Research results from the Advanced Lead–Acid Battery Consortium point the way to longer life and higher specific energy for lead/acid electric-vehicle batteries

Amidst the welter of publicity devoted to the newer battery chemistries, the remarkable progress made by lead/acid battery technologists in response to the needs of the emerging electric-vehicle market has tended to be overlooked. The flooded design of battery, launched by Gaston Planté around 1860, has given way to a valve-regulated variant which has a history dating only from the 1970s. The key parameters of this ‘maintenance freeʹ battery have been improved markedly during the course of the development programme of the Advanced Lead–Acid Battery Consortium (ALABC), and it is likely that lead/acid will continue to feature strongly in motive-power applications as a result of its cost advantage and of its enhanced effectiveness.