How Many mAh is a Car Battery?

When choosing a car battery, one thing to consider is how many amp-hours it has. This indicates the battery’s capacity, that is, how long the battery will last. The car battery capacity depends on the battery size. Of course, you do not expect a motorcycle’s battery capacity to be the same as that of a car, a bus, or a truck.

The mAh of automotive batteries ranges from 30 AH (30,000 Mah) for compact batteries found in many Asian and European small cars, to about 50 AH (50,000 Mah) in full-sized vehicles and vans, to bigger 70 AH (70,000 Mah) batteries found in larger pickup trucks, busses, and diesel-powered cars. 

What is a mAh? 

The mAh stands for ” milliampere-hour.” It is a unit that measures the battery’s capacity; that is, it measures how long a device can maintain a subsequent discharge of energy per time. To simplify this, mAh is a standard method of determining a battery’s energy capacity. The larger the mAh, the longer the battery capacity or life and the longer it lasts. The ability of a car battery depends on its size and the size of the car itself. 

What is the mAh of a car battery? 

Generally, there is no fixed mAh for car batteries; not all cars use the same type of battery. Some vehicles are naturally built to consume more energy than others; car batteries have different sizes. You wouldn’t want to compare the capacity of a large battery to that of a small one. However, the power of popular vehicle batteries ranges from around 30 AH (30,000 Mah) for cars found in many Asian and European small cars to about 50 AH (50,000 Mah) in full-sized vehicles and vans, to bigger 70 AH (70,000 Mah) batteries found in larger pickup trucks, busses and diesel-powered cars. These are reasonable capacities, considering how heavy those batteries are. 

How to calculate the mAh of your car battery?

Have you ever asked yourself how to calculate the mAh of your car battery?. You can calculate your battery mAh by multiplying the number of cells in series by 2 volts apiece to get the milliamp hours of your battery. For example, a battery has  6 cells, meaning 6 cells x 2 volts per cell equals 12 milliamp-hours (mAh). So for this example, a  battery consists of six separate cells and 12 mAh.

Ampere rating of a car battery 

• Capacity: Amp Hour is the unit of measurement for a battery’s power, and it denotes how many amps of charge the battery can provide for hours before its voltage hits the cut-off value. In most cases, a lead-acid battery’s cut-off voltage is 10.5V.
• Cranking amps (CA): In normal climate circumstances of 32°F, the total amount of electrical current a battery can discharge and sustain for at least 30 seconds is the CA.
• Battery Chemistry: A car battery’s chemistry relates to the type of battery it is. Most automobile batteries are lead-acid, although flooded lead-acid batteries are being phased out in favor of AGM (Absorbent Glass Mat) and SLA (Sealed Lead Acid) batteries. AGM and SLA batteries are more vibration resistant, require less maintenance, and are spill-proof.
• The maximum charging current; this refers to the total amount of current it takes to charge a battery properly. 

With all this being said, you should have a good idea of how you can buy a good battery. First, you know the size; second, you know the battery capacity. It is also essential to test your batteries from where you bought your car or your battery. You do not need to wait until your battery starts acting up before you find a solution to it. A good battery should read at least 12.6 volts and above, and when you start your car’s engine, the battery should read from 13.7 to 14.7 voltage. Anything lower than these numbers should indicate that the battery is not in good condition. You can also know if your battery is fully charged. If you do not have a multimeter, start the engine and turn on your headlights; if the lights are dim, then you should know that your battery is not fully charged, and if they are bright, it means your battery is in good condition. 

What is an ampere chart? 

The ampere-hour graph represents the battery’s capacity. We’ve already addressed battery capacity under the parameters of a car battery rating. A car battery’s amp hours indicate how long it will last. For example, if a car battery’s amp-hour is 100Ah, it can deliver 5 amps for 20 hours, it can also provide 10 amps for 10 hours, and so forth.

Summarily, a small car battery should have a mAh of about 30,000, a full-sized car should have a mAh of about 50,000, and larger vehicles and trucks should have 70,000mAh to function well.