Tips on Keeping Your Car Battery Healthy
Posted in Servicing Insights
Tips on Keeping Your Car Battery Healthy
Looking after your car battery by taking some simple steps will not only extend your cars battery life, but also delay the inevitable flat battery. Car chargers, portable DVD players, frequent short trips or long periods of non-use are just a few of the ways that can affect your car battery and its health.
It definitely isn’t the end of the world for you, especially if you have Roadside Assistance. However, to keep you on the road and your car batteries healthy here are a couple of tips that we hope will help you:
Turn off and disconnect electronics
Car chargers and power adapters are great, not only can they charge your mobile phone or power a GPS unit, they can also be used to run portable DVD players. When your car is running with the engine on, this isn’t a problem at all, but be careful when you turn your car off or leave it on auxiliary power.
When you turn your car off or leave it on auxiliary power, the electronics that are powered through your car can still have power being used from the battery. It might be unintentional to leave these items plugged in, but they can have a similar effect to leaving your headlights on!
It’s simple to unplug and pack the cables away. In addition it will make your car less desirable to thieves.
Drive your car
It’s super simple. Cars are supposed be driven and it helps your battery stay healthy and live for longer. You may not know it, but your car uses the battery to help the ignition process.
As you start driving the car battery is then recharged by the engine. Some drivers though might not drive quite far enough to recharge what it took the battery to start the car. This is then amplified if you drive only a short distance to get to work everyday.
Eventually the battery goes flat because of not being able to charge. Whilst it isn’t a specific measure, 10-15mins of driving is sufficient for recharging the battery, but the longer the drive the better!
You’re good to go!
That’s it! A couple of tips that should help your battery live a healthy and long life. Keep in mind that a flat battery is inevitable. Of the brands that we retail at Motorama, new car owners of Holden, Mitsubishi and Kia have the benefit of 1 years Roadside Assistance included from the manufacturer at the time of purchase.
Alternatively, Roadside Assist is available to purchase for a small additional cost and any of the Motorama dealerships can help you when purchasing your next car from us.
