A closer look

Under the hood of your highly advanced modern vehicle sits a sloshing box of antique 1850s chemistry. Lead-acid batteries are literally just heavy plates of lead submerged in a bath of highly corrosive sulfuric acid. They weigh a ton, they off-gas explosive hydrogen, and they slowly destroy themselves if completely drained. We only keep them around because they are incredibly cheap and fantastic at delivering a brief, aggressive jolt to the starter motor.