TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - ELECTRICAL POWER AND ENERGY - Preferred Components: The electrolyte contains lithium ions and the battery is a secondary battery. The battery further comprises one or more resistive and/or reactive components electrically, electrochemically, and/or electromechanically connected to the battery to form a battery system, where the battery is a source or sink of power to the component(s), which comprise(s) means for moving an electric vehicle or hybrid electric vehicle. The means comprise an electric motor and/or an electric motor, and the battery is electrically connected to the motor.    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - POLYMERS - Preferred Components: The planar direction is transverse direction, where the transverse direction heat shrinkage ratio is 1 (preferably 0.7)% or less. The membrane comprises first and third microporous layers comprising polyethylene and a second microporous layer comprising polypropylene, where the second microporous layer is located between the first and third microporous layers and the polypropylene has average molecular weight (Mw) of greater than or equal to 6 x 105 and a heat of fusion ( Delta Hm) of greater than or equal to 90 J/g or more. The total amount of polypropylene in the multilayer microporous membrane is at least 2 wt.%, based on the total weight of the multilayer microporous membrane. Each of the first and third microporous layers contain polyethylene (80-100 wt.%, based on the weight of the first microporous layer), and the second microporous layer further comprises a second polyethylene. The first and third microporous layers comprise polyethylene, where the microporous membrane contains not more than 0.01 wt.% of inorganic species. The first and third layers comprise outer layers of the membrane and where the second layer is in planar contact with both the first and third layers. The membrane has: a normalized air permeability of less than or equal to 400 seconds/100 cm3/25 mu m, and where the second microporous layer has a thickness of 4.6-50% of the total thickness of the multilayer microporous membrane; and a rupture temperature of 180 degrees C or higher and a normalized air permeability satisfying the relationship A less than or equal to 0.097P+I, where A is the microporous membrane's normalized air permeability, P is the membrane's normalized pin puncture strength, and I is 110-240. In the method, the first polyolefin contains 50-100 wt.%, based on the weight of the first polyolefin of polyethylene, 25-99 wt.%, based on the weight of the combined weight of the first polyolefin and the first diluent, of the first diluent, and 25-99 wt.%, based on the combined weight of second polyolefin and second diluent, of the second diluent. Preferred Method: The method further comprises: (f) removing at least a portion of any volatile species from the membrane of step (e); stretching the cooled extrudate in at least one direction before step (e); (g) stretching the membrane of step (f) in at least one direction; and (g) stretching the membrane of step (f) in at least the transverse direction from an initial width to an intermediate width, the intermediate width is 1.2-1.8 times the initial width, and then reducing the width of the membrane in the transverse direction to a final width of 1-30% of the intermediate width. The stretching of step (g) is conducted while the membrane is exposed to a temperature of 90-135 degrees C. EXAMPLE - A first polyolefin composition (comprising polyethylene 1 (PE1) (82%) having an Mw of 5.6 30 x 105 and an Mw/Mn of 4.05 and polyethylene 2(PE2) (18%) having an Mw of 1.9 x 106 and an Mw/Mn of 5.09, where Mn is number average molecular weight) was prepared by dry-blending. The polyethylene resin in the composition has a melting point of 135 degrees C and a crystal dispersion temperature of 100 degrees C. The resultant first polyolefin composition (25 parts by weight) was charged into a strong-blending double-screw extruder having an inner diameter of 58 mm and L/D of 42, and liquid paraffin (65 parts by mass, 50 cst at 40 degrees C) was supplied to the double-screw extruder via a side feeder. Melt-blending was conducted at 210 degrees C and 200 rpm to prepare a first polyolefin solution. A second polyolefin composition (comprising PE1 (63.7%) having an Mw of 5.6 x 105 and an Mw/Mn of 4.05, PE2 (1.3%) having of 1.9 x 106 and an Mw/Mn of 5.09, and a second polypropylene resin (35%) having an Mw of 1.6x 106, an Mw/Mn of 5.2 and a Delta Hm of 114.0 J/g, by weight of the second polyolefin composition) was prepared by dry-blending. The polyethylene resin in the composition has a melting point of 135 degrees C and a crystal dispersion temperature of 100 degrees C. The resultant second polyolefin composition (30 parts by weight) was charged into a strong-blending double-screw extruder having an inner diameter of 58 mm and L/D of 42, and 70 parts by mass of liquid paraffin (50 cst at 40 degrees C) was supplied to the double-screw extruder via a side feeder. Melt-blending was conducted at 210 degrees C and 200 rpm to prepare a second polyolefin solution. The first and second polyolefin solutions were supplied from their respective double-screw extruders to a three-layer-extruding T-die, and extruded from it to form an extrudate (also called a laminate) of first polyolefin solution layer/second polyolefin solution layer/first polyolefin solution layer at a layer thickness ratio of 46.45/7.1/46.45. The extrudate was cooled while passing through cooling rollers controlled at 20 degrees C, to form a three-layer gel-like sheet, which was simultaneously biaxially stretched at 119.3 degrees C to a magnification of 5 fold in both machine (longitudinal) and transverse directions by a tenter-stretching machine. The stretched three-layer gel-like sheet was fixed to an aluminum frame of 20 cm x 20 cm, immersed in a bath of methylene chloride controlled at 25 degrees C to remove liquid paraffin with vibration of 100 rpm for 3 minutes, and dried by air flow at room temperature. The dried membrane was re-stretched by a batch-stretching machine to a magnification of 1.5 fold in the transverse direction (TD) while exposed to a temperature of 127.3 degrees C, and then relaxed (tenter clips re-adjusted to a narrower width) to a TD magnification of 1.3 fold at the same temperature, the magnification factors was based on the width of the membrane (TD) before dry stretching before re-stretching. The re-stretched membrane, which remains fixed to the batch-stretching machine, was heat-set at 127.3 degrees C for 10 minutes to produce a three-layer microporous membrane.