Safety & Environment Award 2024 for Circunomics

Photo Caption and Credit: Presentation of the Safety & Environment Award (from left): Dr. Jörg Rheinländer, Member of the Board HUK-Coburg, Jan Born, Co-Founder and CTO Circunomics, Birgit Priemer, Editor in Chief auto motor und sport.

Photo (Copyright free): Dino Eisele, Motor Presse Stuttgart

Release Date: 26 September, 2024

Motor Presse Stuttgart and HUK-Coburg honor Start-Up

Young company impresses with digital lifecycle management solution for high-voltage batteries and AI-supported analytics tool

Circular Economy ensures envirnomental and economic advantages


Mainz/Munich. Significant acknowledgment of Circunomics - The young, Mainz-based start-up was presented with the Safety & Environment Award 2024 today (September 25, 2024) at the 15th annual, auto motor und sport Congress, in Munich. Motor Presse Stuttgart, with its leading automotive trade magazine, auto motor und sport, and the HUK-Coburg insurance group are celebrating the idea and establishment of a digital B2B lifecycle management solution. This includes the trade of used or surplus high-voltage batteries, as well as the integrated AI-supported analytics tool. Jan Born, Co-Founder and CTO of Circunomics, accepted the award.

“We are very pleased and extremely proud to join the ranks of well-known companies that have previously been recognized through this important road safety and sustainability award,” said Jan Born at the presentation of the award, which includes 10,000 Euros. Jan went on to say, “As part of a sustainable circular economy, our intelligent battery lifecycle management solution gives used or surplus high-voltage batteries a second chance. After first use, we don't recycle any materials. Instead, we broker the remaining kilowatt hours for use in a second life. This achieves significant environmental and economic advantages”. 

The team surrounding company co-founders Jan Born and Felix Wagner has developed an AI-based process that determines the state of health of a battery from the data of the battery management system and extrapolates it for future uses in a second-life application. This results in a transparent, customized offer for industrial customers who, for example, operate modern, stationary storage facilities. Likewise, the Circunomics Lifecycle Management Solution ensures that battery packs, modules and cells that are no longer suitable for second use are properly recycled. 

The use of artificial intelligence is necessary because not every battery is equally well suited for all applications. For example, only short and less intensive charging and discharging processes are required for grid stabilization, while the storage of renewable electricity places greater demands on the cells. With the help of AI, the power bars that match the consumer are selected and brokered. The marketplace started in 2022. In 2023, its first full financial year, Circunomics brokered a total storage volume of 280 megawatt hours. In the next three years, the volume is expected to increase to three gigawatt hours.

The comments made by the initiators of the award at the presentation ceremony:

"Circunomics' basic idea is as simple as it is convincing, and the climate benefits to a great extent. This is because the production of a traction battery currently accounts for 30 to 50 percent of an electric vehicle's total CO₂ emissions. If a battery is used in a vehicle for eight years and then used in a stationary application for another eight years, for example, its CO₂ footprint is roughly halved,” says Birgit Priemer, editor-in-chief of auto motor und sport and a member of the board of Motor Presse Stuttgart.

Dr. Jörg Rheinländer, Member of the Board of HUK-COBURG, adds, “We found it particularly exciting that artificial intelligence is being used. The data-based solution makes it easier to determine the battery's state of health and to bring together suppliers and buyers in a way that fits perfectly. In doing so, Circunomics is making an important contribution to the continued use of e-vehicle batteries.”

Press Contact:

Inga Swope

Circunomics, GmbH

+49 6131 6362 466

inga.swope@circunomics.com