A new European Union-backed initiative aims to accelerate the development of lithium-sulphur battery technology for cleaner and more efficient transport. The TALISSMAN project, which brings together nine organisations from four countries, is focused on delivering safer, longer-lasting, and more sustainable batteries tailored to electric mobility sectors including electric vehicles, aerospace, and heavy-duty transport.
The project—short for Technologies for Advanced Lithium-Sulphur batteries towards Safe and Sustainable Mobility Applications—targets improvements across four key areas: technical performance, safety, cost-effectiveness, and environmental sustainability. A central technical goal is to achieve energy densities of up to 550 Wh/kg, with batteries capable of sustaining up to 700 full charge-discharge cycles. The initiative also aims to enhance safety by using non-flammable, quasi-solid or solid-state electrolytes.
From an economic perspective, TALISSMAN targets a reduction in battery costs to below €75 per kilowatt-hour by 2030. On the sustainability front, the project intends to apply eco-design principles, promote responsible sourcing of materials, and ensure recyclability at the end of the battery’s life cycle. According to the consortium, lithium-sulphur technology was chosen for its potential to store more energy at lower weight and cost compared to traditional lithium-ion batteries.
The initiative is coordinated by CIDETEC Energy Storage in Spain and includes partners such as Airbus, SAFT, ARKEMA France, the Fraunhofer Institute, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Politecnico di Torino, Tecnalia Research & Innovation, and Sustainable Innovations Europe. The project is supported with €4.9 million in funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme.
By building on pan-European collaboration and leveraging industrial and academic expertise, TALISSMAN aims to contribute to the EU’s broader goals for sustainable mobility and technological sovereignty in battery production.
