Battery Lifespan

[lloyd3]

Nice here today. Loaded my wife onto an airplane early this AM (headed to Buffalo to see her widowed sister) and have all the chores done so...I pulled the cover off of the car.

When I opened the door the dome light worked, which is a good sign (this is a cheap Walmart battery so my expectations were pretty low). Tried to roll it back enough to put a trickle charger on it but these "new" tires don't roll as easily as the last 20-year old set did. Out of curiosity, I shifted into reverse and turned the key.

This thing hasn't even been looked at since mid-November (& possibly earlier, like in August?) so I expected it to be totally-dead, but the starter engaged and backed the car away from the wall. I put my old NAPA trickle charger on it and it said it was "charged" in about 10-minutes (what?) so I switched it over to "deep-cycle". Headed for the shower next. Maybe it will even start today?

Snow here again Tuesday according to the weatherman but it's dry and mild now so, we'll see.  I need to be reminded as to why these cars always enchanted me.

I really want to drive it before I forget how that Tesla felt last week.

[Kern Dog]

I've had the battery in the trunk for 12 years.
Over the years, I've had 3 or 4 batteries in the car while my later model cars have batteries that last and last. The wife's '15 Challenger just barfed the battery last fall. It almost made it 10 years so I'm wondering why my car goes through batteries so fast. It isn't like I'm using Harbor Freight batteries or parts in the car. Sure, it sits most of the time so that may be part of it. I do have a slight electrical draw that is hard to track down. Wish me luck!

[charger500440]

I've found keeping a trickle charger connected makes a huge difference in keeping the battery fresh and extending its useful lifespan. Assuming you don't drive the vehicle often (once per week being often), the batteries made today just don't last. Add in the cold weather and it's even more of a problem...

[b5blue]

  I bought my Red Top Optima 4/17/16 and it's still working. I have a 120amp Denso ALT. keeping it charged and FL. while HOT has mild winters. I recently thought it failed but it was the crank position on my ignition switch.   

[lloyd3]

65 degrees here yesterday. It seemed like a heatwave, even with snow melting in every shaded spot in my yard.  The car did start and required very little to take it for a spin (it was low on power steering fluid, the steering box needs a rebuild). Considering that the points and condenser on this old Prestolite dual-point unit are now something like 15-years old (at a minimum) I'm always surprised by how good it still starts and runs. Keeping them "stock" seems to help with that somehow.

As far as comparing it to a new Tesla Model X...well, you really can't.  So different and in so-many ways (mostly in the safety, comfort and economy areas I fear).  However, this relic from a different century is still lots of fun, lots of nostalgia, and lots of looks and comments from wherever I end-up stopping with it.

More snow here has been confirmed for Monday and Tuesday now, sadly.  Maybe I'll even wipe it down before re-interring it back into the garage?

[b5blue]

Compare the 68 to a Model T is about the same. 

[lloyd3]

b5blue: my thoughts exactly.

These cars can't really compete on any level anymore, but they look darn good doing it.

[b5blue]

   Next month is 30 years with my 70. First 10 years it was my work truck trunk full of tools and driving around dirt job sites. It earned it's keep.

[Kern Dog]

b5blue: my thoughts exactly.

These cars can't really compete on any level anymore, but they look darn good doing it.

I disagree, there.
For me, they compete and win on what matters.
A new car can't compete in styling, simplicity, the ease of repair or increase in value. New cars don't invoke fond memories of the past.
Nobody is going to lovingly restore a Tesla in 2066.
March 12th is 25 years I've had the red car....



It too was my temporary work car in Spring of 2000. I was rebuilding the engine in this:



I used the Chevy to haul my work tools framing houses and the 305 spun 3 rod bearings at 369,000 miles. I drove this car for a month while the engine was out....



A few thousand dollars later, here we are....

[tan top]

b5blue: my thoughts exactly.

These cars can't really compete on any level anymore, but they look darn good doing it.

I disagree, there.
For me, they compete and win on what matters.
A new car can't compete in styling, simplicity, the ease of repair or increase in value. New cars don't invoke fond memories of the past.
Nobody is going to lovingly restore a Tesla in 2066.
March 12th is 25 years I've had the red car....



It too was my temporary work car in Spring of 2000. I was rebuilding the engine in this:



I used the Chevy to haul my work tools framing houses and the 305 spun 3 rod bearings at 369,000 miles. I drove this car for a month while the engine was out....



A few thousand dollars later, here we are....

   

true modern cars are something else , compared to our old dinosaurs ! , i can list many many things they  are better at than our chargers  but it true 100%  what  KD said

heres something to think about consider the title of this thread for example !    two minutes to change a battery on the  charger , how long to change & how much to change a battery in a tesla ?  if your teslas  3 +  years old &it has not burnt to the ground already , prolly better off buying a whole new car      

getting a bit side tracked ,the people who have designed & the engineering to put these battery cars in to production are brilliant , credit where its due  , think though the powers that be that have made this happen & the ideas they have !  i think they have taken Dr cocteau's plan or how to  run a country/ world  to literally      the film demolition man was made for entertainment hollywood science fiction movie , not the blue print for shaping the future     
if you watch the film now  its a lot like reality  today  kind off 
i can see many people getting financially  up side down with these battery cars by listening to the wrong advice &  or brain washed with advertising if they have not done so already also once the honeymoon period & or novelty has worn off, i'm betting they never truly thought it out , the bigger picture ! anyways
good luck to you if they suit your life & your 100%  happy thats all that matters .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYIdGlqTIKM

[lloyd3]

2nd generation Dodge Chargers are a work of "art". They are rolling functional art and they look darn-good from just about any angle. They are solid metal, chrome & glass and they are generally a bit obtrusive (i.e., loud!), meaning that they tend to intrude upon your consciousness (but in a positive way for most of us). 


This unit desperately needs a bath after sitting under a cover (& being used for a grocery shelf) for the last 6-months.

In order to own and actually drive one of these vehicles, you need to invest a fair amount of deliberate attention into it's "care and feeding". This personnel "connection" is truly necessary for any ownership (and then use of it) to go at all well, and things tend to go downhill fairly quickly if you fail to do so. Deus ex machina is a Latin term meaning "god from the machine" and it applies here, very much.

Electric vehicles are as much plastic as they are metal (and the styling, for the most part, isn't anything to brag about IMHO). They usually convey you safely and efficiently from point A to point B without much fanfare (there does seem to be the occasional consuming fire?) but they are usually easy to ignore (other than for worrying about how much charge is left in the battery & where you can refill it?).  Any personal connection to the vehicle beyond that is simply unnecessary.

There is a substantial initial-investment for their purchase, but after that people tend to just use them to get around. Plastic doesn't usually age very well and much like old computers (& old microwaves or old dishwashers) we tend to replace them without much thought, other than for the expense.  Teslas (and electric cars in general) are much like an "appliance". Practical but soul-less, they do not tend to evoke much passion after that initial purchase.

And, as Kern Dog so adroitly outlined here earlier, I don't envision anyone slaving away to "restore" one in 25-years time.

[Kern Dog]

I like being adroit.