It sounds like a good idea to have an extra car battery lying around in case your current battery gets discharged or suddenly stops working. In most cases, the first spot that people will think of when storing an extra car battery is the trunk because, after all, the trunk is meant to store things.
But can you really store a car battery in your trunk?
Storing a car battery in your trunk
You can store a car battery in your trunk because it is still one of the safest places in the car to store anything. However, storing a car battery in the trunk isn’t necessarily the safest place to keep it because of how it can possibly become a projectile that can set the car on fire in case of a crash.
The thing you need to know about car batteries is that these are objects that are full of corrosive materials and are actually fully charged.
It’s like you are carrying a bomb in your trunk when you carry a car battery in it without securing it properly. As such, while you may be able to store it in the trunk, we recommend that you do not do so for safety reasons.
Can I store a car battery in my trunk?
One of the things you know about your car’s battery is that it will last for a very long time. However, there are instances where you might think that it’s a good idea to bring along an extra car battery. After all, you will never know when you will end up having to replace your car battery when the current one gets discharged.
That said, when you are carrying an extra car battery with you, you might think that it’s a good idea to keep it in the trunk of your car. After all, the trunk is a car’s storage unit and is there to store plenty of different objects.
So, can you store your car battery in the trunk?
Yes, you CAN store your car battery in your trunk. In most cases, and as long as the conditions are right, there should be nothing wrong with keeping your car battery in your trunk. Your trunk is there to help you store a lot of different things, and that can include an extra car battery.
However, just because you can store your battery in your trunk, it doesn’t mean that we recommend that you do so. We suggested that it is alright to store an extra car battery in your trunk. But we also strongly suggest that you should only do so when the conditions are perfect or right enough to make sure that you are transporting your car battery safely.
This leads us to our next topic on the safety aspect of storing a spare battery in the trunk.
Is it safe to keep a spare car battery in the trunk?
As we said, you can keep your spare car battery in your car’s trunk. However, that doesn’t mean that you should store it in the car battery if you value safety over convenience. That’s because there are safety risks involved with keeping a spare battery in the trunk.
When you are storing a loose battery in your car’s trunk, what will happen is that you are going to put yourself at risk. Storing a battery that isn’t properly fastened will run the risk of allowing the battery to become a projectile in case of a car crash.
The sheer weight of the car battery will force it against the back seat and is heavy enough to cause some considerable damage when it makes contact with any of the metal components found in your car.
A car battery is actually fully charged (or close to full charge) and can easily produce a large current that can weld any sort of metal it touches during a car crash. When that happens, a fire can easily break out and put everyone in the car at risk of a life-threatening situation.
Then there is also the fact that a car battery does have corrosive materials that can easily leak out of it on a regular basis regardless of whether or not there is a crash. Keeping a car battery in the trunk can cause damage to the trunk’s flooring or carpet because of the corrosive materials that can leak out of the battery.
On top of that, you should know that we do not recommend that you carry a spare battery because there is no need for you to do so. Your car’s current battery, as long as it was installed correctly and is maintained well enough, will work well for a very long time. It might take a few years before you need to replace your current battery.
Finally, keeping a spare car battery in the trunk will only force it to lose its charge. A car battery that hasn’t been recharged for a long time or is not in use will steadily lose its charge. So, in the event that you might want to use it some time later, you will find that it won’t be able to start your car up because it has already lost its charge.
In the event that you might need to recharge a discharged battery, we recommend that you bring along a battery recharger instead of a spare battery. You can store cables that will allow you to charge your car’s battery when connected to a power source. Doing so is much better and a lot safer than carrying a spare car battery.
How to transport an extra car battery?
If you somehow need to carry an extra car battery for whatever purpose, such as when you need to transport it from one location to another, we recommend that you make sure that the battery is as safe as possible inside the trunk.
One of the ways you can use to keep your car battery safe in the trunk is to place it inside a sturdy box that can allow it to stay protected while also keeping your trunk’s flooring from getting exposed to the corrosive materials leaking out of the battery.
You can also use strapping cables to make sure that the car battery is not loose or is strapped tightly enough such that it won’t end up getting thrown all over the place during a crash or even a bumpy ride. It might even be better to keep it inside a storage box with strapping cables. That way, you will have double the protection.
Sources
Can I store a car battery in my trunk?
Can you safely carry a spare battery inside a car when travelling?
