The principle of today’s electric batteries was discovered in 1859 by Gaston Planté, inventor of the electric accumulator. 

Planté’s experiments led him to realise that electric batteries are completely discharged when their internal chemical reactions are fully completed. He then imagined using reversible chemical transformations – taking place in both directions – to restore electricity to a completely discharged electric generator. Thus he invented the first rechargeable electric source in history.

The excessive weight of the device – about 100 kg – prevented its mass production for almost two decades, but Planté’s principle is at the heart of all modern electric batteries.