Nevertheless, relative local E/S ratios are a key and useful parameter in determining the local performance of the cell based on the heterogenous microstructure. As shown in Table , Subvolume 1 and Subvolume 4 have the highest E/S ratio whereas Subvolume 2 has the highest sulfur content and lowest E/S ratio. The effect of E/S ratio, sulfur content and CBD content on the cell performance is discussed in the later sections. the inherent porosities and E/S ratios differ significantly. There is also a larger discrepancy between the 3D and 1D model capacities for Subvolume 2 than Subvolume 4. As conventionally considered, lower E/S ratio will increase the energy density of the battery, but at the expense of the electrochemical performance (rate capability and sulfur utilisation) , and this is often the approach taken in lower order continuum models; however, the fact that Subvolumes 2 and 4 (relatively low and high E/S ratio, respectively) have a similar electrochemical performance highlights the role of microstructure in the actual performance of the battery. In the case of Subvolume 4, for example, the performance is lower than might be expected from simply considering the E/S ratio and is this is contrary to what might be expected from the higher inherent 16.65 A m -2 and 24.26 A m -2 , respectively.) Therefore, for example, Subvolume 3 will experience local C-rates higher than the applied global C-rate, and Subvolumes 2 and 4 (which have similar and the highest S volume fractions) would experience the lowest local C-rates (see Figure ).