I was given a tour of the factory which was fascinating. They mold plates and parts from lead alloys, coat the battery plates with a lead oxide mixture, and cure the plates in gigantic environmental chambers. Skilled workers hand-stack the plates, alternating positive plates, insulators and negative plates. The stacks are then welded and placed in the battery casing. Automated machinery puts the tops on the battery, and performs several tests.
Acid is added, and the batteries are connected in strings to receive their first charge.
The room where the batteries are formed is quite a sight. Imagine a room as big as your local supermarket filled with row upon row of low tables. Each table is loaded with hundreds of batteries, all connected by heavy wires, and to wires coming down from conduits in the ceiling. The entire room is warm, and filled with a fog of sulfuric acid. My tour guide assured me that the air was harmless, and in fact would cure your cold, due to the fact that cold germs can only live within a certain range of pH. After the new batteries are charged, they are tested again, washed and packed on pallets, ready for shipment.