Alkaline silver-zinc cells of different capacity have been characterised by a galvanostatic non-destructive technique (GNDT). Cells with capacities between 10.6 and 58.5 Ah exhibit lower internal resistance than those with capacities between 1.7 and 5.8 Ah. From analysis of voltage-time transient data, it is concluded that only the cells with capacities between 10.6 and 58.5 Ah can sustain high-drain applications. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.