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How did lead-acid batteries become a major use for lead?

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Metallurgy — lead processing A zinc-lead blast furnace and lead-splash condenser. This technology is utilized mainly for producing zinc while managing both lead and zinc from raw materials, a technique that was highly influential in 20th-century smelting.

The lead-acid battery became a major use for lead primarily due to the rise of the automobile in the 20th century. Gaston Planté invented the first practical lead-acid cell in 1859, but it was the subsequent demand for reliable starting, lighting, and ignition (SLI) systems for internal-combustion engines that drove massive growth in battery production.12

Several technical and economic factors contributed to this success:

Performance and Reliability: These batteries offer a wide capability range for high or low current demand and provide high cell voltage (2.1 volts per cell).3
Cost-Effectiveness: Lead is relatively inexpensive compared to other battery materials like nickel, cadmium, or lithium.3
Ease of Manufacturing: Lead components are easily fabricated through casting, welding, or rolling.3
Recyclability: Lead is highly salvageable at low melting temperatures, and approximately 85 percent of secondary lead is recovered from discarded automobile batteries, making it a sustainable and significant factor in the lead market.34

Today, battery manufacturing consumes about 75 percent of the world’s lead production.1