To examine the influence of bismuth on the charging ability of negative plates in lead–acid batteries, plates are made from three types of oxides: (i) leady oxide of high quality which contains virtually no bismuth (termed ‘control oxide’); (ii) control oxide in which bismuth oxide is blended at bismuth levels from 0.01 to 0.12wt.%; (iii) leady oxide produced from Pasminco VRLA Refined™ lead (0.05–0.06wt.%Bi). An experimental tool—the ‘conversion indicator’—is developed to assess the charging ability of the test negative plates when cycling under either zero percent state-of-charge (SoC)/full-charge or partial state-of-charge (PSoC) duty. Although the conversion indicator is not the true charging efficiency, the two parameters have a close relationship, namely, the higher the conversion indicator, the greater the charging efficiency. Little difference is found in the charging ability, irrespective of bismuth content and discharge rate, when the plates are subjected to zero percent SoC/full-charge duty; the conversion indicator lies in the range 81–84%. By contrast, there is a marked difference when the negative plates are subjected to PSoC duty, i.e. consecutive cycling through 90–60, 70–40, 80–40 and 90–40% SoC windows. Up to 0.06wt.%Bi improves the charging ability, especially with a low and narrow PSoC window (40–70% SoC) of the type that will be experienced in 42V powernet automobile and hybrid electric duties. To maximize this beneficial effect, bismuth must be distributed uniformly in the plates. This is best achieved by using VRLA Refined™ lead for oxide production.