This time of year, one of the hot sellers at Solid Signal is this Smart Charge Automatic Battery Tender. It’s a pretty simple device. You connect it to your car’s battery and plug it in. There’s not a whole lot more to it. It provides a steady stream of 12 volts at low amperage. This helps your car’s battery stay active as temperatures drop.
You see, as temperatures get lower, electrical activity slows. This is due to the effect of temperature on the battery’s chemistry. Not only that, a cold battery will discharge faster than a warm one, meaning it will be less effective overall. The solution is to keep the battery warm by giving it just enough energy to keep things moving along nicely inside.
A side note: you can turn this sort of thing to your advantage. Keep AA and other small batteries in the freezer and they will last longer. Just be sure to fully thaw them before you start to use them.
The electric car conundrum
Electric cars are becoming more and more popular. Tesla’s Model Y is one of the most popular vehicles of any kind in the world, and if you’ve ever cringed at the price of gas, you’ll understand why. While the average price of an electric car is about $10,000 higher than a gas-powered car, that doesn’t mean you’ll actually pay more. It means that a higher percentage of electric cars are of the super-high-price variety. With local and national incentives, the net price of a typical electric car will be in the mid $40,000s. That’s really not too far off the cost of a well-equipped Camry, and it’s less than you’ll pay for a tricked-out full size pickup.
There’s good news there too, as electric car prices are expected to drop sharply as more and more companies bring their cars to market. But, as more people transition, the question of how to use an electric car becomes more and more common.
Electric car batteries – the good and the bad
Most electric cars today have two batteries. The main high voltage battery is physically disconnected from the drive system. This keeps the car safer. However, it means that a second power source is needed to get the car started. This is usually in the form of a deep-cycle 12 volt battery. It’s either a marine or motorcycle battery, generally. Such a battery doesn’t need the cold cranking power of a large auto battery. It’s just used to start up the electronics in the car, nothing more.
Obviously this creates a point of failure and an expense later on as the battery needs to be replaced. The smaller batteries aren’t necessarily cheaper, and they begin to fail sooner. So, manufacturers are starting to use capacitors instead of batteries. A capacitor stores energy similar to a battery, but it’s a more permanent solution.
The question at hand
I believe it would be possible to use a battery tender on your electric car’s 12 volt battery if you wanted to. There’s no documentation that I’ve seen that says you shouldn’t, but nonetheless I think it’s probably the wrong choice. The better choice would just to keep the car connected to its charger. Even if you only have level 1 charging, in other words just a regular outlet, it would do the same thing. You’d be assured that it would work.
But today…
Electric cars are still a fairly small part of the market. A lot of folks live in places where it gets mighty cold, and that’s why devices like this battery tender are important. You’ll find it when you shop at Solid Signal, and you’ll also find tens of thousands of hard-to-find parts, all at the best prices! If you’re not sure what you need, or if you have any pre-sales questions, call us! We’re here for you during East Coast business hours at 888-233-7563. If it’s after hours, just fill out the form below.
