eric roberts

Longer-Lasting Battery: Top 5 Tips To Make Your Car Battery Last Longer

Longer-Lasting Battery

As you will already know, our car batteries are essential for just about everything to do with the car—when it’s running and when it’s off too. You’ll need your battery not only to start your vehicle, but you will also want it in tip-top shape when it comes to running your lights, infotainment systems, and more.

With that in mind, you should always do your best to keep your battery in good shape for as long as possible, cutting back on the need for a costly replacement too frequently.

With that said, we have some simple tips to make your car battery last longer that aren’t too hard to follow. Take a look below.

1. Don’t Drive if You Can Walk

With our first tip, we mean keeping short drives to a minimum.

When we start our car, our batteries use a fair bit of ‘juice’ to get the engine to turn over, and when we drive, the car’s engine will recharge the battery. Though our drives are a little too short, you aren’t giving your battery enough time to fully recharge.

Over time, a lot of short drives that don’t charge your car’s battery all the way will have your battery running flat in little to no time at all, and this isn’t good news for anyone.

Our biggest tip here is to keep drives to around 20 to 30 minutes at a minimum and only drive those short distances if you need to.

If you’re looking to invest in an extra tool here, you can buy a trickle charger for a battery in the car. These can simply sit and charge your battery, keeping it full at all times when it’s in the garage.

2. Batteries Hate the Heat: Longer-Lasting Battery

A second tip from us is to make sure you’re keeping your car battery away from the heat as much as possible. Consumer Reports did a great job of explaining the harmful effects of heat on a car battery.

As you might already know, something as simple as hot air can drain your battery to just about nothing and leave you with little to no charge at all. This happens because your car’s electrolyte will essentially evaporate, leaving you with a flat and damaged battery over time.

For those of our readers who live in warm climates, it is always a good idea to keep your vehicle out of the sun where you can and to always have it stored in a garage.

3. Keep an Eye on the Connectors

Another key point to keep in mind is taking a look at your car’s battery connectors.

A battery that isn’t hooked up correctly is going to drain quicker but also not charge correctly or operate effectively at all, and this means you’re going to see battery damage and a flat battery in one—not ideal for anyone.

With that in mind, it is always good to pop the bonnet from time to time to take a look at the battery and its connections. You should double-check that nothing is loose and that the mounting bracket is tightly fastened too.

One final thing to keep in mind here is that driving off-road and on corrugations can loosen these connections, and so taking a look at the battery after a long drive on a rough road is a good idea.

. Take a Battery Test: Longer-Lasting Battery

Another key way to make your battery last longer is to have the battery tested. If you can’t do this yourself, you’ll have to take your car to a Smash Repair/Mechanic shop. According to DingGo, some of these shops actually tend to do both types of work.

The battery test is going to give you a little bit of insight into the battery’s output voltage and whether it looks as if it’s going flat or wearing down a little too much. With a routine battery test, you’ll also be able to get a leg up on whether it’s time to charge or replace the longer-lasting battery before it leaves you out in the cold.

5. Keep Everything Off When You Leave the Car

This tip is primarily for our readers with older vehicles, though everyone should make a note of this.

When you leave your vehicle, you should always make sure that everything is switched off and not left running when you’re at home or shopping. Electronics such as the AC, infotainment unit, and lights are going to be a fast way to kill your battery and should always be cut when you’re not in the car.

Sometimes when we leave the car, we keep the AC running to make sure the vehicle is cool when we come back, though this isn’t ideal when it comes to keeping the longer-lasting battery running as long as possible.

The Takeaway

With those quick and easy tips noted, we’re confident you’ll be able to keep a closer eye on your vehicle’s battery and be able to tell when it needs a quick replacement or if you’re not taking care of it in the right way.

Always be sure you’re keeping the battery out of the heat and the electronics switched off, and you’re good to go. With a surefire Longer-Lasting Battery.

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eric roberts

Managing Director at Pellon Tyre and Auto Centre trading as batteriesontheweb.co.uk

Eric has been the owner of his automotive business for over 40 years now. Running his fast fit and MOT centre in Halifax along with his wife Michelle. Later adding the online battery businesses. Batteriesontheweb,mobilitybatterystore and their Ebay store.

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