Richard J Kinch wrote in
:

Look, they're called EDISON batteries. True innovations are rare in
technologies that old.


"Edison Batteries" are Nickel-Iron-Potassium Hydroxide batteries.

No innovation is needed. I used to have some that were 30 years old out of
an old telephone system. No deterioration like lead-acid cells from
sulphate crystals....

http://www.ieee-virtual-museum.org/c...=2345874&lid=1

The fork lift industry used them before the EPA stepped in and worried
about the nickel pollution so much it made them too expensive to use.
Without the soft lead plates, with plates made of much harder metals, they
survived banging around in fork lift trucks much better than soft lead.

Today all the lift batteries are lead, so you can replace them often...like
boats.

Larry writes:

Look, they're called EDISON batteries. True innovations are rare in
technologies that old.

"Edison Batteries" are Nickel-Iron-Potassium Hydroxide batteries.

I stand corrected. Practical lead-acid predates even Edison.