Researchers from Ceit-IK4 have been working side by side with colleagues from 15 other European research centers, companies and universities to increase the life of electric car batteries and to commercialize them by installing them in plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and fully electric vehicles. Because that the main stumbling block to the evolution of these vehicles is their limited autonomy, the Alise project's researchers are developing a new battery that will increase users' range.

The project consists of developing a lithium-sulfur (Li-S) battery capable of reaching a capacity of 500Wh/kg (Watt-hours per kilogram); currently, energy density does not exceed 210Wh/kg (in lithium-ion batteries). This development would double the number of kilometers that these vehicles can travel on a single charge.

One of the project's objectives is to ensure that the Li-S batteries under development have an affordable price point, and so the Alise project is also developing a marketing plan to help introduce them to the market.

The Alise project is funded by the European Union under the Horizon 2020 program. It has a budget of 7 million euros and a team of 15 partners that come from different sectors and European countries. Alise is the only project in Europe that aims to integrate Li-S batteries in PHEVs. Ceit-IK4's researchers are tasked with monitoring the degradation of the battery using embedded sensors and developing algorithms that allow the batteries to be properly managed.