Back to all

Charge It in Royal Oak for Extended Battery Life

September 26, 2021

Here's an interesting statistic for our in Royal Oak, Michigan, drivers: Only 30 percent of car batteries make it to 48 months. And the life expectancy varies by where you live. It ranges from 51 months in extremely cold areas to just 30 months in extremely hot climates.

Why is that? It turns out that it's our modern cars with all their electric accessories that are to blame. Things like, GPS, DVDs and entertainment computers are keeping vehicle batteries from maintaining a full charge. The longer a battery goes with a low charge, the sooner it'll die.

It's clear that you Royal Oak drivers need to recharge your batteries. This is the job of the alternator. The problem comes when the car's demand for electricity is high and we are driving in stop and go conditions or short trips around Royal Oak. The alternator just can't keep up.

The result is shortened battery life. So what can we do to improve our battery's health?

We need to keep the battery as close to a full charge as possible. That can be hard because sitting for just 24 hours in hot weather between charges can be too long. When the weather's cold in Royal Oak, sitting for several days will cause discharge.

So some highway driving around Michigan will help keep a full charge if the battery has not been deeply depleted. Car batteries are not designed to be run down really low, or deep cycled, as it's called. So using your headlights or other power accessories when the car is off can deeply deplete your battery. Using the alternator to recharge from a deeply depleted state is also very dangerous to your battery because it charges too fast. In fact, on average, your battery would only last for ten recharges like that.

If you do find yourself with a dead battery or very low battery, use a good quality battery charger to slowly bring the battery up to full charge. Follow the instructions on the charger or talk to your friendly and knowledgeable service advisor at TLC Custom Exhaust Brakes & Tires .

TLC Custom Exhaust Brakes & Tires
1735 N Main St
Royal Oak, Michigan 48067
248-541-8300
http://www.tlcautocareroyaloak.com



Need Service?

More articles from TLC Auto Care

The Light Nobody Wants to See (Check Engine Light)

April 28, 2024

You've probably had your Check Engine Light go on. Then it goes off and you figure, hey, whatever the problem was, it's gone now and I don't have to worry about it. Well, the problem may have gone away and it may not have. Your vehicle likely has one of these warning lights on the instrument pa... More

Fuel Saving Tip: Car Weight and Your Michigan Driving

April 21, 2024

Weight is the enemy of fuel economy. Everyone from Royal Oak knows this makes sense.Some of us in the Royal Oak area carry a bunch of unnecessary weight, and I'm not talkin' what you see in the mirror.Guys: sports equipment and tools. Ladies: well, just take a look around the passenger compartmen... More

Read a Good Tire Lately? (Tire Wear)

April 14, 2024

There's lots of good information to read in books and online. You might not know that you can also "read" your tires and learn a lot about what shape they're in and if they are in need of attention. It's important to know how your tires are doing because a tire failure can be very dangerous to y... More