Why are car batteries in 2023 so terrible?

[leadcounsel]

It's 2023. Car batteries are awful. For those of us with a couple/few vehicles we rotate through it seems that it's a never ending fight to keep vehicle batteries charged. I try to drive less frequently, walk or bicycle more, work mostly remotely from home, and it is a constant fight to keep batteries charged. I use all manner of tricks including disconnecting the negative during periods of non-use. It is a tedious process that truly seems it should be unnecessary. I might resort to just removing batteries and bringing inside during long periods of non-use, but what a hassle...

I buy good quality batteries, and they are all well within their designed lifespan. So the question is why are car batteries so pathetic? I don't remember this being a problem decades ago, but perhaps I wasn't paying as close attention, or we just used our vehicles more frequently? In 2023, why can't batteries be more robust?

 

[Lapham3]

Wire in a trickle charger with the pigtail out the hood. I've done it to a number of cars, especially those with larger parasitic draws.

 

[The Critic]

For me, the "conventional" Kirkland batteries over the last 3-5 years have been terrible. Almost all of them fail by the 4 year mark and my tester shows significant degradation by the 2 year mark.

OTOH I have not noticed these same issues with some other brands.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Vehicles today have a lot of modules and consume a lot of power. Short tripping the car will not prolong battery life.

Place your keys in a faraday cage If your vehicle is parked close to where you keep your keys and if your vehicle has comfort access*. This type of key which remains near the vehicle will not allow it to fall asleep. You can buy them super cheap.

Next step is a trickle charger.

*You can open the car without using the button on the key.


"Good quality battery" is difficult to determine. IMO dealer batteries, although most expensive, seem to be of the best quality.

 

[leadcounsel]

I think a great product, new or aftermarket, should be a battery preserving kill switch under a toggle cap (so accidentally engaging would not occur).

I have unsuccessfully tried using those battery adaptors on the terminals, but they are just as much effort as just disconnecting the negative. The main issue is the repeated use of the hood release and getting under the hood every time one wants to drive. And they don't work as well as advertised either.

 

[Kurtatron]

I wonder if there is truth to this. My summer car has a 12 year old battery in it that has not let me down. TWELVE years old. The only thing I do is disconnect the negative cable. I don’t even tender it. Been a great battery.

 

[Whimsey]

I can not complain about the last two batteries I bought. The top of the line Advance Advance Auto battery for a 2005 Explorer that's now 7 years old and starts fine in the dead of winter. The other is a Motorcraft battery for my 1996 Contour, it's almost 5 years old. This poor battery was drained dead multiple times due to electrical shorts. It also starts great in the winter. I do use a battery charge/maintainer occasionally if they are not driven enough, especially in the winter.

 

[John_Conrad]

trickle charger or disconnect battery to get the most out of them in vehicles with draw

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Newer cars have more load on them due to all the electronics, and newer cars also often have smaller batteries than older ones

 

[BHopkins]

Vehicles today have a lot of modules and consumer a lot of power. Short tripping the car will not prolong battery life.

Place your keys in a faraday cage If your vehicle is parked close to where you keep your keys and if your vehicle has comfort access*. This type of key which remains near the vehicle will not allow it to fall asleep. You can buy them super cheap.

Next step is a trickle charger.

*You can open the car without using the button on the key.


"Good quality battery" is difficult to determine. IMO dealer batteries, although most expensive, seem to be of the best quality.

Most of the problem is not with modern batteries, but rather all the parasitic draw that today's cars put on their batteries. This is particularly a problem for someone like you, @leadcounsel , where you do not drive your car often. When you do drive, is it short trips? Or do you get an occasional 30+ minute drive in?

I agree with @BMWTurboDzl and @Lapham3. Pick up a quality trickle charger, of the type that can be wired right into your car. You want one that is designed to truly maintain a battery, by cycling it through charges and loads.

 

[dfarr67]

Like everything else these days- it's a race to the bottom for the bean counters. I can't remember when I had the opposite reaction.

 

[Jmlo96]

My grandparents Duracell battery from Sam's Club went bad before it was even 3 years old. I didn't feel like playing Sam's Warranty games, so I got a new battery from Costco. The guy at the tire and battery center was saying they certainly have noticed how much shorter batteries last. He contends that it's because the lead smelters shut down in 2008 and the recycled lead after all these years is not as good. I'm not privy to this, but it made sense.

 

[andrew_j]

It is not the car batteries as much as all the electronics (keyless entry, keyless start, remote control via phone app) all putting a drain on battery. Also the draws are significantly larger now with electronics in the on position .

 

[JeffKeryk]

I have 2 of these NOCO Genius 1 battery tenders. Our RX sits in our Petaluma home which is 90 miles away. It will go dead left to its own devices, but the tender keeps it fresh. These tenders cycle off and on as needed.

 

[350Rocket]

It's 2023. Car batteries are awful. For those of us with a couple/few vehicles we rotate through it seems that it's a never ending fight to keep vehicle batteries charged. I try to drive less frequently, walk or bicycle more, work mostly remotely from home, and it is a constant fight to keep batteries charged. I use all manner of tricks including disconnecting the negative during periods of non-use. It is a tedious process that truly seems it should be unnecessary. I might resort to just removing batteries and bringing inside during long periods of non-use, but what a hassle...

I buy good quality batteries, and they are all well within their designed lifespan. So the question is why are car batteries so pathetic? I don't remember this being a problem decades ago, but perhaps I wasn't paying as close attention, or we just used our vehicles more frequently? In 2023, why can't batteries be more robust?

If it's just state of charge dropping... and not defective batteries I think it's more to do with modern cars having so much going on draining in the background.

Even comparing my 2005 Silverado which I use every day for work and I'm in and out of it all day long, often key in accessory position for stereo without the engine running...I have to top up the battery once a week. My 1984 Oldsmobile I can leave it a month and the battery is still at 90+% state of charge. Same with my lawn tractor.

Also modern vehicles including my 2005 Silverado will drop the charge voltage down when it considers the battery to be charged good enough. After a night on charge, it will drop down to 12.5v soon after I start driving. The 40 year old car is always charging 14v.

 

[350Rocket]

My grandparents Duracell battery from Sam's Club went bad before it was even 3 years old. I didn't feel like playing Sam's Warranty games, so I got a new battery from Costco. The guy at the tire and battery center was saying they certainly have noticed how much shorter batteries last. He contends that it's because the lead smelters shut down in 2008 and the recycled lead after all these years is not as good. I'm not privy to this, but it made sense.

Not sure if that is true but personally I saw a 2002 gm battery in a 2002 GMC Sierra fail in 2012 after 10 years and that vehicle sat a lot before our company bought it used. My mom's 99 olds alero battery lasted 10 years and a battery in my ex's mom's 94 Lumina lasted 12 years.

 

[The Critic]

My grandparents Duracell battery from Sam's Club went bad before it was even 3 years old. I didn't feel like playing Sam's Warranty games, so I got a new battery from Costco. The guy at the tire and battery center was saying they certainly have noticed how much shorter batteries last. He contends that it's because the lead smelters shut down in 2008 and the recycled lead after all these years is not as good. I'm not privy to this, but it made sense.

I think it is just the Sam's/Costco batteries.

 

[benjy]

fresh charged batteries live longer + keeping them charged by driving or a charger is REQUIRED!! all my batteries are older + one is OE from 13 in my Vic Hammer, it WORKS!!! as noted cheap pigtails left on a vehicle makes it EZE, a decent charger is cheeper than even one decent battery + prices continue to rise with typical gouging!!!! any battery in your vehicle or in a store is DIEING a slow death if not kept FULLY charged!!

 

[leadcounsel]

Walmart for the win. Died at exactly 36 months, full replacement under the warranty. Next month it would be prorated.

 

[meep]

I am NOT convinced that “new cars put more loads on batteries” when they are off. We design Casio wristwatches that tell time for 5 years on potato-level power. Yes, the systems will perform more tests after shutdown for up to 20 minutes; I’ve watched it on an ammeter. But the totally-off drains arent any different than 20 years ago by my experience once it all sleeps.

the last 10% of battery charging takes hours. Short-tripping might get the bulk charge done, but it won’t top it off. Add in battery management systems, and they aren’t even fed a full charge except once every 30 days (hi, Ford, nice to meet you, I have a digital volt meter installed and I’m watching you).

I know this is bitog OCD, but I learned to do maintenance charges on the cars during Covid when they were just short-tripped. even the cheap 1 amp chargers will do a lot for keeping batteries happy between trips out. I personally prefer the CTEK strategy for holding AGMs at 14.8 volts for a time before dialing back. The motorcycle battery in my lawn mower appreciates it.

pig tail connector to the battery is a nice convenience. wall-mounting the charger with an extended cord makes it easier. Routing the pigtail to somewhere where you don’t have to pop the hood makes it nice.

alternatively, an $18 charge controller and a $30 solar panel with magnets glued to it has been a treasured solution for a friend with multiple cars. Real charge is only 0.1 amps, but my friend Loves it.