What are people’s experiences with the lifetime of airplane batteries?
With a proper operating electrical system and compliance with the basic OEM mx recommendations, there is no reason you shouldn’t get 7+ years out of your lead-acid aircraft battery with some AGM type batteries going a bit longer.
Here in AZ it seems like the best I have seen is just a bit over two years.
In my experience, 2-3 years seems to be the private GA fleet average. However, its usually due to a combination of the above-mentioned causes or excessive abuse rather than location related.
But yes, in some extreme temperature locations like AZ or AK, its more of a challenge to achieve long-life and requires following the OEM recommendations to the “T.”
For example, with my old owner-assist customers, getting longer battery life was usually the first thing asked about and in most cases was achieved by correcting existing electrical system discrepancies and the owner adopting a proactive approach to battery operations/mx vs simply turning the switch off after done flying and turning the switch for the next flight. So even in AZ you should see improved battery life by following the same path.
The same seems to hold true for car batteries as well.
FYI: while vehicle and aircraft batteries have similar chemistries, the internals and design/use parameters are different with some significantly different.
So while an aircraft battery should get 7+ years of useful life, the average vehicle battery is usually limited to 3-5 years for a “starter” battery and maybe a year or more for a top-shelf brand starter battery or “deep-cycle” type battery.
However, with proper mx even a vehicle battery can get a longer life as noted above.
A good analogy of why a number of aircraft batteries have a lifespan similar to vehicle batteries, is the owner treats and operates an aircraft battery the same as they do their car or lawnmower battery.
