Car Battery Questions

[Armagenesis]

So recently I'm nearing 1 year milestone in one of my saves. And there, I noticed that I'm starting to encounter a lot of cars with dead battery.

So the questions are:
- Is this an intentional feature like how food rots over time, where car batteries lose charge over time?
- If yes, will it only happen to newly spawned vehicles or will it affect all existing vehicles that haven't been in use for a long time?
- If yes, what will happen to batteries that I store inside containers? I haven't seen them losing charge yet, but will it eventually happen?
- Where can I find car battery charger? I've scoured most of the western side of the map (Rosewood, Riverside, March Ridge, Fallas Lake, and Doe Valley region) and I've only found one of them. And of all places, in a storage/garage of a farmhouse southwest of Rosewood.

[Azrelus]

1. Yes.
2. All vehicles, even in non-explored areas
3. Batteries inside containers do not lose charge.
4. Places related to cars. Gas Stations, Garages, Auto Shops, Random Events, etc.

[Animalman]

There is a chain of shops operate throughout the whole of the map. It’s an auto shop called American Tyre it generally has everything youl need for cars. Even a few books can be found there I believe. And a connected auto repair shop. These setups exist in many locations. Westpoint has one for example. Louisville aswell. That’s the go to place for your car battery charger and your spare batteries wheels engine parts fresh mufflers etc.

Smaller auto shops exist but they are not shelves of retail items or having large racks of tyres. These guys are hit and miss but you’ll generally find some mechanic gear there. I tend to go to these locations for metalworking gear. And go to the big shops for most of the gear for the car.

[Armagenesis]

Dreokor の投稿を引用：

1. Yes.
2. All vehicles, even in non-explored areas
3. Batteries inside containers do not lose charge.
4. Places related to cars. Gas Stations, Garages, Auto Shops, Random Events, etc.

I wonder how elusively rare these battery chargers are. Because like I said, I've visited most of the western part of the map and only found one of them. And that includes visiting those places.

What kind of container should I look them in anyway?

That thing is as rare as a dumbbell/barbell.

[hardy_conrad]

On the subject of battery chargers, it always kind of bugged me it wasn't possible to just jump start a car with a dead battery by hooking it up directly to another car that's running.

[Armagenesis]

hardy_conrad の投稿を引用：

On the subject of battery chargers, it always kind of bugged me it wasn't possible to just jump start a car with a dead battery by hooking it up directly to another car that's running.

Yeah, I wish it was the case. Recharging dead batteries is a pain considering how rare the chargers are.

I guess I should make note to myself to take off the batteries from every car I encounter in my next playthroughs. Since that seems to be the only way to save them.

[Animalman]

Armagenesis の投稿を引用：

hardy_conrad の投稿を引用：

On the subject of battery chargers, it always kind of bugged me it wasn't possible to just jump start a car with a dead battery by hooking it up directly to another car that's running.

Yeah, I wish it was the case. Recharging dead batteries is a pain considering how rare the chargers are.

I guess I should make note to myself to take off the batteries from every car I encounter in my next playthroughs. Since that seems to be the only way to save them.

Yeah is a good idea. Youl get mechanic skill too from that. Don’t collect them just leave them by the vehicle you removed them from.


The charger isn’t rare. It’s just only found in auto shop locations. It is possible to get one from a garage of a house, but in that case it’s pretty rare to find

[Armagenesis]

Animalman の投稿を引用：

Armagenesis の投稿を引用：

Yeah, I wish it was the case. Recharging dead batteries is a pain considering how rare the chargers are.

I guess I should make note to myself to take off the batteries from every car I encounter in my next playthroughs. Since that seems to be the only way to save them.

Yeah is a good idea. Youl get mechanic skill too from that. Don’t collect them just leave them by the vehicle you removed them from.


The charger isn’t rare. It’s just only found in auto shop locations. It is possible to get one from a garage of a house, but in that case it’s pretty rare to find

Yea... About that. I really am not sure how likely they will spawn even in auto shops. I get a lot of spare parts there but never a battery charger.

[SgtEmissary [Kane's Will]]

Much like in real life, if a car sits for more than a week the battery will lose it's charge. It's why the alternator is there - it keeps the battery going when the car is turned on. The battery on it's own gets the car going initially.

That's why it's bad to leave the radio or lights on when the car is off. The battery powers the car in turn the car powers the battery. So it's healthy for the battery if you drive the car every so often. So be mindful of that the next time you find a car.

Many people have been left wondering why their batteries just suddenly go kaput - that's one reason why.

I was watching a YouTuber who had a car with a battery that was at 12.5 percent charge and he was wondering why his car wouldn't start. I was tickled because at that point the battery is dead lol.

I also know that in cold weather it's much harder to keep a battery charged and it takes up more power to turn the car on. So turning the car off and on in quick succession drains it rapidly. I can not remember if this specifically is a feature with the weather system in PZ. But if not I'm sure it would be in the future as there is a temperature reading for the car's engine. Another thing about that, cold weather has a impact on the car's engine itself (however, this would take abit to explain - so glad carburetors are mostly a thing of the past).

Another interesting fact about batteries: you can remove a battery and replace one while the car is still running - because of the alternator there is a little bit of power in reserve to give you that time to do it. This isn't a thing in PZ yet though.

[Jo Lehmy]

Cat Supremacist SM の投稿を引用：

The very east most building in West Point will definitely have a car battery charger in it. It's probably the largest auto shop in the starting areas.

*confirm
near the bridge to louisville

[Armagenesis]

Jo Lehmy の投稿を引用：

Cat Supremacist SM の投稿を引用：

The very east most building in West Point will definitely have a car battery charger in it. It's probably the largest auto shop in the starting areas.

*confirm
near the bridge to louisville

Yeah, I haven't checked the place. Finger's crossed I would find one there. Honestly I have 0 faith in this save's RNG.

[Animalman]

Jo Lehmy の投稿を引用：

Cat Supremacist SM の投稿を引用：

The very east most building in West Point will definitely have a car battery charger in it. It's probably the largest auto shop in the starting areas.

*confirm
near the bridge to louisville

There is also one north and south side of LV x2 in LV. Maybe there another out there. I was sure something existed near riverside maybe I am mistaken

[Armagenesis]

SgtEmissary Kane's Will の投稿を引用：

Another interesting fact about batteries: you can remove a battery and replace one while the car is still running - because of the alternator there is a little bit of power in reserve to give you that time to do it. This isn't a thing in PZ yet though.

This. I definitely want this. Or the ability to connect the battery to a different running vehicle to charge them. Or what have you.

I'm always careful with radio, heater, and light, and not turning the engine on/off too often. But considering the batteries lose charge over time if installed in a vehicle, I really hope there're other options to recharge them aside from using battery charger once they are dried up.

There's only so much spare batteries you can have before turning into full-blown loot goblin. And accidents happen, so those batteries may be gone in a blink of an eye.

[Animalman]

Jump cables are a big thing. Common item in all gas stations and many vehicles. You’d think they’d have it since the tow system is set up. So the tow system detects a cars front or rear at the rear of the car, for attachment.

So it’s so easy right? Two car hoods are close enough together, do exactly what the tow bar doesn’t allow. Hood to hood. There is code specifying no hood to hood for a tow so let’s use that hood to hood code to make jump cables work. Pronto :)

[Hate Bear]

I really hate it when I'm doing really great except missing one useful item like that--one of the reasons I never have item discoverability super low.

[Armagenesis]

Cat Supremacist SM の投稿を引用：

I just remembered that car batteries charge over the time used at well, so long drives can charge low batteries.

Yup. But if it starts dead then we have a problem.