A novel room-temperature route to corrosion protect lead-coated plastic grids with an organic metal, namely, polyaniline, for producing commercial-grade high specific-energy 12 V/45 Ah lead-acid batteries is reported. The specific energy of these lead-acid batteries is found to be ca. 45 Wh/ kg as against about 30 Wh/ kg for conventional lead-acid batteries. It is believed that the study reported here will open up a new realm of possibilities for lead- acid battery development, and will contribute directly towards lowering the cost of both battery materials and manufacturing. (c) 2005 The Electrochemical Society.