A maintenance-free, dry calcium (MFDC) developed by the Panasonic Battery (Thailand) Co. Ltd. The battery is designed for automotive applications and is ready for use upon injection of the electrolyte. The MFDC battery employs grids made from a lead-calcium-based alloy. This feature suppresses undesirable loss of electrolyte and enables good recovery of capacity after a long time of storage or a long cycle-life. Moreover, the batteries is a dry-charged type and requires only a low frequency of recharging due to its suppressed self-discharge during storage. Transportation costs are reduced as the battery contains only a small amount of electrolyte during storage. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.