Battery longevity is more dependent on the average temperature it sees, and its average state of charge, than who put thier sticker on the casing, or who made it for those who did.
Interstate does not manufacture batteries, they market batteries. Whether they are made any better than the johnson controls starting battery sold at wal mart is an unknown.
A battery killer is the obscene human view that the alternator is an instant free energy source which can and does instantly, or nearly instantly recharge batteries.
A healthy battery drained to the point it needs a jumpstart, cannot be recharged fully, to a true 100% state of charge in less than 6.5 hours. Tjhose 6.5 hoours assume a rather beefy high amperage charging source which will seek 14.5 ish volts, and then hold that voltage until the battery is fully charged. Sounds easy right. Like any smart charger can and will do this.
Sad truth is few can or do.
Sadder truth is the vehicles voltage regulator will never allow 14.5 ish volts to be held for the 6.5 hours required to get a battery depleted to the point it needed a jumpstart, back to 100% full charge.
Now some might say theat 1005 state of charge is not required, and this is true, a healthy battery at 30% charged can still start most vehicles in mild temperatures, but a battery is degrading and degrading faster, losing capaity and cold cranking amps the lower state of charge it sits and the longer it sits there.
So the world worst manufactured battery barring defect, kept fully charged, will outlast and outperform the worlds best lead acid battery kept chronically undercharged.
So much of this 'who makes the best battery' is horse hockey. The battery longevity is determined by how well it is recharged to as near a 100% state f charge as possible, and the average temperature it is subjected to.
Keep em cool, keep em fully charged, and one will ge excellent service from almost any brand of battery out there, even the much reviled Exide.
Keeping them cool and fully charged, well that was not a consideration by the automaker, 99% of the time. Batteries relocated out of the engine compartment seem to do so not for heat, but lack of space or weight distribution.
And the Vehicles voltage regulator is NOT concerned with fully charging a battery, they are designed to not Overcharge a battery, which means the voltages will drop to the mid 13 range fairly quickly.
About 1/3 the amount of amps flow at 13.7v compared to 14.7v. So subject a battery that required a jumpstart to short bursts of 14v+ then only 13.7v there after, and the battery has no chance of ever getting fully charged, will decline in capacity rapidly, and die a premature death.
Any time a battery requires a jumpstart, put it on a charger overnight, and if it is just a 'trickle' charger, put it on the battery the next night too, and perhaps the night after that one too.
The goal is to get the battery to 100%^ state of charge, anything less is detrimental. 100% state of charge takes time, no matter how powerful the charging source might be, as the last 20% can't be forced in any faster, even at higher electrical pressure(voltage).
And as far as batteries growing green or white fuzz on their terminals, often this is caused by overtightening the post clamps by whomever installed it, and breaking the rather weak seal from battery plastic to the post sticking out of it. These clamps require very little torque, yet most people act otherwise.
And about battery warranties, well I'd hate to be a battery retailer. What other product could be killed/destroyed through sheer ignorance/ abuse, yet be replaced free of charge.
Gee I drove my new car into the lake, I want a new one for free.
Gee I drained my battery to 9 volts, jumpstarted it, and 3 weeks later it failed to start my car and failed to 'take a charge' completely, Gimme a new one.
Same thing.
If someone really wants a bragging rights battery, one which can be drained deep and still start the car in cold temperatures, AGMS by Odyssey and Northstar have very high CCA figures, but they are NOT immune to chronic undercharging, and are likely even more negatively affected by it. These AGMS really require high amps to high voltages and full recharges whenever they are depleted to 65% or less. the deeper the discharge the more important it is that these AGMS get high amp recharged.
Throw out Grandpa's 'trickle charge it' mentality out with the old wives tales when it comes to deeply discharged AGM batteries.
Northstar and Odyssey are about 3x as expensive as a wally world starting battery, and could be killed just as easily, and perhaps more easily, through the ignorance of lead acid battery wants and needs.
They want to be fully charged at all times. Anything less is detrimental. Achieving full charge requires time. Lots of it. The lower the voltage the longer it takes.
Expecting your vehicle will quickly recharge a battery that required a jumpstart to full, is unwise in the extreme. Friend's don't let friends be unwise.