In the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s the passive film formed on lithium in SOCl 2 -based solutions was a subject of numerous investigations, primarily because it was regarded as a cause of the so-called voltage-delay phenomenon, which, at that time, was a major drawback of the Li/SOCl 2 batteries. To many researchers, however, the system remained interesting even after the voltage-delay problem had been solved (by different electrolyte additives and/or modifications). The persisting interest in this particular lithium system can be explained by several facts: (i) in this system the lithium passive film has a simple composition (basically LiCl), (ii) the electrochemical properties (e.g., the impedance response) of this film have been considered simple to model, (iii) the film electrochemical properties show big and hence easy-to-measure variation with storage time, and (iv) during investigation of the "voltage-delay phenomenon," a huge amount of data using many different techniques were gathered, many of which have remained unexplained or even in direct contradiction. The present paper is an attempt to clarify several of these inconsistencies, particularly those concerning the impedance spectroscopy and related measurements of the passive film.The techniques used to study the spontaneous nucleation and growth of the passive film under consideration have been the potential sweep and step (or pulse) experiments, 1-5 impedance spectroscopy measurements, 6-11 microcalorimetry, 9,12 scanning electron microscopy (SEM), 7,10,13-15 measurements of weight gain of a Li electrode during storage in the electrolyte, 16 and the isotope method. 8 With regard to the kinetics of the initial coverage of the lithium surface with a passive film, most authors have given qualitative estimations such as, "Immediately 4,8,17 after its contact with the electrolyte, the Li surface is covered with a thin passivating film." A more quantitative result was obtained by Hedges et al. 2 who, in microelectrode studies of the Li/Li ϩ couple, found that "a period on open circuit of 100 s is long enough for the formation of a film of thickness sufficient to inhibit corrosion..." (In that experiment 1.7 M solution of LiAlCl 4 in SOCl 2 was used.) Even more specific results were obtained by Moshtev et al., 3 who found it possible to determine the moment when the lithium surface was 100% covered with a thin protective film using the galvanostatic pulse technique. Although not explicitly given in Ref. 3, one may recalculate from Fig. 2 and 3 of that paper that the coverage was completed about 30-40 min after lithium had been exposed to the electrolyte. At that moment the calculated average film thickness was 3.2 nm. Moshtev et al. 3 also reported that after the Li surface had been covered, the dense primary film grew thicker with storage time to reach a thickness of about 10-30 nm within a period of 6 h. Similar results were obtained by Holleck and Brady, 4 who reported that the primary film reached a thickness of 30 nm within 1-20 h after the ex...