODaS reaching the end of its journey, the discussion made one thing clear: the future of electrified transport is not just about more power, but about smarter architectures, modularity, digital intelligence and system-level integration.

RHODaS: High-performance IMDs for heavy-duty transport

RHODaS has focused on one of the most demanding frontiers of electrification: heavy-duty long-haul vehicles. In this segment, efficiency, reliability and thermal robustness are critical.

To meet these challenges, the project developed hybrid SiC/GaN multilevel converters capable of reaching very high efficiency while significantly reducing thermal losses and increasing power density. But performance was only part of the story.

A key innovation lies in the system’s ability to dynamically reconfigure itself — shifting from 3-level to 2-level operation in the event of a component fault. This means that instead of forcing a vehicle to stop immediately, the converter architecture supports continued operation, improving resilience and availability.

Beyond hardware, RHODaS integrated a full digital layer: embedded sensing, Digital Twin models and predictive maintenance tools that move the system from reactive fault handling to intelligent condition-based management. Sustainability was also prioritised from the outset, with eco-design and circularity principles integrated into the Integrated Motor Drive (IMD) concept.

The result is more than a high-efficiency converter. It is a resilient, fault-tolerant and digitally enabled IMD designed for real-world heavy-duty deployment.

SCAPE: Modular and scalable EV power conversion

If RhoDAS pushes performance boundaries, SCAPE rethinks how converters should be designed in the first place.

SCAPE proposes a hierarchical, modular architecture built around intelligent switching cells. These elementary building blocks can be combined — physically or directly at PCB level — to create converters tailored to motorcycles, passenger cars or heavy trucks. Instead of redesigning from scratch for each vehicle class, the system scales.

This modular and scalable philosophy brings tangible advantages:

• Economies of scale
• Higher efficiency
• Lower harmonic distortion
• Increased power density
• Tight and coordinated control of battery and motor
• Higher reliability and improved reparability

Of course, modularity at this level introduces complexity, particularly in system design and control strategies. SCAPE addresses this through advanced hierarchical control structures and digital integration, ensuring that flexibility does not compromise performance or robustness.

Chip-embedding: a key enabling technology

One of the technological pillars enabling this architecture is chip-embedding, a power systems integration technology that is gaining strong momentum in advanced power electronics.

Chip-embedding is particularly well suited to scalable and modular approaches, as validated building blocks can be combined seamlessly to form complete converters. By integrating semiconductor devices directly within the PCB stack, the approach enables very low parasitic inductance, strong thermal performance and high integration levels.

Within SCAPE, smart switching cells based on 750 V SiC MOSFETs were designed, developed and characterised, demonstrating strong electrical and functional behaviour. The PCB-embedded implementation showed lower thermal resistance than comparable discrete-device solutions, confirming the thermal advantages of the approach.

An efficient liquid-cooling solution was also validated, effectively extracting power losses from the switching cell components to the coolant. Combined with precise and reliable simulation methods, this allowed accurate modelling of the physical behaviour and strengthened design confidence.

Together, electrical optimisation, thermal management and integration capability position chip-embedding as a powerful enabler for next-generation modular converters.

A shared European direction

Across both SCAPE and RhoDAS, a common trajectory becomes visible, as the research focus is shifting:

• from isolated component innovation to system-level optimisation;
• from reactive maintenance to predictive, digitalised management;
• from monolithic designs to modular, repairable and scalable architectures;
• from efficiency alone to resilience, lifetime extension and circularity.

The workshop made it clear that Europe is not only working to advance performance: it is shaping an integrated, intelligent and sustainable power electronics ecosystem for the future of e-mobility.