How Many Amps is a Car Battery?
As a car owner, one of your primary duties is vehicle maintenance. Considering how pricey car investments are, you should not lack in this area. Adequate knowledge about your battery is an excellent place to start. It is not enough to know that a battery has 12 volts. Knowing how many amps your car battery produces will help you better understand how it works.
The average car battery has about 550 to 1,000 amps; you can use a multimeter to accurately check what yours reads.
You also need the knowledge when dealing with electronic and electrical functions like entertainment, navigation, security services, among others.
This blog post will explore how many amps a car battery has. We will also discuss the car battery amperage chart and how many amps are needed to charge a car battery. You are about to discover crucial information about your car battery, so stay right there!
How many amps does a car battery have?
The pressure of the electricity that your vehicle produces is called the voltage. The average car battery uses 12 volts. On the other hand, amperage is the volume of electricity the car can generate, usually an average of 600 amps.
Another unit for measuring car batteries is the Ah, which means amp hours. It refers to how long a vehicle can produce electrical currents before it gives in to exhaustion.
When it is fully charged, it has a rating of 12.6 volts and can deliver one amp for 48 hours. Two amps will exhaust your battery in 24 hours, and four amps will exhaust it in 16 hours.
Where to find the amp hour rating
Most people do not know where to find the amp hour rating. This can be challenging when you are battery shopping. Battery amps differ, and this affects the capacity to power your vehicle. To ensure you are picking the right one for a car, look at the surface of the battery or consider the additional sales information.
What is the purpose of amp-hours?
The amp hours exist to indicate how much electricity your battery will release before it dies. This serves as a guide for most people to determine how long they will charge their batteries using the alternator, what the battery will be used for when the engine is not running, and how long a car charger will charge the battery if needed.
What is the ampere rating used for?
The ampere rating refers to how the storage capacity for batteries is measured. It is used to determine how much current will flow when the right conditions are in place. The ampere rating for vehicles is further divided into cold cranking amps (CCA) and cranking amps (CA).
Cranking amps are measured in 30 seconds, based on the how much current that can flow at a temperature of 32°F without going below 7.2V. On the other hand, cold cranking amps are measured at a temperature of 0°F, better utilized in the winter.
Temperature affects the output of your car battery. At 0°F, your battery capacity can reduce from 25 amps to 7 amps. The difference caused by the temperature is what makes it vital to include measurements like the cranking and cold-cranking amps.
For vehicles that have an inscription of 200 to 315 CCA, you will get between 36 to 46.2 amp hours before you need to recharge your battery. 315 to 550 gives you 45.2 to 58.8 amp hours, and 550 to 1,000 CCA gives you 58.8 to 111 amp-hours. These ratings have factored in the twenty percent electricity efficiency loss.
The higher your CCA ratings, the more efficient your battery capacity.
But if you use an absorbent glass mat (AGM) battery, it is less affected by the temperature and has been designed to withstand the additional activities that modern vehicles accommodate.
How to measure amps in a battery?
To measure the amps in a battery, we use what’s called the “Ohm’s Law”. It is a very popular theory/model/formula taught in Physics. It helps us calculate the number of amps circulating if we have the number of volts and resistance. The formula is,
A = V/R
Where A = number of amps
V = Voltage (measured in Volts
R = Resistance (measured in Ohms).
Most car batteries are 12V and have a 100% charged voltage of 12.6V. And, for resistance, you can refer to the manual of your battery. The number of amps in a battery will depend on its resistance. For example, if a battery has a resistance of 0.02 Ohm, and has a voltage of 12.6V when fully charged, we can calculate its amps as:
A = 12.6/0.02
A = 500.
Most car batteries have a resistance ranging from 0.0125 to 0.025ohms.
What is the battery reserve capacity?
The battery reserve capacity is one method of measuring a battery’s capacity. However, the previous focal point was larger batteries. The RC is considered when powering large machines like solar systems, RVs, trolling systems, and other deep cycle uses. But now, vehicles also rely on their usage.
The reserve capacity describes how long a new car battery will take to deliver 25 amps of current before it reaches the 10.5v limit. It measures this in minutes and at a temperature of 80°F. Your battery’s rating determines how many minutes the battery will function before it begins to lose the current reserved for powering the vehicle.
If your battery has a 120 rating, it means 25 amps can be consumed in 120 minutes before the current reserved for starting the engine begins to get affected.
What is the function of the car battery amperage chart?
Deep cycle batteries are more common users of the battery amperage chart. However, conventional car batteries use them too. They provide information about how long your battery will last until you need to charge it again.
With a rating of 50 Ah, if you use five amps every hour, the battery will last for ten hours before it requires an additional charge. The car battery amperage chart helps you determine your amp consumption.
How many amps do I need to charge my battery?
Experts recommend slow-charging your car battery. Ten amps or less is ideal for slow-charging your battery, and twenty amps and above is ideal when you want to fast-charge it.
If you use a ten amp charger, your vehicle’s car battery will reach a full charge in four to eleven hours. But for a two amp charger, it may require two to four days.
Again, it is best to avoid charging your car battery for more than 24 hours. Remember, you do not need to charge the battery fully before using it – you only need enough to turn the engine over. The alternator will take care of the rest while the ignition and engine are running.
Other essential measurements for car batteries
There are certain other measurements, in addition to the measurements discussed above, that are very crucial while buying a new battery. Just like the previous ones, these measurements can also help you maintain your battery health in a better way.
Following is the list of 5 essential measurements for car batteries:
1. Reserve Capacity
The first one on the list is Reserve Capacity. It is represented by the letters “RC”. It measures the number of minutes a battery can provide a current of 25Amps and maintain its voltage above 10.6volts.
2. Cranking Amps
Cranking Amps is also known as Marine Cranking Amps. This measurement is represented by the letters CA and MCA. It measures the maximum number of amps that a fully charged new battery can provide for 30 seconds at the temperature of 32 Fahrenheit without getting completely drained.
3. Hot Cranking Amps
Hot Cranking Amps or HCA is similar to Cranking Amps. It measures the maximum number of amps that a fully charged new battery can provide for 30 seconds, BUT at the temperature of 80 Fahrenheit without getting completely drained.
4. Pulse Hot Cranking Amps
Again, Pulse Hot Cranking Amps or PHCA is similar to Cranking Amps. But, it measures the maximum number of amps a fully charged new battery can provide for 3-5 seconds at the temperature of 77-80 Fahrenheit without getting completely drained.
5. Cold Cranking Amps
Last but not least! Cold Cranking Amps or CCA is a rating that is the most used measurement when buying new batteries. It is commonly known as the most reliable and accurate measure of the power of batteries. It measures the maximum number of amps a fully charged new battery can provide for 30 seconds, BUT at the temperature of 0 Fahrenheit without getting completely drained.
Bottom line
For lead-acid batteries, when the battery constantly goes below 10.5V, rapid depreciation commences. That is one of the important reasons we need to know about amp ratings; it helps us cautiously use the battery for essential vehicular functions.
