So i have a 2019 honda civic 2.0 liter cvt with 19,600 miles on the odometer. I drive it to work 5 days a week which is only a 3 minute drive away from my house and my two days off from work i usually drive it for a couple of hours on the highway on one of my days off. Is it okay for me to charge the battery that way by driving it for a couple hours on one of my days off and then just let it basically sit for 5 days in the parking lot only being driven for 3 minutes to work and then 3 minutes back to my house? Also i work 8 hour shifts and don’t go home for my lunch break. Also i live in california where in the winter it is usually in the 34 to 52 degree temperatures. I’ve been checking my battery voltage before i stert my car every mourning usually 1-3 days into my work week my battery will read between 12.37 to 12.43 volts before start and the tester just says “good-recharge”
Frankly, I would be more worried about carbon buildup considering your daily driving distances
than the battery dying.
Scotty has a video in which he references an "Italian Tune-up"
Doing what you're already doing. Taking it out on the highway for a few hours occasionally.
You're doing that once a week. I think you'll be fine with maintaining both your battery AND a carbon free combustion chamber. 👍
You should be fine. Modern cars probably only need to run about 15minutes a week to keep the battery minimally charged.
If you want to delve deeper, load test your battery.
Smart choice picking up the 2.0L
~12.3 - 12.4V is about 70%-80% state of charge of the battery. 12.7V is 100%.
I recommend taking it a 15-20 minute straight drive at least once a week. See how the battery fairs the next day after a longer drive.
At what voltage should i replace the battery then?
Batteries usually last 3-5 years. I’ve had some last 7.
One other metric to look at is CCA, cold cranking amps. I’ve never really used it. But supposedly it is a better indicator of when you need to change the battery.
If it is consistently under 12.0V from sitting overnight after a good drive charging it up, it might be a good idea to change it.
What's the battery reading under a load?
