U.S. Battery's History of Innovations

(Sponsored Content) — As U.S. Battery celebrates its 100th anniversary, the company has made numerous developments over that time, including a variety of deep-cycle battery types specifically designed for the lift and access industry. When John Anderson took over the reins of U.S. Battery early in the company’s history, he believed it was essential to continuously improve upon basic battery technology. Over the decades, U.S. Battery continues Mr. Anderson's legacy by modernizing and innovating deep-cycle battery designs in multiple ways.

When it comes to powering cranes, work platforms, forklifts, and more, these improvements enable the company's products to meet and stay ahead of the changing demands of the lift and access industry, while always looking ahead to what's coming next.

FLOODED LEAD-ACID BATTERY INNOVATIONS

U.S. Battery has, throughout its history, developed significant advancements to deliver longer cycle life, increased capacity, and faster cycle-up to full-rated capacity than previous FLA designs.

Lead Grid Plates

U.S. Battery found that the limits of the FLA cell design were the corrosion that occurred in the battery’s positive grid plate. The use of Selenium as an additional additive was introduced to the lead-antimony to refine the lead grains to a fine alloy. This provided greater strength and corrosion resistance than conventional lead-antimony alloys, and positive-grid corrosion is no longer the primary failure mode, thereby contributing to improved cycle life for FLA deep-cycle batteries.

Lead Sulfate Crystals

Historically, positive electrodes have been processed using a procedure called hydroset, which is designed to ‘grow’ tetrabasic lead sulfate (TTBLS) crystals on the plates.  U.S. battery found ways to improve the active materials on the positive plates from using a mixture of lead oxide, sulfuric acid, and various additives to increase the life of the positive electrodes.

By using proprietary crystal-seeding additives, U.S. Battery discovered that the crystal size range can be controlled to the most desirable levels. Uniformly controlling crystal size in the TTBLS structure resulted in increased initial capacity, faster cycle-up to rated capacity, higher peak capacity, and improved charging across a wide range of charger technologies used in various applications.

Active Materials

Further improvements have come from the addition of active materials, such as carbon additives, to the negative plates of deep-cycle batteries. Carbon additives prevent the natural tendency of the negative active material to shrink or coalesce during cycling, which can cause active material shrinkage and reduce the capacity and life.  Recent improvements in these carbon materials have opened new opportunities to address several performance limitations of lead-acid batteries.

ABSORBED GLASS MAT BATTERY INNOVATIONS

Absorbed Glass Matt (AGM) batteries are very similar to flooded lead-acid batteries, with the key difference being a sealed construction in which the electrolyte is contained in absorbed glass mats that surround the battery’s electrodes. U.S. Battery has also continued to advance its AGM batteries through improved positive electrode corrosion resistance and the addition of carbon-enhanced negative active materials to improve charge acceptance. AGM batteries cost more than FLA batteries, but they are an excellent option for applications with difficult-to-access battery compartments or where corrosion is a concern.

LITHIUM ION BATTERY INNOVATIONS

Lithium-ion batteries are the newest type of battery in U.S. Battery's history.  In 2022, the company introduced its Essential Li® line of deep-cycle batteries, with a commitment to delivering high quality and reliability.

For this type of battery, U.S. Battery chose Prismatic LFP cells instead of Cylindrical cells used in most Li deep-cycle batteries. While the rest of the industry used spot-welding to connect the battery cells, U.S. Battery preferred laser welding to provide greater shock and vibration resistance.

Most recently, U.S. Battery also took the step to have its line of 24V and 48V Li batteries tested by the Underwriter’s Laboratory to receive UL 2271 certification for preventing fire or explosion, UL 2580 certification for quality and safety when used in electric vehicles, and UL 38.3 certification for safe transport in the U.S. and globally. U.S. Battery's Essential Li® line of Li batteries is also IP67-rated for dust and moisture resistance.

In 2025, U.S. Battery also began integrating a heating element into its Essential Li line of batteries to improve charging efficiency in colder climates and during seasonal use.

CONTINUING THE COMMITMENT

Over its 100-year history, U.S. Battery has continued John Anderson's commitment to quality and greater battery innovation. While battery technology continues to expand and evolve, U.S. Battery will continue to innovate and improve its designs to deliver greater efficiency, reliability, and the highest-quality products.