The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany has established an organization that aims to teach companies experienced in manufacturing combustion engines how to transition their skills to EV technologies. The Transformation Hub Electric Mobility, which will target small to medium-sized companies, has been funded with €2.6 million from the German state of Baden-Württemberg.

The Transformation Hub will launch with the Fit4E framework project and two “lighthouse” projects. Fit4E will provide training courses to machine and plant engineers in Baden-Württemberg, and will help companies determine how their skills can best be used in the production line of electric drivetrains.

“The Fit4E project of the Transformation Hub Electric Mobility is [intended] to help companies identify [their] own strengths and competencies,” said KIT’s Jürgen Fleischer. “Together, we will then identify the overlap with electromobility technology and the use case for adopting the new process chains.”

The first lighthouse project, AgiloBat, will establish a modular plant for manufacturing battery cells on a pilot scale. The second lighthouse project, Training Factory for Stator Manufacture, will develop a training course to teach electric motor manufacturing, starting with the manufacturing of wire windings for motor stators.

Source: Karlsruhe Institute of Technology