What Type of Car Battery Do I Need?

Introducing ‘What Type Of Car Battery Do I Need?’

There are a few ways to easily make sure you get the right battery, and we’ve got you covered.

Do you have start-stop function on your car?

If so, you MUST get either: 1) an AGM battery, or 2) an EFB battery. These are the only two battery types that work with start-stop functionality.

Should you get an AGM or an EFB battery?

Well, we’ve answered that question in detail, check it out on the link above.

You need to know the following, though: if you’ve already got an AGM battery in your car then you must replace it with an AGM battery. Otherwise, you can get another EFB battery or upgrade to AGM.

Make sure you get the right size of battery

Car batteries aren’t one size fits all.

So before you purchase a battery, you’ll need to make sure it will actually fit into the space for it.

There are battery size groupings to make this more simple. For example, if you know your existing battery is the 027 type, then you’ll know you need another 027 battery.

An 027 battery, for example, has length 243mm, width 175mm and height 190mm.

How to find the dimensions of your vehicle battery?

If your battery is dead and needs to be taken out anyway, you can take it out and measure it.

But there are simpler ways to find out:

You can pop your bonnet and check the battery brand and model number. Then you can Google that, it’ll bring up the dimensions for that battery.

You can also Google your vehicle make and model then “battery size”, and you may get the dimensions from that.

However, there’s really a much easier way. All you’ll need is either your car registration plate or your car’s make and model number, and with this method you’re guaranteed to get the right information. And that is…

Use ebay to automatically show all batteries that fit your car

The simplest way to find the right battery type for your car is to:

1) Go to the ebay car battery finder page.

2) You’ll see a section called Find Car Parts near the top of the page to enter your car Registration number “Choose by Make and Model”.

3) Up pops all the batteries that will fit in your vehicle.

Pick your favourite battery and purchase. Simples!

What if you want to buy your battery somewhere else?

That’s no problem. In that situation, you can use the Euro Car Parts tool simply to identify the battery size grouping that you need.

If the batteries that come up after you’ve searched for your vehicle are, for example 063 battery size, then you know that’s the size of battery you need. So then you can buy an 063 car battery from your desired seller.

CCA (Cold Cranking Amps) and Ah (Amp hours)

When you search for car batteries you’ll notice they have a CCA value and an Ah value.

For example, this Lion 027 car battery has the values 60Ah and 480CCA.

Ah is the capacity of the battery – it shows how much energy the battery is able to store, it can be called the capacity of the battery. The bigger the Ah value, the more energy can be stored in the battery, and so the less often it needs recharged.

The CCA value of a battery shows you how much starting power the battery has. In particular, it’s the starting ability of a vehicle in cold weather.

That’s because Cold Cranking Amps refers to how many Amps are required for a 12V battery to deliver at least 7.2 volts for 30 seconds at 0°F (-18°C).

So if you’re comparing batteries, choosing higher CCA gives you more security about the battery’s ability to start your car in cold weather. As you may or may not know, very cold weather can make it more difficult to start your car.

Traditional Lead Acid vs. EFB vs. AGM

To explain it most simply, traditional lead acid batteries are absolutely fine and will do a job for you, but they are based on a technology that is quite old now. We’ve written extensively on the reasons for this in our Best Battery Charger for AGM article.

They suffer from sulfation, and that’s the reason most of them die. That’s why battery reconditioning is your friend.

However, as we said, they’re absolutely fine and most quality traditional lead acid batteries will power your car for several years with no problems.

You can expect up to 20,000 starts, as long as you take care of the battery.

EFB batteries have technology advancements that can more effectively resist sulfation, and you can get as many as 85,000 starts from this battery type. Of course, that means it’ll cost more. Perhaps 30% more.

AGM batteries likewise, are designed to last longer and deliver more power, while their internal components are less susceptible to sulfation. Again, they’ll set you back more than traditional lead acid batteries will.

Summing Up “What Type Of Car Battery Do I Need?”

Hopefully, you now have the answer to “what type of car battery do I need?”. We’ve discussed the different types of battery you have to choose from, and you’re aware that if your car has start-stop then you’ll need an AGM or EFB. Those two batteries are the most powerful, longest lasting and best quality. And with that comes higher cost.

If you want a lower investment, then a normal lead-acid battery is the way to go, just be aware that it won’t last as long.

Take care also with the size of the car battery, make sure it’s the right size for your car. And choose according to your power needs as well. The higher the CCA, the better the starting ability; while higher Ah means the battery will store more energy. As you’d expect higher CCA and Ah mean higher cost.

Last but not least, we gave you by far the easiest and fastest way to find a new battery, by entering your car details on this Euro Car Parts page.

Happy battery hunting!