Car battery

[Michael]

I've historically bought Costco batteries. One change that we need to be aware of is that they changed the warranty from handing you a new one within 3 years of purchase to a prorated warranty over 3 years.

https://www.costco.com/CategoryDisplay?storeId=10301&identifier=automotive-batteries&langId=-1&catalogId=10701&krypto=v2GFLU9%2FEnJSqXMFK0Mfz3t%2F%2Bz5uphvCiFs6TO0Mx9HH0LftFjdCatyNdphZlJyTbKM7g2IxB7q4n%2FzX6LH9Ra9JqBJary8IbB7K3SBJDPHFsS%2FcpJSMKdmBohhgELLgia%2B%2B33RFmEfazXYhvx%2Ffhg%3D%3D&ddkey=http%3ALogoff

[Forrest]

I believe Prius typically used the OPTIMA YELLOWTOP AGM Battery BCI Group Size 24R 450 CCA 46B24R - which doesn't look like a typical battery

[chopper]

Wal MArt.

[kj]

The guy at Schucks I talked to said they get batteries made by Johnson, and there is really only one other company that they can buy from (I forget the name). He said they switch every time there is a bad batch, and they’ve switched several times. Iow, I don’t know if it matters which one you get. Maybe some specialty ones are different.

[JoeH]

Batteries from Johnson Controls are now Clarios, the battery division was sold off. The other big name in the US is Exide.

[davester]

Brand names are for the most part irrelevant. All of the car batteries you can get in the US are made by either Exide, East Penn Manufacturing Company, or Johnson Controls. There are a couple of other brands that make specialty batteries, but otherwise that's it. Costco, Interstate, Diehard, Autozone, etc. are just resellers of those three brands. They are all the same. Buy based on capacity, CCA, price and warranty.

[Cary]

davester wrote:
Brand names are for the most part irrelevant. All of the car batteries you can get in the US are made by either Exide, East Penn Manufacturing Company, or Johnson Controls. There are a couple of other brands that make specialty batteries, but otherwise that's it. Costco, Interstate, Diehard, Autozone, etc. are just resellers of those three brands. They are all the same. Buy based on capacity, CCA, price and warranty.

I agree with all said, except (I believe) that Bosch is also a player in the US market.

[special]

Is there any hope to switch to LiFePO4 or better chemistry or are we stuck with the ~200 year old lead acid battery chemistry? (invented in 1859)

I know we need lots of cold cranking amps, but LifePO4 do quite well in the cold, and even if they can't deliver the 500A, you could wire up a super capacitor in parallel to the battery, charge the super capacitor and then crank the engine to draw Amps from the super capacitor.


Or use AA like this guy, LOL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0utNemFsl8

[Gareth]

special wrote:
Is there any hope to switch to LiFePO4 or better chemistry or are we stuck with the ~200 year old lead acid battery chemistry? (invented in 1859)

They've existed for many years for motorcycles, and more recently for cars, but the ones for cars are insanely expensive, i.e. $800+.

[kj]

It’s odd because some say other chemistries aren’t suitable for this purpose because of the unusual charge and discharge, etc., but it sure seems like a lot of people use them (even in cars), so I can’t say I believe it. It’s really popular in EVs to use other chemistries because you really have no need for what a Lead-acid battery does in a ICE car. But there are still those who claim it’s a bad idea. I’ve just stuck with what came in my cars because it does the job fine.