Do You Know the Top 10 VRLA Lead-Acid Battery Manufacturers?
Lead-acid batteries are among the world’s safest and most reliable energy storage devices. A lead-acid (Pb) [the symbol Pb from the Latin Plumbum] battery is a rechargeable battery that consists of negative lead and positive lead dioxide electrodes placed into the sulfuric acid electrolyte.
Invented in 1859 by French physicist Gaston Planté, the lead-acid battery has evolved extensively in the scope of applications—from electric vehicles, electric wheelchairs, and home security systems to motorcycles, boats, and industrial lift trucks.
Lead-acid batteries are among the most widely used batteries because they are reliable, less expensive, easy to maintain, and environmentally sustainable.
While there are many manufacturers of lead-acid batteries, some stand out for their market share, market strategy, scale, and product innovation in the ever-evolving battery market.
What Is a VRLA Battery?
A Valve-Regulated Lead-Acid (VRLA) Battery is a lead-acid battery designed to immobilize the electrolyte, enabling the recombination of hydrogen and oxygen.
Also known as a sealed lead-acid battery, it boasts a compact size, excellent sealing properties, no water replenishment requirement, and minimal gas emission.
Its sealed design makes it suitable for poorly ventilated or confined spaces. This design also prevents the release of flammable hydrogen and eliminates the risk of corrosive acid spillage, enhancing safety.
VRLA batteries are versatile, and suited for various applications due to their user-friendly and safe design.
Who is the manufacturer of your batteries?
Knowing the manufacturer of your battery is important when looking to replace a UPS battery (or batteries) in an existing string. It is not recommended to mix and match batteries from different manufacturers as the performance characteristics of the batteries could be different.
Read on to learn more about the top 10 lead-acid battery manufacturers in the world.
GS Yuasa
With over 100 years of battery-manufacturing experience, GS Yuasa has expertise in manufacturing batteries for various applications, including automotive batteries, industrial batteries, and high-performance batteries for deep-sea research and space development.
Exide
In 1888, W. W. Gibbs founded the Electric Storage Battery Company—Exide’s predecessor company. Exide Technologies (Exide) has been a trusted supplier of lead-acid batteries to carmakers for over 100 years.
East Penn
East Penn Manufacturing (East Penn) is a family-owned company with the world’s largest single-site lead-acid battery manufacturing facility. East Penn’s pioneering Form, Fit, and Function of AGM battery technology successfully met the unique criteria of the automotive industry.
EnerSys
EnerSys is a well-known global leader in stored energy solutions. With 100+ years of battery and energy storage heritage, EnerSys serves over 10,000 customers in 100 countries.
Ranking as of January 2024 Globally
| Rank | Company | Click Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Exide |
20.9%
|
| 2 | GS Yuasa International Ltd. |
13.5%
|
| 3 | Power Sonic |
12.2%
|
| 4 | East Penn |
9.1%
|
| 5 | EnerSys |
8.8%
|
| 6 | Effekta Regeltechnik GmbH |
7.8%
|
| 7 | XINFU TECHNOLOGY |
6.1%
|
| 8 | HJBP power |
6.1%
|
| 9 | BRAVA BATTERY |
5.7%
|
| 10 | Furukawa Battery |
5.4%
|
Types and Applications of VRLA Lead-Acid Battery
Now that we’ve seen the top 10 lead-acid battery manufacturers, let’s look at the types and applications of lead-acid batteries.
Two major lead-acid battery types include:
- Flooded lead-acid batteries
- Sealed lead-acid batteries (VRLA battery or Valve-Regulated Lead-Acid battery)
While a flooded lead-acid battery (wet lead-acid battery) has removable caps for topping up with distilled water, a sealed lead-acid battery is sealed at the top with no access to the inside compartment.
As the electrolyte is sealed inside, the battery can sustain a calculated number of cycles without the need of adding distilled water.
Applications of lead-acid batteries include:
- Transportation
- Motive Power
- Reserve Power
It is estimated that 70% of lead-acid batteries are used for vehicles, 21% for communications, and 4% for other applications.
The most commonly used lead-acid battery in automobiles is the Starting, Lighting, and Ignition (SLI) battery. Smaller than industrial batteries, SLI batteries are designed to start, run, and maintain the energy-consuming processes of an automobile.
Motive power batteries are used in cleaning machines, electric material-handling trucks (aerial work platforms, automated guided vehicles (AGVs), forklift trucks, and pallet trucks), and other industrial battery-powered or hybrid vehicles.
Reserve power batteries are used in general electronics, IT, telecommunications, utilities, uninterruptible power supplies, and specialty applications requiring standby power.
There is a suitable lead-acid battery pack for a broad range of applications—from automotive and marine to power sports and floor care equipment.
How do lead-acid battery compare to lithium-ion batteries?
High energy per unit mass makes a lithium-ion battery an ideal choice for stationary power, automotive, and portable consumer electronics (mobile phones, laptops, etc.) applications.
Other appealing features include a high power-to-weight ratio and high energy efficiency. However, high cost, overheating-related safety risk, and significant environmental impact are the main disadvantages of lithium-ion batteries.
A lead-acid battery is inexpensive, reliable, safe, and environmentally sustainable. According to Battery University, “97 percent of lead-acid batteries are recycled in the United States.”
Compared to a lithium-ion battery, a lead-acid battery is an excellent recyclable product with recycling and reuse rate exceeding 99%. However, there are certain limitations, such as poor cold-temperature performance, low specific energy, and short cycle life.
Global Lead-Acid Battery Market Outlook
Although volatile market dynamics had a major impact on the lead-acid battery industry, companies that manufacture and recycle lead-acid batteries expect the market to grow manifold by 2025.
The lead-acid battery market is expected to see a boost in growth in the near future—primarily driven by expected global volume growth in vehicle batteries (both new and replacement) and battery energy storage systems (ESSs).
Increased automotive sales in countries, such as Brazil, China, Germany, India, Indonesia, Mexico, and South Africa are fueling a surge in the lead-acid battery growth market.
In addition, the growing demand for off-grid renewable energy generation, replacement batteries, and uninterruptible power supply systems (ups systems) are driving the growth of the global lead-acid battery market.
In automobiles, lead-acid batteries play a pivotal role in the transition of the global transportation network from internal combustion engines (ICEs) to hybrid and electric vehicles (EVs).
These batteries support a range of functions critical to vehicle performance—ranging from the more traditional roles of engine starting and ignition and supporting key-off loads—to more demanding emerging functions, such as advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), autonomous driving, over-the-air software updates, and start-stop.
Global Lead-Acid Battery Market Reports
The Blackridge Research Global Lead-Acid Battery Market report provides a rigorous analysis of the lead-acid battery market across multiple regions and an in-depth assessment of the competitive landscape and company profiles.
In addition, you’ll find comprehensive insights into the most influential growth drivers and restraints, regional market analysis, emerging market trends, merger and acquisition (M&A) developments, joint ventures (JVs), market share of key industry players, and much more.
Are you looking for a region-specific market report? Be sure to check out the lead-acid battery market reports for Asia Pacific, Africa, Europe, Middle East, North America, and South America.
Conclusion
In conclusion, lead-acid batteries are still a popular choice for many applications. What sets lead-acid batteries apart from other battery chemistries? Affordability, reliability, recyclability, and safety make them a great option in the battery business.
Despite the higher market share of lithium-ion batteries compared to lead-acid batteries in the overall global battery market, growing automotive and other applications will push the demand for lead-acid batteries in the battery business.
Mature lead-acid battery technology, low manufacturing cost, an impressive range of sizes and specifications, and strong surge capabilities, among other benefits make lead-acid batteries scalable and sustainable.
Top lead-acid battery manufacturers are meeting the varied needs of their customers across the world with high-quality lead-acid batteries.
Furthermore, the soaring requirements for reliable and efficient power supply and environmentally sustainable battery technology are sure to lead the way in increasing lead-acid battery use and recycling.
Is the lead-acid battery industry on an upward trend?
Going by the continued economic recovery as well as market size, value, and growth rates—this is a promising time with great opportunities ahead for lead-acid battery manufacturers.
