Owning a vehicle means worrying about everything that involves the model, literally. Among these precautions, many drivers have an important question: how long a car battery lasts? According to experts, on average, the car’s battery life can be two or three years. But it all depends on the driver’s care.
Connect with a verified mechanic in minutes. No appointments. No high fees. No waiting. Get back on the road and enjoy the ride.
Leaving lights on with the engine off or keeping the headlight on automatically when starting up contributes to shorter battery life –
How Long A Car Battery Lasts
In addition, the brand of the battery is directly linked to the durability of the equipment. The better, the tendency is for the service life to be longer – it may even exceed the average mentioned above. On the other hand, you can also start to have problems with just one year of use, if the battery is bad.
The importance of the automotive battery
Have you ever stopped to think about the importance of the automotive battery? Main source of energy, it is one of the most important components of our car and, therefore, it is essential to always be aware of its conditions for the vehicle to function normally.
Consisting of lead plates (positive and negative) and sulfuric acid solution (electrolyte), the components are installed inside a plastic box. Located under the hood of conventional vehicles, its maintenance must be carried out by specialists to avoid future setbacks.
What does the battery life decrease?
As we mentioned above, some factors are responsible for damaging your car’s battery life. To make matters worse, often some of the reasons for wear are actions that drivers carry out so automatically that they do not even imagine that they can cause a problem. To help you, we’ve listed some reasons that overuse automotive batteries.
Connect with a verified mechanic in minutes. No appointments. No high fees. No waiting. Get back on the road and enjoy the ride.
Headlights, internal lamps and sound on
You should already know that forgetting headlights and lights on or leaving the sound on with the car turned off are factors that contribute to a shorter battery life. Actually, these are the main causes that increase the wear of the part and, consequently, decrease its longevity.
Vehicle stopped for a long time
It may not seem like it, but leaving the vehicle stationary for several days without starting the engine once is another factor that reduces car batteries’ life.
It is recommended to start and stay for a few minutes with the car running. If you use it a little, try turning it on at least once a week.
Temperature
We live in a tropical country. During the high temperatures, while others, in certain periods, the climate gets to be negative. And batteries tend to wear more when both extremes occur: too cold or too hot.
In the cold, the battery’s tendency to draw more energy to maintain its full functionality. When the temperatures are high, the tendency is for the lead alloys to corrode more quickly and the component to have a shorter service life.
Tips to increase durability and preserve the vehicle
If you are one of those drivers who love to take care and be attuned to all the components of your vehicle, here are some tips for your car battery to have the maximum durability time – and save on maintenance.
Daily attention
As we showed earlier, they are small slips, like forgetting on headlights, which shorten the life of the batteries. Therefore, always being attentive before locking the car is the main recommendation to increase durability.
Forget refurbished batteries
Refurbished batteries are those collected when they are already at the end of their life and modified to get back to work. For this, an electrolyte exchange is made. In other cases, the batteries are opened, and the plates disassembled to be placed in another piece, with a new electrolyte.
Because they are sold at prices well below the conventional, initially, reconditioned batteries seem like a good option. However, after a short time of use, the driver will notice that it was not worth it and will need to change the part again.
Do the correct maintenance
Experts recommend reviewing the car every 10,000 kilometers traveled. When taking the vehicle to the specialist to check oil, rotate the tires, and make other adjustments, it will also monitor the automotive battery’s life. If necessary, you can clean the terminals of the part or suggest a replacement.
Top car battery brands
Having the best for your vehicle brings more safety and durability. With that, when choosing the best car battery brands, you guarantee greater durability and avoid headaches with the component.
Each of them has different lines and guarantees. It is worth evaluating case by case which is the best option for your vehicle. If you need help, look for a specialist in the subject to guide you in your choice.
How to properly dispose of the battery
When your car’s battery life runs out, it’s time to change it. But do you know how to dispose of the current component? Because it is produced with various chemical components, placing the automotive battery in any garbage is extremely harmful to the environment.
If you have experience and change the part yourself, find a suitable disposal to dispose of the battery. If you don’t know, take it to a specialized location and let the professional replace and dispose of the component.
Max Anthony
Max is a gizmo-savvy guy, who has a tendency to get pulled into the nitty gritty details of technology and cars. He attended UT Austin, where he studied Information Science. He’s married and has three kids, one dog and a GMC truck and a Porsche 911. With a large family, he still finds time to share tips and tricks on cars, trucks and more.
Review engine, brake issues, error codes and more with a Mechanic Online in just minutes.
Ask a Mechanic Live Now