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How Much Does A Car Battery Weight? Here’s The Answer

How Much Does A Car Battery Weight? Here’s The Answer

If you’re going to buy a new car or have one standing in the garage, you might have these questions- Why is a car battery heavy? Why do I need to know the battery weight? So, let’s answer all of them here, in this article.

A standard compact car that’s 4-5 seater weighs around 2919 pounds; for medium cars, the average weight escalates to 3360 pounds.

The large cars, which are 7+ seaters, weigh more than 3882 pounds, and the weight of compact trucks or SUVs with 8+ seats goes to 3590 pounds.

The maximum weights of cars from these segments are way higher than these figures. But why? So, in simple terms, their batteries are the main reason why cars are so heavy.

For a standard car, the battery weight can lie in the range of 40-50lbs. However, this weight doesn’t remain constant and varies.

As the car size increases, its battery weight increases. If you’re curious to know more about the weight of car batteries, continue reading.

How Much Does A Car Battery Weight?

As said above, cars under different segments as mentioned above require batteries of varying sizes, and their size is a significant factor that determines the weight.

For a standard car battery, the weight range usually starts from 25/30 lbs and goes as high as 50 lbs. Note that this is merely the average weight.

The actual weight of a car battery can even notch 60-80lbs. For example, the weight of the battery of the Subaru Impreza is approximately 61lbs. It, however, is dependent upon a set of factors which I’ll talk about later.


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Car battery weight with a chart:

As you’d come to know through the following few sections, car batteries have a definitive say in the car’s performance as a whole.

The heavier the battery, the more power the car and its components can extract, and the better performance they will deliver. The following table represents the 30 top-selling car models and their average battery weight for your reference.

Top Selling 30 Car Models Weight Of The Car Battery (lbs)
Ford F Series 42 lbs
Dodge Ram 49 lbs
Chevrolet Silverado 42 lbs
Toyota Rav 4 40 lbs
Nissan Rogue 40 lbs
Honda CRV 29 lbs
Toyota Camry 37 lbs
Honda Civic 29 lbs
Toyota Corolla 40 lbs
Chevrolet Equinox 42 lbs
Honda Accord 35 lbs
Ford Escape 33 lbs
Ford Explorer 43 lbs
Toyota Tacoma 50 lbs
Toyota Highlander 50 lbs
Jeep Wrangler 42 lbs
Jeep Cherokee 42 lbs
Jeep Grand Cherokee 49 lbs
GMC Sierra 42 lbs
Nissan Sentra 40 lbs
Ford F150 44 lbs
Volkswagen Golf 39 lbs
Subaru Impreza 61 lbs
Toyota Prius 20 lbs
Nissan Altima 53 lbs
Chevrolet Malibu 53.6 lbs
Chevrolet Impala 53.6 lbs
Ford Focus 46.7 lbs
Mitsubishi Eclipses 46.6 lbs
Datsun Track Frontier 37.4 lbs

 

The above are the top 30 cars and their battery weights.


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How much does a 12-volt battery weigh?

A 12V battery is the most common battery you’ll find fitted in the majority of cars. Depending upon the car’s size, power requirements, and several other factors, a typical 12V battery can weigh anything between 30 lbs to 40 lbs.

If the battery has more heavy material than general, the same 12V battery can weigh over 50 pounds.

Is a car battery heavy?

Yes, a car battery is heavy. It is a pretty straightforward answer, and it’s tough to come to any conclusion why a car battery is heavy. So, continue reading to understand everything that leads to such a heavy battery weight.

First, let’s discuss the three primary classifications of car batteries as per their weight. These are:

Lightweight car batteries

As the name reads out, a lightweight battery is like its name, light in weight. These batteries are so light and small that mini to small cars where a battery’s essential function is to run the car houses these batteries.

Due to their small size, these cannot power much and are hardly available these days. On average, a lightweight battery weighs around 10 pounds to 20 pounds—for example, the Hawker Genesi.

Standard car batteries

A standard car battery is one whose average weight ranges from 35 pounds to 55 pounds. The exact weight of the battery will depend upon your car model, etc.

Like their weight, these standard car batteries are much more prominent in size, deliver more power, and are expensive.

Plus, such batteries are capable of supporting several car components, from headlights to tail lights. Some popular standard car battery brands include the True Start, Equalizer, Duralast, etc.

Note: If you’re out buying a new battery for your car and are finding it difficult which type it belongs to, over 80% of car batteries are standard batteries of varying size and weight. Hence, you can pick the standard battery. However, the exact size and weight will still depend upon your car brand and its model.

Empty car batteries

Unlike lightweight and standard car batteries, an empty battery is empty from the inside, i.e., there is neither any liquid electrolyte nor any other component.

An empty car battery usually finds application in replacing an older and damaged battery after proper reconstruction from inside and outside.

An empty battery usually weighs around 15 pounds for standard to heavy cars and merely 6-7 pounds for small to medium cars.

Another crucial factor that determines the weight of car batteries is their size. As you would know, the majority of car batteries are lead-acid batteries.

Such batteries contain liquid electrolyte and metal lead components, due to which the weight gets elevated by a significant amount.

As a thumb rule, the bigger the battery is in size, the more internal components it will feature, and the more weight it’ll carry.

But such a size and weight is crucial. A heavy and big battery is suitable for cars that need more power to start and run in addition to the functioning of the various components like lights, infotainment system, air conditioner, etc.

Generally, the size of the battery constitutes over 60% of the battery weight. Rest is the internal material and the quantity of the liquid electrolyte.

Note: Your car’s size is also crucial to take into account while deciding the battery weight. If the car is small and lightweight, a heavy battery will put an extra burden on the car and affect how it runs and vice-versa.


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How much does an electric car battery weigh?

Electric car batteries are rechargeable batteries used to power electric vehicles. These are usually Li-ion batteries and have a higher kilowatt-hour capacity compared to regular car batteries.

Contrary to the usual starter batteries, the batteries used in electric vehicles supply power over sustained periods.

Thus, these batteries are uniquely designed and have different weights depending upon the size and kilowatt-hour capacity.

For example, a 90kWh battery weighs around 1,200 lbs. On average, an electric car battery weighs approximately 1000-1500 lbs.

How much does a truck battery weigh?

If you own a truck, you might wonder how much a truck battery weighs? Is there anything that affects the weight of a truck battery? And so on. So, let’s find out.

A standard truck you see running on the road will have a battery weighing around 50 lbs to 60 lbs (per battery).

Yes, a truck battery weighs very much similar to that of a car battery. A truck uses almost identical car batteries; however, several car batteries connect in series to generate enough power for the truck.

Depending upon the truck’s size, power requirements, and the various features that’ll require, multiple car batteries join together in series. It is why truck batteries are longer, last longer than car batteries, and are expensive.

The bigger the truck, the more power it will require, and the more the batteries will connect—for example, three, four, five, etc.

Conclusion

Whether you own a compact car, medium-sized car, or a large SUV segment car, you will find that each segment has a different weight for its battery.

For example, while for compact cars, the general battery weight is approximately 25-40 lbs, the same for batteries used in bigger SUVs can escalate to over 50 lbs.

Several reasons support this—first, the size of the car. A lightweight to standard weight battery is most suitable for smaller cars as such a battery can fulfill all their power needs.

However, as the car-size increases, the battery size and its subsequent weight increases too. Hence, the weight of batteries is directly proportional to their size.

Second, the type of battery used. Today, there are multiple types of batteries available- SLI (starter, lighting, and ignition) batteries, Li-ion batteries, lead-acid batteries, and so on.

Each of these has different properties and varied sizes.

In a nutshell, remember that while choosing a car battery for replacement, know what type of battery you were using earlier, its weight, its composition, etc. It would help if you used the same battery the company fitted in it every time.