Battery terminals have been produced in one form or another since the earliest automobiles manufactured.  Generally, truck, off-road, and heavy-duty terminal lug applications designs originated around the time of WWII.  As these were typically military applications, army rolling stock and naval on-board power applications, vibration and corrosion intensive operating environments, as well as the costly and dangerous impact of over-heating and battery power failure, caused military designers to produce products with heavier wire barrel walls, thicker bolting tang surfaces, corrosion resistance, which performed to conductivity, resistance, and secureness values well above the traditional automotive products. Traditional automotive products utilized “strip type” raw materials which allowed cable and crimp sections to be exposed to the elements; during WWII and subsequent conflicts, when vehicles were transported en masse overseas, it became clear that these traditional connector designs would not meet the needs of the Tank and Automotive Command (TACOM).