If car batteries are so big then how come then drain so quick when you leave the radio or lights on overnight?

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If car batteries are so big then how come then drain so quick when you leave the radio or lights on overnight?

In: Technology

3 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

They’re big, but they only hold a limited amount of charge, like all batteries. Car batteries are designed to deliver super high amps when the engine is started, in a single burst, in order to literally turn a huge chunk of metal that’s subject to internal resistance within the engine. They can only do this when they have sufficient internal voltage.

If you leave the lights or radio on, they will drain capacity from the battery, until eventually there won’t be enough voltage left to deliver that super high power burst you need when the car starts. There will likely be enough residual voltage to run other stuff, but as soon as you try to start the car, it’ll drain that all off.

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