A secondary battery includes a constraint and an electrode assembly disposed within the constraint. The electrode assembly includes a population of unit cells including an electrode current collector layer, an electrode layer, a separator layer, a counter-electrode layer, and a counter-electrode current collector layer in stacked succession in a longitudinal direction. The electrode layer includes an electrode active material, and the counter-electrode layer includes a counter-electrode active material. One of the electrode active material and the counter-electrode material is a cathodically active material and the other of the electrode active material and the counter-electrode material is an anodically active material. A subset of the unit cell population includes at least one extended spacer member located between the electrode current collector layer and the counter-electrode current collector layer, the at least one spacer member extending a distance SD in an x-axis direction beyond an x-axis edge of the constraint.