One of the most common issues we have been dealing with since reopening is customers with flat batteries!
It seems improbable given how little most of us have been using our cars recently, but batteries gradually lose their charge over time when they are not being used.
Of all the tasks demanded of it, starting your car takes the greatest amount of charge out of the battery. Then when you drive it around some of the energy from the engine is diverted into recharging it and so you’re back to 100% when you finish your journey, ready for the next time you start up.
But as charge trickles out of the battery through under-use, combined with the fact that all batteries gradually recharge less and less, means there may not be enough left to start after it’s been sat there a while.
We wrote about this a while ago in our blog post about background maintenance for your furloughed car, and if you’re currently in this position it may be a bit like closing the door after the horse has bolted.
One thing that could help is a trickle charger. These devices attach to your battery and replace the charge at the same rate it discharges, preventing it from becoming too flat to start your car. If you do have a flat battery and your car won’t start, one of these will bring it back up to charge again but may take a few hours (depending on how flat it is!).
A quicker option is to find somebody with a set of jump cables and can use the charge from their battery to give yours a punch of electricity for your car to start. However this does not mean that your battery will be fully charged, the engine would need to remain running for a while.
Alternatively, give us a call here at Thame Cars on 01844390566 and we can help you.
