Recent work by Atraverda on the production of an Ebonex(R) material that can be cheaply formulated and manufactured to form bipolar substrate plates for bipolar lead-acid batteries is described. In addition, data obtained by Atraverda from laboratory lead-acid batteries is presented indicating that weight savings of around 40% for a bipolar 36 V design (20 Ah capacity, 5 h rate, 9 kW) are potentially achievable in comparison to more conventional designs containing monopolar lead grids. Results indicate that their use as bipolar substrate materials will provide light-weight, long-lasting lead-acid batteries suitable for automotive, standby and power tool applications. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.