I'm given to understand these are "6 yr" batteries (OEM)??? My big question may be just a general car question. My 2007 S40 is not a daily driver. I give it a short drive twice a week to make sure it cranks (and rolls) but lately just on weekends. Anyone else in a similar spot? How long can I let it sit between drives without letting the battery die. I'm also given to understand jumping these could be rough on the electronics? I'm open to reasonable guess or a given situation. Lets guess a 3-4 yr old battery, no charging issues......Opinions anyone??? Can I let it sit 2 weeks or more? Thanks All

 

I have a 1989 Volvo 740 that is my daily driver but I also have a new Fiat 500 that's my street legal "GoKart". Like you, I only drive it on the weekends to run a few errands. I do this not only to keep the battery charged but also to keep all the fluids circulating.

Now to answer your question about how long you can not drive your car without the battery going dead, two weeks would be pushing it on a 4-6 year old battery, typically a modern car draws roughly anywhere from 5-10 mv just sitting to keep all the computers in a ready state, some cars use as much as 35mv draw because they have 4 or more computers.

If convenient you could put the car on a trickle charger. One thing a battery a doesn't like is deep discharge and then a deep charge, that will kill a battery in a very short time. To jump start a newer car now days with all the electronics on them is tricky, if you have to jump start a car just don't have the car your getting the jump from running. Electronics do not like voltage spikes. Hope this was helpful.

 

Very useful info. Especially the jump info. Thanks.

 

I think 2 weeks is pushing it. A good battery will stand up to that, but you should expect to have to recover from a dead battery at some point. I like having a battery tender on there.

 

These cars have some parasitic loads even when off. I've heard that they can sit about 2 weeks. In my personal experience, I left my car sit for 19 days and it still fired right up but that was a one time occurrence. The car is my DD and the battery stays well charged.

 

Just run a simple battery maintainer. I have one on my truck and my play car when I'm here in China. 1.5 amps max and it keeps the battery topped off automatically. Remember, lead acid batteries do not like to be discharged at all. And especially do not like to sit at a low charge for long periods.

EDIT: And OMG, have you priced batteries lately? Holy cheese and rice batman! Stupid expensive. You want a business opportunity? Develop a better battery of some type.

 

Advanced battery power is the future