Average Car Battery Life

An average car is capable of running 100,000 miles or more. However, before the odometer displays that figure, you might have to change your car batteries several times. This is because average life of a car battery is much less than the life of a car itself. You should expect your car battery to function for 3 to 5 years. Every day after that should be considered as a bonus. The life of a car battery greatly depends upon the way it is used and several other factors.

How Long Does a Car Battery Last on an Average

Some people may have to replace their car batteries after 6 years, while some have to replace the battery of same make within just 10 months. This illustrates that external factors play a vital role in the life span of a battery. If you get your car battery serviced every 6 months, you are likely to increase its life by a couple of years. Car batteries are designed in such a way that they run at their efficient best when in temperate regions. Extreme weather conditions, especially cold weather, adversely affects the life of a battery. The energy produced by the battery is a result of a chemical reaction. Low temperature increases the amount of power required to initiate this chemical reaction. As a result the energy required to start a battery exceeds the charge left in it. Consistently running the car in such climates is bound to shorten the life of your car.

A battery has the capacity to retain charge for few hours, without being charged. If you leave lights or any other system that runs on battery on, your battery slowly runs out of charge. As a result the zero charged battery does not respond when you turn on the ignition. You must have experienced such incidents of 'dead battery' when it simply refuses to start. Most people resort to jumper cables or connect the battery to the terminals of a running vehicle to get it charged. The small amount of charge received by this method is enough to get it started. Once you run the car, the alternator keeps it in a charged condition. Although, this is a simple and quick method to get your car started, you unknowingly inflict a lot of abuse on your poor car battery. This can lead to a lot of wear and tear of the battery components which in turn reduces its life.

Average battery life also depends upon the time for which you run your car everyday. If your average car running is less than 20 minutes, you do not give time for the alternator to fully charge the battery. As a result your battery charge level is always below the optimum charge limit. If you start your car for several times a day, you consume too much of your battery charge just to get the car started. Thus, frequent, short trips can drastically cut the life span of your car battery.

You need not have to bother too much about, 'when to charge car batteries', as the alternator takes care of it whenever you run your car. However, if you are required to keep your car unused for a long time, make sure you turn the ignition at least once every 48 hours to keep the battery charged. Regarding 'when to change car batteries', you need to consult your car mechanic who may monitor the functioning of your car battery and advice you accordingly. If your car battery has surpassed its warranty period and does not function properly, you may sure consider about replacing it. In case your car met with an incident and damaged the casing of the battery, you should change the battery without delay, as the damaged casing may lead to leakage of chemicals. It would make sense to get your car batteries changed if you are relocating from a hot, humid place to an extremely cold place.

You must have realized that average life of a car battery depends a lot, upon the usage by the car owner. So, if you want your car battery to run for a really long time do not forget to undertake routine maintenance activities.