Battery having separator sheathed/supported plates

An electric storage battery including a container having bottom, side and end walls defining at least one cell compartment and an electrochemically active cell element housed within said compartment, said element comprising:

• a plurality of first polarity plates alternately interspersed a plurality of opposite polarity plates, said opposite polarity plates each having a first end joined to other opposite polarity plates in said element and a distal end remote from said first end, said first end lying adjacent a said side wall of said container;
• a sheath encasing each of said first polarity plates and comprising a microporous, dendrite-suppressing, battery separator material having a lower edge resting on said bottom wall and lateral edges extending upwardly from said lower edge substantially parallel to said side walls;
• and
• a swath of said separator material integral with said sheath and lying along at one of said lateral edges to define a pouch for receiving the distal end of an adjacent opposite polarity plate and supporting such opposite polarity plate above said bottom wall and in substantial alignment with said first polarity plates.