Is battery life shortened by driving once/week?

[cos]

Will a 12 volt battery in an ICE vehicle last longer or shorter if it's driven once a week, each trip being 24 miles (12 miles each way)?

On my two vehicles I occasionally throw on the trickle charger and it indicates both batteries are always fully charged despite being driven very little (2k - 4k/year).

 

[zray1]

…so the trickle charger (tender ?) never activates ?

Z

 

[cos]

Once in while, but in general no, it turns green within 10 mins.

 

[Soft Cars]

The best thing for that battery is to get it out of the engine compartment.

 

[zray1]

Once in while, but in general no, it turns green within 10 mins.

What brand / model of battery trickle charger are you using? As far as I can tell, there is no one standard where they all turn on or turn off at the same voltage signal.

You may have one that turns off earlier without the battery getting as full of a charge than it can use. And some battery tenders are smarter than others. They will vary the charging current to suit the battery’s condition.

Z

 

[CharBaby]

Are you using a trickle charger or a battery "maintainer"?
My pick would be for a "maintainer" and leave it plugged-in all the time until you need to use the vehicle(s).
I have 3 "maintainers" and use them regularly.

 

[barryh]

Will a 12 volt battery in an ICE vehicle last longer or shorter if it's driven once a week, each trip being 24 miles (12 miles each way)?

The most important thing for long battery life is to keep it fully charged, which yours seems to be and not to deeply discharge it. I would say your battery will last longer than one in daily use as it is being cycled less often.

My own use is similar to yours, it gets used only 2 or 3 times a week at most and my last battery was still working fine at 12 years old. Personally I would not put it on a battery tender permanently as your existing regime of a quick top up charge is perfectly adequate. It depends on circumstances, my car sits in the garage without the alarm on so it loses very little charge over a few days and so doesn't need a battery maintainer.

 

[Lubener]

Will a 12 volt battery in an ICE vehicle last longer or shorter if it's driven once a week, each trip being 24 miles (12 miles each way)?

On my two vehicles I occasionally throw on the trickle charger and it indicates both batteries are always fully charged despite being driven very little (2k - 4k/year).

You are driving it sufficiently to keep the battery fully charged and not shortening the life of the battery.. I would not be concerned as long as you continue the weeky 24 mile drive on the road.

 

[cos]

Thanks, great info.

What I use -

 

[silversport]

interesting...as someone who owns several Deltran Battery Tenders, I've never seen one marked "Power Tender" before...I can't even find it on their website...perhaps they are different than the regular Battery Tenders...

I've used Deltran Battery Tenders on vehicles I take care of but are less driven since about 2001 and have never had one go immediately to "fully charged" even after a drive...it usually takes at least a short while before indicating back at fully charged but mine are the Battery Tender Plus and 1.25V type...

https://image.sportsmansguide.com/adimgs/l/1/147988_ts.jpg

good luck with your cars...

Bill

 

[andrew_j]

The same…..I would not worry much unless the parasitic drains are higher in your vehicle causing it to draw down.

 

[Astro14]

As long as the drive is of reasonable duration - say 20-30 minutes - to fully charge the battery, then no, once a week is fine. And it’s run time more than miles.

But if once a week is a short trip, then yeah, that battery will run down.

My wife’s car has two batteries. At about the four week point, the consumer battery will be fully discharged. The engine battery will start the car, but lots of systems will be off line until it is recharged, and the battery life is significantly shortened by the deep discharge.

I had to replace that rather expensive high capacity AGM battery at two years old.

So, she drives it to work at least once a week. 30 minutes each way. That keeps the battery charged up, and the car is happy.

 

[joekingcorvette]

If you only drive it one time per week doing two 12 mile trips I would put it on a tender the rest of the time. If for some reason you skip that one time per week drive you could end up with a dead battery at the end of two weeks. Especially in the wintertime depending on where you live of course.

 

[zzyzzx]

Will a 12 volt battery in an ICE vehicle last longer or shorter if it's driven once a week, each trip being 24 miles (12 miles each way)?

On my two vehicles I occasionally throw on the trickle charger and it indicates both batteries are always fully charged despite being driven very little (2k - 4k/year).

My guess is that you really don't need a trickle charger unless you skip driving a week.

 

[JavierH19]

No it's not shortened. You'd be able to tell if the battery was getting low on voltage as it would take longer to crank. There isn't much voltage loss in a week and driving it at least 15 mins will top it up.

 

[billt460]

Are you using a trickle charger or a battery "maintainer"?
My pick would be for a "maintainer" and leave it plugged-in all the time until you need to use the vehicle(s).
I have 3 "maintainers" and use them regularly.

This ^^^^^^^^^^

I keep all of my vehicles on a Noco Genius 1 Battery Maintainer. It has a maximum output of 1 amp, but will also maintain in milliamps, as well as just monitor the condition of the battery, and add juice as needed, thereby maintaining a 100% charged battery with no worry of overcharging.

It also comes with a harness that you can hardwire right to the battery terminals, and run out the front grille.

Robot or human?

 

[incognito_2u]

This ^^^^^^^^^^

I keep all of my vehicles on a Noco Genius 1 Battery Maintainer. It has a maximum output of 1 amp, but will also maintain in milliamps, as well as just monitor the condition of the battery, and add juice as needed, thereby maintaining a 100% charged battery with no worry of overcharging.

It also comes with a harness that you can hardwire right to the battery terminals, and run out the front grille.

Robot or human?

Great price for that NOCO!

 

[AuthorEditor]

The short answer is "No" the life of the battery will not be shortened by driving once a week, assuming you drive far enough to fully recharge it. Starting your car should take very little juice even though the amps are high, the duration is short. It's the parasitic draws that drain modern car batteries: clocks, computers, and such. Still, I expect most cars should be able to easily sit for a month unattended and then be recharged within an hour. I have left cars for this long numerous times, but they weren't loaded with all the modern electronics.

 

[JHZR2]

Will a 12 volt battery in an ICE vehicle last longer or shorter if it's driven once a week, each trip being 24 miles (12 miles each way)?

On my two vehicles I occasionally throw on the trickle charger and it indicates both batteries are always fully charged despite being driven very little (2k - 4k/year).

Only you can know how bad of a parasitic draw your car has, and how far off of 100% SOC the battery gets.

12 miles can also take 10 minutes or an hour, depending upon conditions. The time in charge makes a decent difference. Issue is that it’s a logarithmic creep-up to full charge.

If you routinely see 12.7v, you don’t have much concern. If you routinely see <12.6, you’re doing some damage and should trickle charge. If you see <12.5, you have high parasitics and I’d be concerned, and get charging more often with an actual maintainer.

 

[proveitwithdata]

How Long You Have to Drive to Charge Your Car Battery | Interstate Batteries

After you jump a car, how long do you have to drive to recharge the battery? Our experts weigh in. Spoiler: Driving for 30 minutes won’t recharge your car battery.

www.interstatebatteries.com

24 miles isnt enough according to this article. But since you trickle charge it should be fine