This paper describes the present status and the future trends for separators for automotive lead/acid batteries. During the past decade, the
design of modem automotive batteries has undergone a fundamental change. Whereas in 1980 almost all batteries used leaf separators,
nowadays already two-thirds of the batteries produced worldwide have microporous polyethylene pocket separators. The extem of this
conversion is quantified for the geographical regions. The impetus behind the change, as well as the future development trends, are outlined