Summer’s high heat drains life from car batteries

As the temperatures reach triple-digit levels in Southern Nevada, many drivers are bound to face a familiar chore: replacing their car battery.

Alex Calvo, night manager at the O’Reilly Auto Parts on Jones Boulevard and Smoke Ranch Road, said there isn’t much mystery to the problem.

“Batteries and heat don’t get along,” he said.

Calvo said batteries go out significantly faster here than in areas with less extreme climates. Batteries that last up to six years in Southern California will last only about 2½ years here.

Rafael Olivo, 55, moved to Las Vegas from New York in 2004, and said he’s had to buy batteries much more frequently here.

“I bet you I’ve bought five or six batteries since I’ve been here,” he said.

But the retired car enthusiast said replacing the battery every couple of years is just part of the cost of living in the desert.

The worst time for batteries, Calvo said, is when the weather dramatically shifts in the spring and fall. .

Kevin Goe, sales manager at Shelton Batteries at 3731 S. Valley View Blvd., says the summer heat harms car batteries, but drivers won’t notice effects until parts require more juice in colder weather.

In batteries for nonelectric cars, lead oxide plates interact with sulfuric acid to create electrical current for the car’s starter and electrical system. Goe said the concept of the car battery hasn’t deviated much the original invention. Batteries heat to a certain point, then vent to cool themselves off. After enough discharges, the battery has the life sucked out of it. Heat coming from the ground, the engine and a hood that has sat in the blistering sun are the real battery killers.

More expensive options such as absorbed glass mat batteries may buy drivers a little more time, but Goe said there isn’t much you can do to escape the effects of extreme heat.

“Will you get six years out of an AGM battery? No,” he said. “Don’t fool yourself. You live in the desert.”

Goe said drivers should always use the manufacturer-recommended battery to get the best life expectancy.

The best things you can do to squeeze a little more life out of your battery is to keep the car in the garage if you have one, keep the terminal posts clean, and maintain the appropriate distilled water level if your battery requires such care. But even if you take those steps, your battery is still likely doomed to last at best about three years.

Goe said possible signs that a battery may need to be replaced are slow cranks and when headlights dim while the vehicle is stopped. Most shops will test batteries for free to let drivers know when it is time to replace the old ones, which can help protect from being stranded on the roadside.

Contact Blake Apgar at bapgar@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0342. Find @BlakeApgarLV on Twitter.