Heat dissipating battery

In a valve-regulated, deep cycling, gas-recombinant, high energy, lead-acid battery operating at a superambient internal pressure and temperature, said battery having a plurality of cell elements each comprising a plurality of alternately interleaved positive and negative polarity plates spaced one from the next by an electrolyte-absorbent separator and housed in one of a plurality of contiguous cell compartments in a thermoplastic, prismatic, monobloc container, the improvement wherein said container comprises a pair of opposing end walls, a pair of opposing sidewalls extending between said end walls, and a plurality of intercell partitions extending parallel to said end walls and engaging said side walls so as to define said cell compartments, said sidewalls having a thickness which is less than the thickness of said partitions, and a plurality of ribs projecting outwardly from said sidewalls and extending in a direction transverse said partitions to reinforce said sidewalls from bulging under the influence of said superambient pressure and increase the rate of heat transfer out of said battery.