5 Car Batteries With The Best Cold Weather Performance, According To Consumer Reports

If you find yourself in extremely cold weather, you know it can be a bit of a struggle to get your car started. This is due in large part to your vehicle's battery. When the battery gets really cold, two major things can happen. The first is that there is a natural power loss in the battery, and cold weather can drain a non-active battery by 30-60% of its capacity. For a battery to recharge, it needs to be running, and if your battery has lost enough power to not start, you can't recharge it without an external charger. The cold temperature also affects the internal chemical reactions by slowing them down, making them more difficult to react properly. So, even if your battery has a decent amount of power, those slowed-down reactions could still cause issues with starting your car.

That said, some car batteries perform much better in cold weather than others. For instance, you want to have an absorbed glass mat (AGM) battery under the hood rather than a traditional lead-acid one. These batteries eschew liquid electrolytes in favor of fiberglass panels soaked in those electrolytes, providing a more durable and powerful experience. AGM batteries typically have much higher CCAs (cold-cranking amps) as a result. Consumer Reports is an excellent resource for finding car batteries that testers and actual owners deem the best in certain categories, including cold-weather performance. Here, we are going to look at five car batteries of different sizes that the publication ranks among the best for these situations.

Just like some remote controls use AA, AAA, or other types of batteries, car batteries come in different shapes and sizes, and the battery you need depends on the size and manufacturer of your vehicle. The first we will cover is the 24/24F size, which is used by many Japanese manufacturers, including Toyota, Nissan, Honda, and their luxury counterparts, for some vehicles. While there are a number of AGM car batteries that Consumer Reports gives top marks to for cold weather performance, the one we are going to spotlight here is the Duralast Platinum 24F-AGM, which just so happens to be the only 24/24F car battery to receive a CR Recommended designation in conjunction with that top-level cold weather performance.

A good base-level CCA rating for a battery to indicate it will perform well in cold weather is at least 600 Amps. That is the rating for the standard Duralast 24F battery, but this Duralast Platinum battery is rated at 710 Amps, easily exceeding that baseline. Consumer Reports has also given the battery an exceptional rating for its long life under extremely hot conditions, making the battery extremely versatile as well. For this added performance and durability, that does mean you will be paying more than you might want for a battery. AutoZone sells the Duralast Platinum 24F-AGM battery for $259.99. That does not include a $22 "core" charge, though, which can be refunded when you bring the battery back to AutoZone for recycling at the end of its life.

The 24F battery size is not the only one favored by the Japanese automakers. Another is the size 35 batteries, which, along with the likes of Toyota and Honda, are used by Subaru and Mazda. These are larger batteries than the 24F, and with that extra size comes extra power. That also includes increased capacity to withstand cold weather. While a Group 35 version of the previously discussed Duralast Platinum AGM battery could easily be here, we are instead going to spotlight the X2Power Premium AGM SLI35AGMDP battery. Both have received top scores from Consumer Reports for cold-weather performance, but the X2Power battery has the higher overall satisfaction score.

The X2Power Platinum battery has a CCA rating of 765 Amps, well above what you would want from a battery. Consumer Reports also gives it top marks for its performance in hot weather and its reserve capacity if the battery's charging system fails. With this extra capacity and power, the X2Power Platinum battery does cost a pretty penny, retailing for $389.99 at BatteriesPlus, along with a $22 refundable "core" fee. That is a hefty price tag, and it's understandable why many wouldn't want to pay it. After all, the highly rated Duralast Platinum 35 battery goes for just $259.99, but if you want what Consumer Reports deems to be the best of the best, that premium price for the X2Power Platinum AGM 35 battery is just something you'll have to pay.

Although Group 47 batteries are not the most common, several automakers still use them for some of their more compact vehicles. They are typically found in European imports from the likes of Fiat or Volkswagen, though domestic brands like Buick and Chevrolet will use them sparingly, too. These are also known as H5 batteries. While they might be rarer, that doesn't mean finding the one with the best cold-weather performance is any less important. A couple of batteries could have been selected here, but the one Consumer Reports lists at the very top is the Duracell Platinum AGM 47.

On average, these batteries have a much lower CCA average than the 24F or 35 batteries. This Duracell battery has a CCA rating of 660 Amps when at 0 degrees Fahrenheit. Luckily, that still clears that 600 Amp threshold. The same cannot be said for the second-place finisher in Consumer Reports' ranking, the Interstate Mega-Tron II MT-47 battery, which has a CCA rating of just 550 Amps. That number for the Duracell goes up to 760 Amps at 32 degrees Fahrenheit.

The overall satisfaction rating from Consumer Reports for the Duracell Platinum battery is also exceptional, including the highest possible marks for both battery life in hot weather and reserve capacity. BatteriesPlus sells the Duracell Platinum AGM 47 battery for $239.99 plus a $22 refundable "core" fee, making it one of the least expensive battery options on this list. For those in need of an H5 battery in cold weather, Consumer Reports thinks Duracell has you covered.

We move on to one of the most popular battery sizes for modern-day vehicles, Group 48 batteries. Also known as H6 batteries, these are the same width and height as the H5 batteries but are longer from left to right. Companies ranging from BMW to Cadillac to Jeep to Mercedes-Benz use these size batteries, particularly for smaller or mid-size vehicles. Because of their popularity, this is also the battery type with the most models for which Consumer Reports has given its highest rating for cold-weather performance. At the very top of that list, though, is the Odyssey Performance 48-720, which ever so slightly edges out a couple of other Group 48 batteries in overall satisfaction.

This Odyssey battery has a CCA rating of 760 Amps, putting it among the very highest on this list. Consumer Reports also gives it top marks for battery life in heat, though it doesn't quite earn that top-level score for reserve capacity. Granted, only one H6 battery rated by the publication has a top score in that category, and it also has a perfect score for cold-weather performance, but that battery's overall satisfaction rating is significantly lower than the Odyssey's.

The Odyssey Performance 48-720 is one of the more expensive batteries on this list, retailing for $362.99 directly from Odyssey. For a shop like AutoZone, you also need to pay the additional $22 "core" fee. There are many less expensive options out there for H6 batteries, but if cold-weather performance means that much to you, the Odyssey Performance 48-720 is going to deliver the results you want.

For the final battery type on the list, we will look at a Group 65 battery. These are larger batteries you would use to power many larger cars, pickup trucks, and SUVs, and for people who live in cold weather, these larger vehicles are pretty common to deal with those conditions. A Group 65 version of the previously mentioned Odyssey Performance battery would be an excellent choice, but the one that ever so slightly edges it out is the Super Start Platinum AGM 65PLT. While both receive top marks for cold-weather performance from Consumer Reports, the Super Start battery has the slight edge on overall satisfaction.

The reason is that it is the only Group 65 battery to earn top ratings for cold-weather performance, battery life, and reserve capacity from those tested. Purely in terms of cold-weather performance, it has a CCA rating of 750 Amps, more than enough to withstand your more frigid environments. One might assume that this being the biggest battery on the list, it would be the most expensive, but that is not the case. You can get the Super Start Platinum AGM 65PLT battery from O'Reilly Auto Parts for $259.99, plus a refundable $22 "core" fee. Meanwhile, the Odyssey Performance battery of the same size goes for $377.99. So, not only are you getting the most highly rated battery from Consumer Reports with the Super Start battery, you are getting one far more reasonably priced as well.