There is no set life span for a car battery. However, as a general rule of thumb, many sources quote three to five years as an average, though some car batteries have been known to last 10 years. This can vary significantly based on several factors:
Quality of Car Batteries
Batteries lose quite a bit of their power as the temperature drops, so their CCA rating is important because it’s measured at 0 degrees Fahrenheit (where a battery typically has lost about 60% of its peak starting power) and thus represents sort of a worst-case scenario for the battery. Therefore, try to choose a battery with a higher CCA rating.
Types of Car Batteries
The common car battery is a lead-acid battery, which primarily contains lead plates immersed in sulphuric acid. However, another type that has come into use is called an absorbed glass mat battery (AGM). It works on the same principle, but instead of being in liquid form, the acid is contained in fiberglass mats that surround the lead plates. These batteries are more expensive, but they tend to have a higher power density, can go through more charge and discharge cycles, aren’t as sensitive to being deeply discharged, don’t leak, charge faster, and are less vulnerable to vibration.
AGM batteries are often found as original equipment in cars that use stop-start technology to save fuel, in which the engine automatically shuts off when you come to a stop, then automatically starts when you release the brake.