Abstract: The invention relates to a method enabling a battery of storage cells to be charged in a charging mode for compensating for discharging to an external circuit, or in a maintenance mode for compensating for self-discharging of the battery. The method consists in:determining (23) the charging capacity of the battery, as a function of the temperature (Tb) of the battery, the charging capacity decreasing and becoming less than the reference capacity when the temperature increases during a charging period;calculating (25) the electricity balance between the quantity of electricity received by the battery and the quantity of electricity supplied by the battery to an external circuit; anddeciding (31) to switch from maintenance mode to charging mode each time that the electricity balance is less than the charging capacity.