Three and out: A battery story

Must a car battery die without warning?

My car died unceremoniously the other day. My wife had lent it to our son and daughter-in-law, celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary. My wife had their kids and their minivan, car seats and all. Our 2006 Honda Accord would take them out to dinner. Or so everyone thought.

The car, bought used last year from a Honda dealer, suddenly acted strangely. My son pulled over, called roadside assistance, and got a boost. The battery charge, however, did not hold. The car continued to act strangely, so before it died again my son parked the car in front of our apartment, and got his second car.

The next day — with some difficulty — my wife and I took the car to Honda. It had had a three-year battery in it. Do the math — I had to: A 2006 three-year car battery will die in, drum roll, 2009. Immediately and without warning. Ouch!

Why immediately and without warning? The car’s dashboard has no light indicating battery health. Oil is carefully monitored: In addition to two trip odometers, the dashboard has an indicator telling me, in percent, how long I have until the next oil change. A wrench appears when the oil life reaches 15%. The message is pretty clear: Change the oil.

Why can’t something like that be done for the battery? Is it that difficult to monitor battery life? The car could at least have a sensor that would know a three-year battery was in the car. A microcontroller could count down the time left before the battery would probably need replacement. After all, a simple 8-bit microcontroller’s whole job is to ask the age-old kid’s question in a car: Are we there yet?

For monitoring car batteries, apparently not yet.

Len Schiefer

lschiefer@hearst.com