Flat Plate Advantage :

• Lower Initial Cost
• Easier to manufacture

Flat Plate Disadvantage :

• Short life span
• Higher Cost of ownership

Flat plate batteries are cheaper & easier to manufacture but offer lower cyclic life. Cyclic life is the number of times the battery can be charged and discharged over its life span. A flat plate battery will typically offer between 200 – 400 cycles (depending on design, make etc) at 80% Depth of discharge. Depth of discharge is the extent to which the battery is discharged before being charged. 80% DOD means it’s discharged to 80% of it’s capacity before being charged again.

Tubular Battery Advantage :

• Long life span – 3 times of a flat plate battery.
• Lower cost of ownership.
• Requires less frequency of topping up than flat plate batteries. Battery can be revived even if plates sulphate due to improper maintenance.

Tubular Battery Plate Disadvantage :

• Initial higher cost.
• Difficult manufacturing process.
• Gives slightly lower backup time than flat plate battery of the same AH rating.

Tubular batteries use a special technology where the active material is encapsulated in tubes that prevent ‘shedding’. This prolongs the life of battery while undergoing long charges and discharges. Typically tubular batteries give more than 1000 cycles of life at 80% DOD which is 3-5 times that of a flat plate.