storage battery
Quick Summary
A storage battery is a cell or group of cells that converts chemical energy into electrical energy through reversible chemical reactions. It can be recharged by passing an electric current through it in the opposite direction of its discharge.12
The first operable battery, known as the "voltaic pile," was developed by Alessandro Volta around 1800. This device used alternating zinc and silver disks separated by soaked cloth or paper. Later developments led to more efficient cells, such as the Daniell cell and Grove's two-fluid cell.3
The first practical storage battery, the lead-acid cell, was invented in 1859 by Gaston Planté. This technology is the forerunner of modern automobile batteries. Other significant developments include nickel-cadmium, nickel-iron, and nickel-hydrogen batteries, as well as lithium-ion cells, which are now common in portable electronics and electric vehicles.324
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automobileEarly electric automobilesInvention of the storage battery by Gaston Planté of France in 1859–60 and its improvement by Camille Faure in 1881 made the electric vehicle possible, and what was probably the first, a tricycle, ran in Paris in 1881. It was followed by other three-wheelers in London (1882) and…
Read MoreInvention of the storage battery by Gaston Planté of France in 1859–60 and its improvement by Camille Faure in 1881 made the electric vehicle possible, and what was probably the first, a tricycle, ran in Paris in 1881. It was followed by other three-wheelers in London (1882) and…
Read More- automobileElectric and hybrid vehicles
Conventional storage-battery systems do not have high power-to-weight ratios for acceleration or energy-to-weight ratios for driving range to match gasoline-powered general-purpose vehicles. Special-purpose applications, however, may be practical because of the excellent low-emission characteristics of the system. Such systems have been used to power vehicles on…
Read MoreConventional storage-battery systems do not have high power-to-weight ratios for acceleration or energy-to-weight ratios for driving range to match gasoline-powered general-purpose vehicles. Special-purpose applications, however, may be practical because of the excellent low-emission characteristics of the system. Such systems have been used to power vehicles on…
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