Restoration Blvd.
Winter 2024

Columnist — Allen Wright

So we have 160,000-plus automotive folks heading for Las Vegas for Automotive Aftermarket Industry Week. Another small army of sales and technical folks makes it one of the largest automotive aftermarket shows in the world.

In 2024, I needed to purchase auto batteries for three old cars. Automotive Aftermarket Industry Week seemed like the perfect place to research what is available – especially in this era of EVs.

The most common battery right now is a 12 volt lead-acid design.

Lead acid batteries go back to the 1900s. Lead-acid batteries are heavy but they do the job pretty well. Some have amazing lifespans well past the warranty.

It looks like the price for lead acid is about $150.

Advanced Gas Mat (AGM) design batteries have the advantage of higher cranking amps and a lot quicker charging times. You get more start-up juice – but they're basically an upscale lead-acid battery.

AGM batteries are sealed for life. Optimal AGM is an example of a pretty good AGM battery. The average price appears to be $250 for a good one.

I gotta tell you that the lithium automotive and light truck batteries were amazing at the show. Their power, efficiency, and design made them a premium offering – at a premium price. These lithiums were about $600.

There were about 12 lithium ion marketing companies exhibiting. It looked to me that the heavy-hitters were Digital and Dakota. Dakota's lithium battery was offered with an 11-year warranty and it only weighed 11 pounds. Digital's brute 1,100 cranking amps and an emergency start button were, to me, all good features.

With approximately 25% of new cars sold in California being zero-emission vehicles – including battery-electric, plug-in hybrid, and fuel cell electric vehicles – that means for every 1,000 people in California, there were nearly 43 EVs.

That figure is, of course, substantially lower in the rest of the Western states, from 18% EV market share in Washington all the way down to 2% in Wyoming and 3% in Montana.

All this means there is still plenty of raw materials and market available for aftermarket lithium batteries for passenger cars and trucks.

Checking out all the battery manufacturers and options, the hardest battery to find was a six volt for the 1946 Plymouth. AGM 6 volt batteries were available for classic cars and trucks. But, currently, with a lead-acid 6 volt NAPA battery that was purchased for under $100, I find it starts just fine with only 500 cold cranking amps. I think we will wait until we are being towed by AAA to think about other battery options.

Originally for the Winter 2024 Automotive Booster Magazine.
Copyright 2024 by KAL Publications Inc.