TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - INORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Components: The cathode active material or anode active material is: carbon aerogel or foam (preferred), graphene-enhanced carbon aerogel and/or carbon nanotube-enhanced carbon aerogel; porous disordered carbon material including a soft carbon, hard carbon, polymeric carbon or carbonized resin, meso-phase carbon, coke, carbonized pitch, carbon black, activated carbon, or partially graphitized carbon; graphene material including single-layer sheet or multi-layer platelet of graphene, graphene oxide having less than 5 wt.% of oxygen, graphene fluoride, hydrogenated graphene, nitrogenated graphene, boron-doped graphene, nitrogen-doped graphene, functionalized graphene, or reduced graphene oxide; exfoliated graphite; meso-porous carbon; non-functionalized and non-oxidized carbon nanotube; and non-functionalized carbon nano-fiber. The lithium source comprises a lithium chip, lithium alloy chip, lithium foil, lithium alloy foil, lithium powder, lithium alloy powder, surface stabilized lithium particles, a mixture of lithium metal or lithium alloy with a lithium intercalation compound, lithium or lithium alloy film coated on a surface of an anode or cathode active material, a lithiated compound, lithiated titanium dioxide, lithium titanate, lithium manganate, a lithium transition metal and/or oxidelithium titanium oxide. The lower voltage limit is 0.6-1.2 volts. The cathode has a thickness greater than 50 mu m, where the cathode is not formed by a layer-by-layer method. The anode and/or cathode active material contains less than 5 wt.% oxygen. The cell has an OCV of at least 2.5 volts. One of the anode current collector or cathode current collector is a porous, electrically conductive material including metal foam, metal web or screen, perforated metal sheet, metal fiber mat, metal nanowire mat, porous conductive polymer film, conductive polymer nano-fiber mat or paper, conductive polymer foam, carbon foam, carbon aerogel, carbon xerox gel, graphene foam, graphene oxide foam, reduced graphene oxide foam, carbon fiber paper, graphene paper, graphene oxide paper, reduced graphene oxide paper, carbon nano-fiber paper and/or carbon nano-tube paper. The carbon-based cathode active material forms a meso-porous electrode structure having a pore size in the range of 2-10 nm, where at least 30% of the lithium is stored on surfaces of THE cathode active material when the cell is in a discharged state. The discharge operation of the cell involves both lithium intercalation into the interior of the cathode active material and lithium adsorption on surfaces of the cathode active material. The electrolyte is liquid electrolyte or gel electrolyte containing a first amount of lithium ions when the cell is made. The operation of the cell involves an exchange of a second amount of lithium ions between the cathode and the anode and the second amount of lithium is greater than the first amount. The anode active material is not intercalated or de-intercalated with lithium when the cell is in operation. One of the two electrodes has a specific surface area of greater than 500 (preferably 2000) m2/g, that is in direct contact with the electrolyte. The anode active material is pre-loaded with lithium before or when the cell is made, and is prelithiated with a surface area being pre-coated or pre-plated with lithium before or when the cell is made. The anode active material or the cathode active material has a surface area that does not contain a functional group, which is exposed to the electrolyte. The electrolyte comprises an organic liquid electrolyte, gel electrolyte and/or a lithium salt-containing ionic liquid, where the positive electrode has a thickness greater than 100 mu m. The lithium source contains an amount of lithium sufficient for the anode to retain a non-zero lithium content equivalent to at least 10% of the total anode weight including anode current collector and anode active material weights combined, when the device is discharged to the lower voltage limit. The lithium intercalation compound or lithiated compound is: lithiated silicon (Si), germanium (Ge), tin (Sn), lead (Pb), antimony (Sb), bismuth (Bi), zinc (Zn), aluminum (Al), titanium (Ti), cobalt (Co), nickel (Ni), manganese (Mn) and/or cadmium (Cd); lithiated alloys or intermetallic compounds of Si, Ge, Sn, Pb, Sb, Bi, Zn, Al, Ti, Co, Ni, Mn and/or Cd; lithiated oxides, carbides, nitrides, sulfides, phosphides, selenides, tellurides, or antimonides of Si, Ge, Sn, Pb, Sb, Bi, Zn, Al, Fe, Ti, Co, Ni, Mn and/or Cd; and lithiated salts or hydroxides of Sn.