One of the hallmarks of a good battery is that they are FORGIVING of mistreatment.
Up to a point. Limited but of course but very significant.
An industrial battery can recover repeatedly from misuse that would put a lesser battery in the recycle bin many times over. A good, hard equalization may remove 7-10 microns of surface from a positive plate while the same would destroy a more porous plate.
Nothing is free. Dense plates offer less performance. Denser, harder plates make the battery significantly more expensive to manufacture. And manufacturing mishaps make production line faults expensive. Manufacturing top quality batteries is a great financial gamble. It is a niche market - quirky and always subject to oppressive federal rules and regulations. Not saying the rules are wrong, but it really impacts the final cost.
"Cheapest At Any Price" customers, cloud the issue. Regardless of any other factor, the result of calculating cost per kWh service rendered over the lifespan of the product is the benchmark. The only benchmark. Anything other calculation is hocus-pocus.
