Everything You Need To Know About Choosing The Right Car Battery

While car batteries are a lot better nowadays than they were in the past, the last thing that you want is to get in the car and find it doesn’t want to start.

But while they do last a lot longer, batteries will eventually run out and according to this article from The Telegraph, one in five cars in Britain need a new one each year.

Buying a new car battery might not be something you’ve done before, so here’s our quick guide to car battery buying.

How often should I change?

Generally speaking, most batteries will last around five years, but if you find yourself struggling to get started in a morning, then it’s probably time to consider it.

If you leave things longer then the problem will only get worse and wind up costing more to replace.

Find out the type you need:

Car batteries all look pretty similar, but there are a couple of different types.

Lead acid

These are the most common form of battery and usually of similar quality to the battery that initially came with your car. On average they’ll last you around 20,000 starts.

Calcium

Calcium batteries are slightly better than the lead acid options and are great for short journeys where the battery doesn’t have a chance to fully recharge.

They have roughly 18% more starting power which is ideal for cold mornings where it can be that little bit tougher to get your vehicle going, and should get you around 30,000 starts.

Yuasa Silver

These batteries are toward the top end of the scale and are ideal if you’re using your car to power multiple things such as the sat nav, air con or your phone.

In comparison to the lead acid batteries, they have around 50,000 starts and 33% more starting power.

AGM

These batteries are extremely powerful and quite a bit more expensive. This is because they are only really for use in newer cars which have start/stop technology which turns the engine off automatically while the car is stationary and use a lot more power.

As such, they last for a whopping 360,000 starts!

Never downgrade

Buying a replacement battery which has a lower capacity than the original battery is likely to result in a poor performance and a much shorter life.

If the capacity is significantly less than the original, then you may even find that it doesn’t crank the engine enough at lower temperatures.

For this reason, we always recommend that you choose a battery that either exceeds or at least matches the capacity of your current one.

Things to look for:

Cold Cranking Amps (CCA)

This is a rating which defines how well a battery can start up in cold conditions. It’s notoriously much more difficult to start a battery in the cold, so keep an eye out for this rating which refers to the number of amps a 12-volt battery can deliver at 0 degrees Fahrenheit, for 30 seconds while maintaining a voltage of at least 7.2 volts.

Obviously, this is more important if you live in an especially cold place.

Reserve Capacity (RC)

This refers to how long a fully charged, the new battery will operate the essential accessories if the alternator fails.

Specifically, it refers to how many minutes it can deliver a constant current of 25 amps at 80 degrees Fahrenheit without falling below the minimum voltage needed to keep the car running.

C20 Capacity

Some batteries may also display their C20 capacity which will be displayed as ampere hours (Ah), this shows how much energy is stored in the battery.

Remember: for all of the above values, the higher the better!

If you need a new Honda battery, we only stock genuine Honda parts for all Honda models, so feel free to check our full range. We have batteries for several models, including Honda Civic batteries, Honda CR-V batteries and Honda Jazz batteries.