a battery including : a plurality of battery cells arranged side - by - side , each battery cell including a terminal tab for delivering power from the cell ; a bus plate made of an electrically non - conductive material , the bus plate also having an array of holes formed therein , the array of holes defining a plurality of hole pairs , wherein the terminal tab from each cell of the plurality of cells extends through a corresponding different hole in the array of holes , wherein for each hole pair of the plurality of hole pairs , the terminal tabs extending through that hole pair are folded one over the other to produce overlapping tabs for that hole pair ; and a plurality of clamps each of which clamps together the overlapping tabs of a corresponding different hole pair .