Step out of the stone ages man. Lithium-ion batteries are nothing like old alkaline batteries, which I am sure you have in your maglite, I know I do. My maglite sits behind the seat, used for lighting purposes a couple times a year, I mainly have it for whacking.....um, things. I replace those batteries once a year because, like you say, they lose effectiveness over time and temperature fluctuations certainly don't help. I haven't done any scientific research but my experience with lithion batteries, they hold a charge for a long time with very little energy loss.