Why don’t cars have battery monitors?
The cost could be one factor. The other could be the increase in electric cars.
Dear Car Talk: I have a question about a dashboard accessory. It came to mind after my wife and I prepared to go on a little 350-mile trip to spend a few days at our daughter’s house.
I checked the tire pressure and oil level, we packed the car, set the GPS and congratulated ourselves for an on-time departure. Then I pushed the ignition switch, only to hear clicking, and a weak hum, illuminated by dim headlamps.
I guessed the problem immediately; our 2013 Murano’s seven-year-old, original-equipment battery was dead. OK, no surprise there. I was thankful it died before the trip got underway.
A new battery later, and we were on our way. But it made me wonder: Why don’t cars have starter-battery meters to warn of dying batteries? Even if it’s not perfect, it might alert us to imminent battery death and save us from sitting in the garage rather than visiting our distant children. — Wayne
Sure. It could be another warning light we all ignore — like the tire pressure warning light and the check engine light.
I’m sure it’s possible, Wayne. Even though it’s not nearly as easy as testing a D-cell that powers your flashlight or monitoring the charge on your iPhone. Because a 12-volt car battery has to provide a massive amount of power all at once to start the car, you really have to measure the resistance of the electrolyte.
There are testers you can buy and use at home that claim to test your car battery and cost anywhere from $20 to $200. But if you want one that gives you the same information that we get at the shop when we test the health of car batteries, you’re probably going to spend at least $100- $150. That may make it cost prohibitive to include as standard equipment on every gasolinepowered car.
Of course, with the costs of electronics and computerization dropping every year, that calculation may change, but possibly not before electric cars take over and make this whole issue of the “starter-battery” moot.
So in the meantime, if you don’t want to get stuck with a dead car battery, my advice is to replace your battery every five years. In my experience, batteries rarely die before the five-year mark. But after that, they’re essentially on borrowed time.
You may say, “Well, why should I spend $150 on a battery if my old battery’s not dead yet?” And the answer is, because it’ll still cost you $150 six months or a year later, plus the towing fee, the inconvenience, the missed dinner at your daughter’s house, and the indigestion from having to eat at the Only Dropped It Once Burger at a highway rest stop.
And since most people change the battery just once during the time they own their car, why not do it on your schedule, as preventive maintenance and then not have to worry about it for another five years?