an electrical generator designed to charge storage and capacitor batteries. A DC generator with parallel (shunt) excitation is used as a charging generator. The voltage at the terminals of such a generator is adjustable over a wide range by means of a rheostat in the excitation circuit; charging generators are used mainly for operation on a charge-discharge cycle. For compensating recharging a generator must have a gently sloping external characteristic. This requirement is met by generators having compound excitation with leakage poles in the neutral zone that are connected to the main poles by a magnetic bridge. When such a charging generator is under load, the leakage flux of the main poles is directed toward the armature by the action of the flux from the leakage poles. As a result, the useful magnetic flux is increased and the external characteristic obtained from the generator over the operating region is nearly horizontal.