Car Care 101: 5 Tricks to Boost your Battery’s Lifespan

For every automobile, the steel tubes are the framework, the engine is its lungs, while the battery is the heart. Alongside the engine, the battery is responsible for making automobiles, well, mobile. Batteries usually last up to four years, but wouldn’t every car owner be happier if they lasted significantly longer than that? Here are five tricks on how to maintain your car’s heart.

Trick # 1: Drive your Car Everyday

Leaving your car stagnant in your garage for long stretches of time would lower your battery’s charge, causing it to somewhat drain itself during its “hibernation”. So to prevent this, drive your car everyday even if it’s only for a short trip to a nearby store. It sounds counterintuitive, but it’s actually pretty effective in making your car battery last just a little bit longer than expected.

Trick #2: Service Your Car Everyday

Engines can easily get dirty. If not cleaned properly and regularly, its condition deteriorates which can lead to battery overload and reduction of battery life. This is easy to prevent. So before your engine clogs and destroys itself alongside your battery, make sure to take it for servicing frequently. This will save you plenty of cash and unwanted stalling in the middle of the road.

Trick #3: Avoid Draining your Battery

It takes discipline to avoid leaving vehicle accessories regularly turned on, but we have to teach ourselves not to do it as this will discharge the car’s battery. Naturally, you will then be required to recharge it, and the more we keep recharging the car’s battery, the shorter its lifespan gets.

Trick #4: Make Sure your Battery is Properly Secured in its Place

While driving, vibrations caused by tire problems, faulty brake calipers or rusty suspensions can potentially damage the battery’s plates. Before you get inside your vehicle and take it for a spin, (1) check for loose connections that can cause breakdowns and (2) repair or replace any mechanical part that needs fixing. This way, your car would last longer and take you to more road trips if you make sure the battery remains firmly in its place.

Trick #5: Protect Battery from Extreme Temperature

Extreme temperatures are probably the biggest factor in determining your car’s battery life. When making your car subject to some of the worst driving conditions, make sure you have the means of protecting your car’s battery life. For better trekking adventures, buy a battery insulator! This will restrict electrical flow to keep the battery active without reducing its charge rate.