For more than 35 years, Chloride Accumulators enabled electric light and power companies to provide continuous service, while the alternating current systems that serve the public today were being developed and slowly extended. In 1901, the first successful transcontinental telephone service and the first transatlantic "wireless" telegraph transmission used Exide batteries.

In the automotive industry, Exide pioneered two major developments concerning two entirely different uses of batteries.
The introduction of the electric carriage as a private passenger vehicle, primarily for town travel, heralded batteries as a means of replacing horsepower. The second development stemmed from a common health problem caused by cars at the time: motorists' broken arms. As a driver hand cranked his engine, the crank often swung back violently, injuring the driver's arm. Efforts to eliminate dangerous engine cranking led to the development of battery-started vehicles. The 1912, Cadillac became the first battery-started car with an internal combustion engine, produced under cooperative development between The Electric Storage Battery Company and Charles F. Kettering. The Exide battery also supplied power for lighting and ignition in this model. The functions of starting, lighting and ignition are the origin of today's battery industry term SLI, referring to automotive batteries.] In 1913, the U.S. Navy began experiments using Exide batteries to start the engines of hydroplanes and, in 1915, Exide batteries were used with the first starters installed on gasoline trucks. Use of the electric passenger car began to decline with invention of the electric starter. With the development of a radically different, heavy-duty battery - the Exide Ironclad -- Exide opened up an entirely new field as a source of power. Exide batteries began to be used for the short-haul, frequent "stop and go" operations of electric handling trucks used throughout all of industry. These vehicles were the predecessors of today's delivery vans that might serve only a neighborhood or zip code. Exide Ironclad batteries also were used in electric fork trucks and for the underwater operations of submarines. Over the years, Exide was a part of many major developments in exploration, communications and warfare. In 1934, an Exide deep-cycle battery was the sole source of electrical power when Commander Byrd established a military base on Antarctica. Exide batteries also provided power for Piccard's balloon flight and diesel locomotives that same year.

When the United States entered World War I, Exide engineers developed a lightweight, non-spillable battery to operate thousands of airplane radio sets. The company's batteries also powered many radio stations. In 1938, Exide acquired Grant Storage Battery Company, a move that expanded its product line into battery chargers and testers. Exide also contributed to the war effort of World War II when engineers developed a battery-powered wakeless torpedo.