VALEO KLIMASYSTEME GMBH

Their core work

Valeo Klimasysteme is the thermal systems division of Valeo, one of Europe's largest automotive suppliers. They specialize in heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and thermal management solutions for vehicles. Within H2020, their contribution focuses squarely on battery thermal management for electric vehicles — keeping battery packs at optimal temperature to extend driving range, improve safety, and reduce degradation. They bring industrial-scale manufacturing capability and deep automotive integration expertise to research consortia.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

With only three projects spanning 2017–2020, the evolution is compact but directional. The earliest project (GHOST, 2017) addressed general battery system integration for plug-in hybrids. By 2018–2020, the focus sharpened toward dedicated thermal management for fully electric vehicles (SELFIE) and next-generation battery chemistries like LNMO (3beLiEVe), reflecting the automotive industry's accelerating shift from hybrid to pure electric platforms.

Moving from general battery system work toward specialized thermal solutions for next-generation EV battery chemistries, positioning them for the post-2025 electric vehicle market.

How they like to work

Valeo Klimasysteme operates exclusively as a consortium participant — never as coordinator — which is typical for a large industrial company contributing specific component-level expertise rather than leading research agendas. With 37 unique partners across 13 countries from just 3 projects, they work in large, diverse consortia (averaging 12+ partners per project). This suggests they are sought-after industrial partners who bring manufacturing credibility and real-world integration capability to research-driven consortia.

Despite only three projects, they have built a network of 37 unique partners across 13 countries, indicating participation in large pan-European consortia with strong geographic diversity. Their network likely spans automotive OEMs, battery cell manufacturers, research institutes, and testing facilities across Western and Central Europe.

What sets them apart

As the thermal systems arm of Valeo — a Tier 1 automotive supplier with global manufacturing capacity — they offer something most research partners cannot: a direct path from lab results to mass production. Their specific combination of automotive HVAC expertise applied to EV battery thermal management is a narrow but highly valuable niche. For consortium builders, they represent an industrial validation partner who can assess whether a battery innovation is manufacturable and integrable into real vehicles.

Highlights from their portfolio

• SELFIE
  Directly targets the core challenge of self-sustained smart battery thermal management for BEVs — the most aligned project with Valeo's industrial expertise.
• 3beLiEVe
  Largest EC contribution (EUR 718,300) and forward-looking focus on Generation 3b LNMO cells for the 2025+ xEV market, signaling engagement with next-gen battery tech.