Hello, welcome to Mackert Automotive. Today's focus is batteries. It seems like everything in Gig Harbor runs on batteries. Of course, the batteries we're most concerned with here at Mackert Automotive are those in our customer's vehicles. Just like the batteries in our smoke detectors or TV remote, car batterieswear out and need to be replaced. There are a couple of things Gig Harbor drivers should know when looking for a new battery.
Look for two measurements that come into play: cold cranking amps and reserve capacity.
Let's start with cold cranking amps. This can be thought of as the power output used to start a cold car, truck, SUV engine. The number of cold cranking amps you need depends on your vehicle and where you live in Washington, specifically how cold it is. (Many Washington auto owners have first-hand experience trying to start their car on a cold winter morning.) The two factors are that the colder your car, truck, SUV's engine is, the more power it takes to turn the engine over to get it started. It has all that cold, sluggish oil to contend with.
The other factor is that the chemical reaction in the battery that creates electrical energy is less efficient when the temperature dips. At Mackert Automotive, we consult the table shown below. Let's say it's eighty degrees Fahrenheit in Gig Harbor. At that temperature, 100% of the battery's power is available. At freezing, only 65% of battery power is available, but it requires 155% as much power to start the engine as it did at eighty degrees.
As you can see from the chart, the colder it gets, more power's needed, but the available power drops.
| Percent of Power Available | Celsius | Fahrenheit | Power Required |
| 100 | 27 | 80 | 100 |
| 65 | 0 | 32 | 155 |
| 40 | -22 | 0 | 210 |
| 25 | -32 | 20 | 350 |