Addition of 0.5 wt % ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid based sodium salt (Na(2)EDTA) chelating agent to lead-acid battery (LAB) electrolyte improves the conductance, reduces significantly the battery formation time from 3 cycles to 1 cycle due to decrease in hard sulfation, increases C rate performances (> 20% increase in capacity at > 3C rates), and cycling efficiency of the battery. We present here the electro-chemical performance of the conventional and corresponding Na(2)EDTA additive lead-acid cells by galvanostatic charge-discharge cycling, I-V characteristics, cyclic voltammetry and surface chemical aspects by using electrochemical impedance, X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy. The results indicate that the morphology of PbSO4 layer and particle size changes from spherical to rod like morphology under the influence of Na(2)EDTA chelating agent. In overall, addition of Na(2)EDTA chelating agent enhances charge acceptance, 10-20% improvement in discharge capacity and cycle life of the lead acid batteries. The superior electrochemical performance is owing to the dissociation of PbSO4 in the presence of Na(2)EDTA chelating agent. (c) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.