A method of making a lithium battery comprising the steps of: (a) coating a porous separator layer on a substrate; (b) coating an electrode layer of one polarity directly on said separator layer; (c) coating one or more current collector layers directly on said electrode layer to make a separator/electrode stack; (d) laminating two of said separator/electrode stacks together and delaminating said substrate from said separator layer to form a separator/electrode assembly having said one or more current collector layers interposed between the first and second electrode layers of said assembly; and (e) interleaving said assembly with an electrode comprising a current collector layer interposed between two electrode layers of opposite polarity to said electrode layer of step (b) to form a dry separator/electrode cell.