5 Tips to Extend Your Car Battery's Life

Car batteries always seem to fail at the most inconvenient time. You’re in a parking lot away from home, or you’re in a rush and need your car to work.

Nobody wants to hear the click-click-click of a dead battery or battle with a sluggishly cranking car. A dead car battery is an inconvenience that drivers want to avoid.

On average, a car battery lasts between 2 and 5 years. However, there are ways to extend a battery’s life.

 

 

1 - Limit Short Rides

Most vehicles today use some type of lead-acid battery. The battery has a high power density, which means it's able to release large amounts of power quickly. 

The battery’s larger power-to-weight ratio makes it ideal for automotive use because of the high current required by a vehicle’s starter motor.

Once the vehicle is running, the alternator takes over and provides electricity to the vehicle by converting mechanical energy to electrical energy. 

Every time you start your car, part of the battery’s life is drained but is then recharged by the alternator while you drive.

Only driving a short distance won’t give the alternator time to fully recharge your battery. Over time, sulfation will build up and kill the battery. 

2 - Tighten Loose Battery Terminals

The vibrations of the motor coupled with the jolts and jostles of a daily commute can loosen a battery’s terminals.

Loose battery terminals may result in internal damage and short circuits, which can be fatal for your battery.

Pop the hood periodically to ensure your battery is properly positioned in its mounting bracket and that the battery terminal is tight.

However, a word of caution, make sure you don’t over tighten because that also can damage a battery. Instead, tighten the nuts until you feel resistance, and then only continue for an additional half turn.

3 - Turn off your lights

Forgetting to turn off lights can be one of the biggest drains on a car’s battery. Most modern vehicles will automatically turn off headlights, but interior lights or trunk lights can inadvertently be left on. 

Batteries work best when they’re kept close to fully charged. Because the lights rely on the battery, leaving them on when the car is off will drain the battery.

4 - Avoid extreme temperatures

Most people worry about their battery dying in the middle of winter, but did you know summer heat can weaken your battery, too?

High temperatures of a summer day can evaporate the liquids inside of your vehicle's battery, taking away its power.

If the liquid in the battery evaporates, the damage can be irreversible and you will need to purchase a new battery.

Heat deterioration occurs when a battery gets hot, causing the inside parts to corrode.

This impacts the amount of power that the battery has to start your car and keep it running. It may not be an instant problem, but it can start the battery on the road to ruin.

If your battery is already damaged, the heat can accelerate the corrosion or deterioration process.

Once winter rolls around, the battery won't have enough power to turn the engine over. The cold of winter may have killed your battery, but the summer heat set the problem in gear.

5 - Rely on a CTEK charger

CTEK Smarter Chargers maximize the life of your battery. Our patented desulphation function can extend the life of your current battery 2-3 times that of its normal life.

CTEK Smarter Chargers smartly maintain the battery in prime condition through a series of 4 to 8 steps in our unique charging process. 

Our chargers constantly monitor the battery to understand the battery condition and then act accordingly: desulfate, revive, charge, condition, and maintain. 

CTEK Smarter Chargers also regulate the main voltage to protect sensitive and expensive electronic and audio equipment. They even have a backup power supply that allows you to charge vehicle batteries without losing your vehicle's program settings.

CTEK chargers recondition and help revive dead batteries. The reconditioning step allows batteries to recover quickly and last longer.

CTEK’s patented float/pulse charging allows ‘set and forget’ for months at a time without harming the battery. 

Motorists do not need to have specific knowledge of batteries or their charging methods. With each Smarter Charger intended for unsupervised use, CTEK is easy and safe to connect. 

There is no need to even disconnect the battery during use – it’s simply "plug and play."

Check out CTEK's line of Smarter Chargers. To learn which CTEK charger is right for your vehicle, try our Charger Selection Tool.