Eli5 Why does cold tank batteries, and why do they regain charge after warming up?

Question

I know it has something to do with the chemicals, but it happens to AAs, phone batteries, and electric cars, which are to my knowledge all different kinds of batteries.

In: 1

Answer 1

They’re all different kinds of batteries, in that they use different chemicals, but they’re all still chemical batteries. Cold temperature slow down chemical reactions, such as the ones that occur in the battery to generate the voltage.

So the colder it gets, the slower those reactions can occur, and the less voltage is available. If the voltage is low enough, it will seem like it’s dead. Once it warms up, the reactions can go faster, so the available voltage is higher.