Note: I'm not affilaited with with any of these products. I'm simply providing this information I've gathered in my research in the hopes it may be of use to others looking for similar information.
The Black Panther battery is actually sold by a company called Crischell Automotive Products located on Colorado. The line is sometimes called the Predator series. Crischell obtains the raw batteries from Hawker Energy Products. They take a few of the Hawker Genesis line of batteries, fit them with brass lugs and resell them under their own name. These batteries are based on the "starved electrolyte" concept, where the battery is produced using an inert mesh to hold a bare minimum of electrolyte (i.e. acid) in contact with the lead plates. The basic geometry of these batteries is rectanglular plates stacked to form a cube-like form factor. This design evolved out of work done at Gates Energy Products in the 1960's and another branch of this tree can be found in the Optima line of spiral wound, starved-electrolyte batteries. The flat plate design seems to be well suited to the high current demands of the battery-powered drag racing crowd, while the Optima has found a home in the electric vehicle ranks and the auto-audiophile ranks.
Anyway, there is a bit of rivalry between the various battery camps and it is somewhat amusing to read the various marketing blurbs and such. I've noted several obvious differences, one being size. The Hawker design is much smaller, volume wise for a given capacity. It seems all the Hawker batteries are rated for all applications, unlike the Optima that has starting (red top), deep-cycle (yellow top), and marine (blue top) versions. Outside of the red-top, the prices seem to be roughly equivalent and there are more size/capacity in the Hawker line, somewhat less in the Black Panther line and least in the Optima line.
Here's a good description of various battery designs:
Thanks to Brian Bonner, The Irish Rover, for obtaining the battery specifications.
The following is a (short) list of other information on batteries of this type:
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