Best AGM Battery UK

We’ll also give you the info you need to know about AGM batteries; what they are, why they were developed. And most importantly, we’ll recommend the best ones on the market, today, in 2023.

So let’s get to it, then!

Introducing Best AGM Battery UK

There are tons of different battery sizes, so there’s no point telling you a specific AGM battery is best if it doesn’t fit your vehicle.

So we’ll tell you which brand of battery is best for each price range. And we’ll tell you how to find all the batteries that fit your vehicle.

That way, you’ll know exactly which AGM battery is best for you.

Why AGM?

First of all, if you already have an AGM battery in your car, you MUST replace it with another AGM battery.

If you tried to use another battery type, it would be unable to cope with the electrical and power demands and would die, and fast!

AGM stands for Absorbed Glass Mat. They were developed to fix some of the issues which plague normal Flooded lead acid batteries (the type which most car batteries are).

Flooded/wet batteries have their electrolyte freely flowing around the battery plates, within the battery casing. AGM batteries, however, have their electrolyte absorbed into fibre glass mats. This provides many advantages.

1. It’s safer. Since spillages are impossible, with no liquid electrolyte that can leak out.
2. More power. AGM batteries need less space for the electrolyte, so they have more and thinner lead plates. That increases the reaction surface are, and allows them to store and deliver more power.
3. No acid stratification. Stratification is one of the issues which can often end the life of normal Flooded batteries. It’s when the battery electrolyte becomes more poorly mixed, resulting in less chemical reactions and less power being delivered. And this degrades the battery until it becomes unusable. AGM batteries do not have this problem since the electrolyte is not in liquid form.

That’s a few but there are still more advantages to AGM batteries over other types.

AGM batteries must be charged differently to other battery types, here are the best AGM battery chargers in the UK in 2023.

Start Stop?

If you have start stop functionality in your vehicle, you need to get either an EFB or an AGM battery. Here’s how EFB and AGM batteries compare.

If it’s a bigger vehicle with high power demands, and you also have regenerative braking, it really needs to be an AGM battery.

Which AGM battery brand is best?

Not all battery makers produce AGM batteries, many of the poorer quality brands don’t even attempt to make them.

Of the brands that do make AGM batteries, our knowledge and experience of the battery market has led us to the conclusion that the following brands are the best on the market for AGM.

They’re also the best battery brands in the UK in general.

Lion AGM Batteries

Lion are comfortably the best AGM battery brand at the lowest cost end of the market.

With normal Flooded batteries, Lion’s batteries tend to have have lower capacity and CCA than other more expensive brands (for example the 063 car battery and the 096 battery).

But Lion’s AGM batteries tend to match the capacity in Ah (Ah meaning on a battery?), and Cold Cranking Amps in CCA, (Cold Cranking Amps meaning), of the highest quality brands.

Does that mean there’s no difference? Well, no. The more expensive brands have better quality internal components and plate material.

So you’ll find that the Lion battery will be pretty close to the others in initial performance.

But it will start to lose power faster than other brands. And it won’t cope so well if you don’t treat it perfectly (for example, leaving it in a discharged state for extended periods of time or not driving it for long enough journeys that allow it to fully charge).

Exide AGM batteries

Exide AGM batteries have the same capacity and CCA values as both the cheaper and more expensive models.

Exide are a reliable, long-established American company and their batteries have high quality internal components and lead plates. They’ll last longer than Lion batteries.

They have more power than Lion and being made with better quality materials, they’ll retain that power for longer.

They’ll set you back 15-30% more than Lion batteries, but remember how much longer they’re likely to last (how long do UK car batteries last?).

For our money, their AGM batteries represent the best value on the market.

Bosch AGM batteries

Again, Bosch AGM batteries have capacity and CCA values that match the other battery brands.

Now we’re into German engineering, and with that comes two things: premium quality materials (and manufacturing processes) and higher price.

Typically they can be anywhere from 20-40% more than Exide AGM batteries.

But with the quality of the Bosch battery, it could easily last 50% longer than the Exide, and hold onto its power better throughout that time, giving you less hassle.

They also have more power than other batteries of the same size. That’s because they have exceptionally high reaction surface area, since they have more lead plates. More reactions means more charge can be stored and better ability to transfer power to the car.

Varta AGM batteries

Varta AGM batteries are highly comparable to Bosch, being German engineered and belonging to a similar price bracket.

Their pack pressure resilience is top notch – giving them the best cyclic durability on the market.

That’s because it results in less active material paste shedding – which is a key reason for batteries eventually failing.

And the Varta AGM batteries will cope better with harsh vibration, and this greater resilience means they’ll last longer..

Just for one example, they have the best 019 AGM battery.

How much do these batteries cost?

Check that out in our article on new car battery costs UK, in 2023.

Summing Up Best AGM Battery UK

Finally, an answer for those looking for the best AGM battery UK. Hopefully, you now have a framework to choose your AGM battery.

These are the best ones you can get for each price range.