Combine the current price of fuel with dropping temperatures and you have the perfect storm for putting off car travel. As we head into winter, Century Batteries is urging New Zealanders to keep an eye on their car battery’s health. In summary, colder weather and less driving can make you more prone to battery failure.
With modern cars having a stronger residual draw on the battery even while parked, it’s even more important to keep your car in use regularly or at least top up the battery. Colder weather sees a slow in the speed of chemical reactions within a battery and with engines taking more energy to fire up, the risk of electrical faults climbs as well.
“Car batteries don’t perform well when they’re not used regularly” – Andrew Bottoms, Marketing Manager – Automotive, Century Batteries
A key to get you and your battery through the winter is just to keep the thing charged, this could be either through a trickle charger or by taking your car for a 20-30 minute drive each week. Reducing short trips can also help maintain battery health, less cold starts simply means less strain on the electrics.
Checking battery health is an easy task too with most modern units featuring a visible indicator at the top informing you of the unit’s health, there’s also the voltmeter for a more accurate test.
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Press release and media courtesy of Century Batteries NZ.
