The day your car won’t start isn’t the best time to shop for a new car battery. But according to our research, that’s exactly what most people do.
You will probably have to replace the car battery once or twice during the life of your vehicle because it gets old or worn out from exposure to heat and repeated charging and discharging. A dead battery can be a real hassle, especially if you can’t find your jumper cables or have to wait for roadside assistance.
Taking care of your battery can help get the most service life from it, and being attentive to its condition and age can signal when it is time to begin shopping for a replacement … before you are left stranded
What Is The Car Battery?
Your car’s battery is a rechargeable battery that is usually charged by a device in your vehicle called an alternator. An alternator converts the physical energy of your car’s engine into electricity which charges the battery. But when you first start your engine, there is no electricity being generated by the alternator as there is no movement, so the battery needs to provide the electrical power to get it started.
The construction of a car battery is quite simple: there is a plastic case that holds all of the inner components of the battery; there are plates of lead, or an alloy that contains lead, that are called the positive and negative plates; these are arranged in a grid-like formation and are covered in a mud-like paste of sulfuric acid, lead oxide powder, and water. To prevent a short circuit these plates must remain separated and this is done by placing thin sheets of a porous material between them. These are called separators.
Battery elements are formed by pairing a positive and a negative plate and separator; when this is done the component is called a cell, of which there are a number in the battery. These cells are connected with a metal that will conduct electricity.
