Near Zero Volt Storage Tolerant Electrochemical Cells Through Reversible Ion Management

A method for providing an electrochemical cell which manages an amount of reversible ions that enables a near zero voltage storage for prolonged periods of time under an applied load capable of recharge without significant degradation of discharge performance, comprising:

• a) measuring the electrochemical potential of a negative electrode vs. reference level and a positive electrode vs. reference level upon application of an applied load to a first electrochemical cell as the cell reaches a near zero volt cell voltage;
• b) determining the EAP from the measured electrochemical potential of the negative electrode vs. reference level and the positive electrode vs. reference level;
• c) adjusting the amount of reversible ions in a second electrochemical cell based upon the determined EAP from the first electrochemical cell, wherein the first and second cells can be the same or different;
• and
• d) repeat steps a), b) and c) until an amount of the reversible ions in the cell is identified that achieves the negative electrode potential verses reference level below a negative electrode damage threshold potential of the cell and the positive electrode potential verses reference level above a positive electrode damage threshold potential of the cell under the applied load at a near zero cell voltage state.