Car Battery Voltage

It was a small sample size, but the survey we ran on our Twitter account confirmed concerns we had about whether most people know what is considered proper voltage in a car battery. 

Contrary to the guess of the majority in that poll, a 12-volt car battery that measures 12.1 volts is about 50-60% discharged. Fully-charged, most car batteries, including OPTIMA REDTOPs will measure at least 12.6 volts and YELLOWTOPs will measure at least 13.0 volts.

In fact, whenever any car battery is discharged below 12.4 volts and is left sitting in that state, sulfation forms in the plates, which diminishes both capacity and battery lifespan. That makes regular use of a quality battery charger an excellent idea. We are so confident regular use of a battery charger will extend battery lifespan, we will add one year of free replacement warranty coverage to your OPTIMA battery, if you buy it from us and purchase an OPTIMA Digital 1200 battery charger at the same time.