Comparison TITAN Arctic 60.0 vs Exide Start-Stop EFB EFB EL600

— Serviced. Serviceable are only classic lead-acid batteries (see "Type"): they are easy to distinguish even externally — by the presence of removable plugs that give access to internal containers with electrolyte. The latter is a mixture of sulfuric acid and water, and with each charge, some of this water "boils away" (decomposes into oxygen and hydrogen and volatilizes). This is especially intense when overcharging or charging at high voltage. Battery maintenance consists in periodically replenishing the water in the electrolyte — without this, lowering its level leads to damage to the plates due to contact with air, which irreparably degrades battery performance. On average, maintenance should be carried out 1-2 times a year (15-20K kilometers for a passenger car) and these terms usually coincide with the terms of scheduled maintenance. However, this value may vary depending on the features of both the battery itself and its operation; more detailed information is usually contained in the instructions for specific models. "Refilling" should be done exclusively with distilled water, because. even a relatively small amount of foreign matter can damage the wafers.

— Unattended. As the name suggests, these batteries do not require the maintenance described above; this is achieved in a number of ways, in particular by filling the electrolyte with a margin for the entire service life or using a gel (se...e "Type"). With clear advantages due to ease of use, maintenance-free batteries at the same time have one drawback: they are much more sensitive to deep discharge (capacity decreases), and, accordingly, they tolerate cold and long periods of inactivity worse.

Car batteries include lead-acid (SLA), advanced lead-acid (EFB), glass fabric (AGM), gel (GEL), lithium-ion (Li-Ion) and lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4). More details about them:

— SLA (lead-acid). In a broad sense, the vast majority of modern car batteries are lead-acid, because... their design is based on a combination of electrodes made of lead compounds and an electrolyte, the role of which is played by sulfuric acid diluted with water. Specifically, in this case we mean the classic type of batteries, which use ordinary liquid electrolyte. Their widespread use is due to their simplicity of design and low cost, combined with good capacity and inrush currents (see below), as well as resistance to low temperatures (compared to other types of batteries).

— EFB (lead-acid). An improved subtype of lead-acid batteries with a longer service life, a high degree of safety and a virtually maintenance-free design. The abbreviation EFB stands for Enhanced Flooded Battery, which means “Enhanced Flooded Battery.” A distinctive feature of EFB technology is thick plates made of pure lead without any impurities. The positive plates in the battery design are wrapped in special “packages” made of microfiber, which absorbs and holds liquid electrolyte. As a result, inten...sive shedding of the active substance is prevented and the sulfation process is significantly slowed down when the battery is deeply discharged. And due to the homogeneous structure of the electrolyte (it mixes during the natural movement of the car), the overall service life of EFB lead-acid batteries increases and the charging speed increases.

— AGM (fiberglass). A type of lead-acid battery, also known by the abbreviation AGM. The main feature of the design is described by the name itself: in such batteries, the space between the plates is filled not with liquid, but with fiberglass - microporous plastic, which is impregnated with the electrolyte itself (an aqueous solution of sulfuric acid). This design has a number of advantages over the classic one: for example, AGM batteries do not require maintenance (see “Maintenance”) and practically do not emit gases when charging (the resulting oxygen and hydrogen recombine inside the battery itself), are resistant to shaking and are well suited for start systems -stop (see "Start-stop support"). Their disadvantages are high sensitivity to increased voltage when charging, the need for a special charger (regular ones do not fit well), and also their high cost.

— GEL (gel). One of the subtypes of lead-acid batteries in which the electrolyte is not liquid, but is condensed to a gel-like state. This design provides a number of advantages compared to the classic version (see above): a greater number of charge-discharge cycles (and therefore a longer service life); minimum leakage of electrolyte and associated gases; no need for maintenance (see “Maintenance”); resistance to deep discharges and temperature fluctuations, etc. On the other hand, GEL batteries are significantly more expensive.

— Li-Ion (lithium-ion). Lithium-ion technology was originally used in batteries for portable gadgets such as mobile phones, but such batteries are increasingly used. The first type of transport to use Li-Ion technology was motorcycles. The advantages of such batteries over more traditional varieties include smaller dimensions and weight, the ability to produce high starting currents and be charged with high currents (the latter significantly reduces charging time), as well as a large number of charge-discharge cycles and a long shelf life. In addition, Li-Ion batteries contain a minimum of harmful substances, do not use acids or heavy metals, and some models are even positioned as absolutely harmless to the environment. The main disadvantage of lithium-ion batteries is their very steep price.

— LiFePO4 (lithium iron phosphate). Such batteries are actually a modification of lithium-ion batteries (see the corresponding paragraph), developed to eliminate some of the shortcomings of the original technology. They are notable, first of all, for their high reliability and safety: the likelihood of a battery “exploding” when overloaded is reduced to almost zero, and in general LiFePO4 can cope with high peak loads without any problems. In addition, they are quite resistant to cold and maintain operating voltage almost until discharge. The main disadvantage of this type is its slightly smaller capacity.

The possibility of using the battery in cars equipped with a start-stop system.

The start-stop system was created to save fuel and reduce harmful emissions in a modern city, when cars are often forced to stop at traffic lights and in traffic jams. In such cars, a simplified procedure for turning off and starting the engine for short stops is provided: for example, standing at a traffic light, the driver turns off the car by pressing a button, and when the green light turns on, he starts the car by simply pressing the clutch pedal. This provides significant fuel savings, but repeated starts significantly increase the load on the battery — conventional batteries can wear out in a matter of days. Start-stop support allows the battery to work effectively in multiple starts, maintaining its characteristics for a long time.