History of the battery his iron scalpel, the leg twitched. Galvani believed the energy that drove this contraction came from the leg itself, and called it "animal electricity". However, Alessandro Volta, a friend and fellow scientist, disagreed, believing this phenomenon was caused by two different metals joined together by a moist intermediary. He verified this hypothesis through experiment, and published the results in 1791. In 1800, Volta invented the first true battery, which came to be known as the voltaic pile. The voltaic pile consisted of pairs of copper and zinc discs piled on top of each other, separated by a layer of cloth
Electric vehicle battery are characterized by their relatively high power-to-weight ratio, specific energy and energy density; smaller, lighter batteries reduce the weight of the vehicle and improve its performance. Compared to liquid fuels, most current battery technologies have much lower specific energy, and this often impacts the maximal all-electric range of the vehicles. However, metal-air batteries have high specific energy because the cathode is provided by the surrounding oxygen in the air. Rechargeable batteries used in electric vehicles include lead–acid ("flooded", deep-cycle, and VRLA), NiCd, nickel–metal hydride, lithium-ion, Li-ion polymer, and, less commonly, zinc–air and molten-salt batteries. The most common battery type in