TABLE OF CONTENTS The lead-acid battery was invented in 1859 by Gaston Plant (see Chapter 2), and first used in a vehicle in France in 1881 when G. Trov demonstrated its use to power a tricycle capable of travelling at 7 mph. It is interesting to note that today, 120 years later, the lead-acid battery is probably still one of the most widely used electrical storage devices for electric traction applications.
The lead-acid battery, a low-cost version of which is used as the starter battery in all conventional internal combustion engined cars, uses lead and lead-oxide paste plates with a dilute sulphuric acid electrolyte. It has a relatively low energy density of 25 35 Wh/kg in spite of more than 100 years of development, only a modest improvement over the 18 Wh/kg obtainable back in 1909. Most of this improvement is due to weight reduction from the use of lightweight plastic for the battery case material rather than any breakthrough in battery technology.
Power density is relatively good at about 150 W/kg, sufficient to give adequate but not startling acceleration in vehicle use. This figure is reduced as the depth of discharge is increased.
The lead-acid battery is severely affected by low ambient temperatures, and this begins to show up below 10 C when both energy density and power density are significantly reduced. An electric vehicle using this battery and operated in very cold climates may require auxiliary battery heating and insulation to be fully effective.
As far as battery life is concerned,...
