Managing the Complexity of Circularity in Automotive Design

Circular economy is one of the biggest challenges for the automotive industry. It promotes resource efficiency, reduces waste, and encourages the reuse and recycling of materials, leading to a more sustainable approach of mobility. However, designing an automotive system that incorporates circular economy aspects is a highly intricate task. Its complexity stems from various aspects, such as the interdependent solution space, different possibilities how material cycles can be closed and the challenge to evaluate the impact of a circular design on a multi-faceted automotive system. In this paper, we present an approach to incorporate circular economy aspects in the early stages of product development. Five development artefacts, a methodology and a MBSE software system help to effectively implement sustainability measures and thus reduce circular-related complexity. This enables the automotive developer to perform life cycle assessments in early stages of development, evaluate circularity indicators and trace sustainability throughout the vehicle’s life cycle, even if the automotive system is not yet fully defined. We present the approach and the software system, including its evaluation on the design of an automotive center console.