Battery life?

[cbrenthus]

This does remind me that, since I have no "daily driver" (I have a RAM, the Bronco, and a Trans Am) I've been meaning to get a dedicated charger for each vehicle and plug them all in every Sunday afternoon, then unplug as I use them. The problem is that I never know if I'm not going to use a vehicle for awhile. My T/A gets put away for the winter, but other than that I tend to drive each vehicle as I wish or need. But any of them could possible sit a few weeks without it being planned

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[SHANUT]

Mine lasted 2.5 years. Is this normal?

I’m a Ford vehicle guy and I’ve only had my bronco for a couple of years now but all of my other Ford vehicles usually get at least eight years out of the original OEM battery. All my vehicles are parked inside though and that makes a huge difference for everything on keeping a vehicle nice, including the battery.

 

[lmarchetti]

Considering the warranty is 3 years from new on a Ford battery I would expect life to be 3+ with "normal usage".

From factory they have larger rated batteries if you have heavy duty accessories

 

[BroncoChallenger]

2 years 10 months for mine. I would have ran it a bit longer but I was going on a trip and didn't want the wife to have to deal with it. I kept getting "deep sleep mode" messages on the app.

Contrast that to my 2015 Grand Cherokee where I replaced the original battery (this year) just cause I was getting worried it would leave me stranded. But there is no app to tell me "scary" things with that car. I would have continued on with ignorant bliss if the Ford app didn't tell my wife every morning that something was "wrong" with her car.

Yeah, your 2015 doesn't have near the modules with KAM that are constantly drawing power like your Bronco does. Really it was about 2019/2020 when all these modules started showing up on EVERYTHING, about the time all the diagnostic services became available on your apps. My 2017 was bought new in 2018, had been on the lot for a good 5-6 months when I bought it, and when I traded it in in 2023 it was still on the original battery - dealer didn't even put a new one in it when I bought it, they just charged it up.

 

[wjtinfwb]

Mine lasted 2.5 years. Is this normal?

Like everything else... it depends. Mostly, it depends on the quality of the battery. Despite their appearance, there's a lot going on inside a battery, more so with the AGM batteries we have. So far, my experience has been great with AGM's. My '23 Bronco is on 2.5 years with no issues. It has sat for 3 weeks at a time and fired right up. My wife's MDX is going on 5 years with the factory AGM battery and her '12 Grand Cherokee Hemi went 7 years on the OEM AGM battery. But, AGM's don't die like Lead Acid batteries do. They have wonky voltage dips and spikes that can play havoc with today's sensitive electronics. They can be fine today, and dead tomorrow and a poorly manufactured one will have a short life. Plus today's vehicles, Bronco included , have very complex electrical systems and requirements, a bad or malfunctioning battery can throw a modern car into a tailspin that will be fixed as soon a a new battery is installed. That was the how the Jeep told us it needed a new battery. Best advice is to shop for the AGM with the best warranty. DuraLast AGM is 5 years, Odyssey is 4 years, DuraCell sold by BatteriesPlus is 4 years and about 100 bucks less expensive. If you have LesSchwab auto stores near you, they offer a 7 year warranty on AGM batts.

 

[Poppavein]

I’ve heard Optima’s aren’t as good as they used to be since they moved manufacturing to Mexico.

 

[userdude]

Mine was doing that, just died a couple days ago like I said in another post in this thread. I would steer you away from Optima. Like I mentioned, I pulled my factory battery out a year and a half ago to put the Optima in. It died in a year and a half. Last night I swapped the factory battery back in which still held a charge after sitting for a year and a half.

 

[TxBL]

2022. 17k miles. Sits minimum of 4 days a week. Then driven strictly as a weekend vehicle. Garage kept in central FL weather. Work vehicle is a 2019 Ford with original dual AGM’s. 100k miles lots of start cycles. No guarantees, just run em till you hear the click click.

 

[TxBL]

Mine lasted 2.5 years. Is this normal?

I have the 2022 Badlands and have had to replace the battery twice—14 months (12K) and 24 months (20K). I drive it daily, shorter drives.

 

[HighVelocity]

My batteries have this nasty habit of lasting right up until they die.

 

[cbrenthus]

The battery on my 19 Wrangler died one morning back in November ‘22. It was about 3 1/2 years old, and I knew my bronco had been built, but it was still in awaiting shipment mode and who knows when it would arrive. So I went and got whatever the highest level of battery was from advance auto parts because I didn’t know if my Bronco would take six months to get here.

A few hours later, I got a text from my sales guy with a picture of my bronco being unloaded. Oh well, good karma for the next owner of my jeep knowing they had a good battery and I didn’t cheap out knowing that I’d be getting rid of the Wrangler

 

[F-Spot]

I have 4 years and 53k miles on the original battery so far. Guess I need to knock on wood and hope I don’t get stranded now that I’ve read this thread lol. I’ll start looking for batteries in case I need to run out to buy one soon.

 

[Draughon]

Update!

Was getting a ton of "entering saving battery mode" notices over the last few weeks and made an appt at the dealership..

Was fully expecting the standard, "oh, you have lights and an upgraded stereo and that's all aftermarket so we won't cover it" BS...

BUT..

to my complete (and happy) shock, they tested the battery and said, "yup, here you go. New Motorcraft."

SOOO... a positive dealer experience (for a change).

Currently at 1 warranty win, 2 warranty loses...but hey, hope springs eternal.

 

[Squirrel13]

The plethora of KAM combined with fords 80% charging strategy is hard on batteries. My F350 and its 2 Odyssey extreme batteries are 4+ years old. Truck is plugged in and a timer turns on the NOCO charger every morning 12-5am. For the Bronco I plug it in a least once a week over night a NOCO charger do its thing.

 

[brkdncr]

The plethora of KAM combined with fords 80% charging strategy is hard on batteries. My F350 and its 2 Odyssey extreme batteries are 4+ years old. Truck is plugged in and a timer turns on the NOCO charger every morning 12-5am. For the Bronco I plug it in a least once a week over night a NOCO charger do its thing.

80% charge target should be easier on batteries.

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