Zr-V-Ni based alloys represent one group of alloys with promising properties for the use as hydrogen absorbing electrodes in an alkaline electrolyte. In particular, this group has been studied because these alloys are effective in overcoming the energy density limitations of present AB(5) type alloys. We have investigated the alloys Zr(VxNi1-x)(3) in the range 0.29 less than or equal to x less than or equal to 0.5 by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with electron probe X-Ray microanalysis (EPMA), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and electrochemical measurements. The alloys are composed of different crystallographic phases. The main phase (a C15 laves phase, space group Fd3m) consists of all three elements and was found to be responsible for the high reversible capacity of a maximum of 375 mAh/g. The second phase is vanadium-nickel based (b.c.c. structure, space group: Im3m). The discharge kinetics of this alloys was investigated in electrochemical experiments. We observed an increase of the high rate dischargeability with increasing nickel content. This is mainly due to the catalytic effect of nickel for the hydrogen absorption-desorption process. The exchange current density increases with increasing nickel content. Furthermore: we observed a faster activation for the alloys with higher nickel content.