VALEO EAUTOMOTIVE GERMANY GMBH

Their core work

Valeo eAutomotive Germany GmbH is an industrial R&D center within the Valeo group — one of Europe's largest Tier 1 automotive suppliers — focused on electric vehicle powertrain components and power electronics. Based in Erlangen, their work covers high-voltage on-board chargers, electric motor drives, and semiconductor-based power conversion systems for electric vehicles. They bring industrialization expertise to research consortia: translating laboratory-level power electronics into manufacturable, automotive-grade components. Their participation in EU projects serves both product development and supply chain positioning as EV adoption accelerates across Europe.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their first project (1000kmPLUS, starting 2019) addressed the system level: scalable powertrain platforms, battery integration, energy management, connectivity, and fast-charging infrastructure for EVs. By 2021, with GaN4AP, the focus narrowed sharply to the component and materials level — specifically gallium nitride semiconductors, their robustness under automotive conditions, and their packaging for high-reliability applications. The shift is from "how do we build an EV powertrain ecosystem" to "how do we make the next generation of power semiconductors reliable enough for mass-market automotive production." This is a natural maturation path for a Tier 1 supplier moving from platform definition toward deep component specialization.

They are moving deeper into wide-bandgap semiconductor technology — particularly GaN — positioning themselves as an automotive-grade supplier capable of qualifying and scaling next-generation power devices for mass-market electric vehicles and industrial drives.

How they like to work

Valeo eAutomotive Germany participates exclusively as a consortium partner rather than a coordinator, which is typical for large industrial companies that contribute manufacturing and industrialization expertise rather than managing research programs. With 54 unique partners across just 2 projects, they operate inside large multi-partner consortia (averaging 27 partners per project), suggesting they are comfortable in complex, multi-stakeholder research ecosystems. This breadth of partnerships signals an organization that functions as an industry anchor in consortia — providing automotive sector credibility and a commercialization pathway for research outputs.

They have built a network of 54 unique consortium partners across 7 countries through just two projects, indicating dense, well-connected consortia rather than bilateral collaborations. Their 7-country reach points to pan-European partnerships typical of large ICT and Transport pillar projects.

What sets them apart

As the German R&D arm of Valeo's eAutomotive division, they bring something most research partners cannot: a direct line from research prototype to automotive production at scale. Their Erlangen base places them near the Siemens and automotive electronics ecosystem in Bavaria, reinforcing their credibility in power electronics. For consortium builders, they offer the rare combination of deep semiconductor expertise and an industrial partner with existing supply chain relationships to EV manufacturers.

Highlights from their portfolio

• 1000kmPLUS
  The largest project by budget (€858,725 EC funding) and broadest scope — a European-scale effort to define a scalable powertrain platform that would extend EV range beyond 1000km, covering battery, fast charging, and energy management as an integrated system.
• GaN4AP
  Focuses on qualifying GaN semiconductors for automotive-grade reliability — a technically demanding frontier where very few companies combine semiconductor expertise with the quality standards required by automotive OEMs.