Cold Weather Battery Guide: What You Need to Know

The average car owner buys the cheapest battery possible, tosses it in, and goes about their day. Unfortunately, that’s not an ideal situation, and it can actually cause a lot of dangerous or costly situations.

One of the biggest problems facing a car battery is whether or not it can handle extreme cold effectively. While cars are set up to exhaust heat very well, since the engine generates tons of heat, cold weather can impact their components dramatically regardless of all the fancy features built into them.

The battery of a car is one of the most susceptible to these issues.

We’re going to go over the various problems that can occur with batteries in cold weather conditions, a few of the ways that high-end batteries protect against those issues, and what type of battery is best for cold weather.

Let’s get started.

The Problems Batteries Face in Cold Conditions

Everyone knows if you get a lithium, or even lead-acid, battery too hot it can catch on fire or explode. However, the problems that affect batteries in the cold are less widely known.

To understand this, you need to understand the makeup of a battery.

A battery consists of cells that are filled with an anode and an electrolyte. Depending on the voltage of the battery, different numbers of cells will be used. Then, there’s the casing and terminals that house the battery and allow it to connect to your hookups.

When it’s exceptionally cold, the chemical reaction between the anode and the electrolyte doesn’t occur properly. Thus, it doesn’t create as much energy as it’s supposed to.

Several issues can arise from this, and we’re going to cover each one.

1: Failure to Start

First and foremost, your car might not even start in extremely cold weather.

Without a cold weather battery, your car’s battery might become so cold that it simply doesn’t provide enough power for the ignition to start. In that case, you can end up stuck in the cold trying to start your car while your entire life is passing by. The worst part is that there’s not much you can do about it.

Whether you wake up for work in the morning and can’t start your car, or you’re unable to go out and get food for the night, you’re more or less stuck when this happens.

2: Damage to the Battery

Batteries function due to the chemical reaction between the anode, electrolyte, and similar features built into their inner workings. Not only is the electrolyte a fluid, but the other components are typically weak against extreme cold when they’re in use, as well.

So, not only can the battery fail to produce sufficient electricity for necessary functions due to cold weather, but if that happens enough, it can damage the battery dramatically. We’ll talk more about general wear and tear, but if it’s bad enough, the battery could become entirely worthless, and potentially unsafe, unless it is replaced.

This requires an exceptionally cold temperature if you’re using a high-quality battery, but cheap batteries can become damaged in this way very easily, and even the best are at risk if the temperature gets extremely low.

3: Lowered Long-Term Performance

We already covered the extreme possibility of the battery becoming outright dangerous to use, but even if it doesn’t get that badly damaged, the long-term viability of the battery is damaged. You’ll notice that the battery doesn’t hold its charge as long, might not trigger on the first turn of the key, or otherwise doesn’t perform as it should for its age. We’re assuming the battery is fairly new and none of those problems are coming from age.

This usually won’t ruin your day by making you miss work or leaving you stranded in a parking lot, but it will be a major annoyance that might cause you to think something else is wrong with your car. If handled without any experience, you can end up paying service fees looking for a problem even though it’s just minor damage to your battery, and if your mechanic doesn’t check the problem, you can even end up paying for unnecessary repairs that cost more than a new, upgraded, cold weather battery.

As such, it’s not enough to simply avoid serious damage. You need to try to keep your battery within a good temperature range at all times. It will prolong its lifespan and keep it performing like new.

How Cold Weather Batteries Prevent Those Problems

Luckily, you really don’t have to worry about all those negative situations we highlighted in the previous section. There are cold weather batteries that are designed to withstand even the coldest natural temperatures without losing performance quality or being damaged.

Here are two ways such batteries protect themselves against the cold.

1: Exceptional Construction and Housing

First and foremost, not only does the chemical makeup of the battery determine how well it will resist the cold, but the housing and overall construction will provide a lot of protection, as well.

If a battery is made with cold weather in mind, the casing, and exact chemical ratio will be tailored to provide acceptable performance while maintaining performance in the cold. Whether it’s the materials used, the thickness of the walls, or special layers added for insulation, the casing can dramatically help protect against the cold.

This is a protective feature that helps problems from occurring. Cold weather batteries can withstand colder temperatures without problems. So, truly unique situations have to occur to damage them in general.

2: Automatic Shutoffs

The other way that battery manufacturers protect cold weather batteries against the cold is by installing automatic temperature shutoffs.

While the previous method prevents the situation from reaching a point where emergency action is necessary for avoiding damage, this one automatically takes that emergency action once the battery reaches a certain threshold.

This is key because you can’t simply take the battery out if it gets too cold and try to warm it up. The temperature varies dramatically between the outside atmosphere and the inside of your vehicle’s hood. Depending on the situation, you might overestimate your ability to keep pushing the battery, or you might underestimate it.

An automatic temperature cut-off constantly monitors the battery’s temperature via the BMS (Battery Management System), and when it becomes too hot or cold, it cuts the connection to the battery.

This won’t help if you’re in unnaturally cold environments that are highly unlikely for drivers to be in, because the battery will simply freeze up. However, in normal environments like the northern states when extremely cold winters wreak havoc on vehicles, this type of protection can be crucial.

What is the Best Cold Weather Battery?

You have a few options when it comes to cold weather batteries. Whether you’re looking for one for your car, or you’re looking to power something else in the cold. However, you need one that is made well to ensure you don’t run into issues despite the label of a “cold weather battery”.

This largely means going with a MANLY cold weather battery.

MANLY offers some of the highest-quality batteries on the market for practically every possible use. The MANLY Battery team provides over 3000 high-end lithium batteries to various consumers around the globe every single day, and they don’t just feature the protective layers that we mentioned in this guide. You get much more.

MANLY batteries are designed to last longer, charge faster, maintain their performance throughout their lifetime, and include the latest advanced features.

You can expect your MANLY battery to last for up to 5000 cycles or more, which roughly equates to 10 to 15 years of steady use, maintain 95% efficiency even after years of use or cold weather exposure, and include various current shutoffs, digital displays, and similar features that ensure they stand out against the rest of the competition.

Overall, when you choose a MANLY battery for your cold weather battery needs, you receive an all-around high-end battery that will perform to its maximum capability longer than anything else. To make it better, MANLY batteries come at an extremely friendly price.

Other Benefits of MANLY Cold Weather Batteries

The quality of the product you’re purchasing always comes first, but it’s also important to ensure that the company you’re dealing with checks off a few positive marks as well. Even the best product won’t make up for poor customer service or variety.

Luckily, MANLY gives you the best of both worlds.

MANLY is a reputable battery manufacturer that serves many of the top names around the globe. It offers 24/7 customer service by trained professionals, and MANLY stands by its work with a top-notch guarantee.

However, one of the top benefits of choosing MANLY is that custom batteries can be ordered. For cold weather batteries for cars, you have a variety of off-the-shelf options available, but if you need a custom lithium battery for any project, manufacturing process, or anything else, MANLY can produce it from scratch.

Contact MANLY Battery, today.