Batteries: energy for your Volkswagen

Long down-times, lots of short haul trips or the extreme summer heat: There are many factors that determine when it’s time for a change. Each battery has an acid indicator, black is a good sign, if its showing light yellow, it’s time to visit your Volkswagen Partner. In general, you should have your battery checked by us every year, during your scheduled service interval. 

During the extreme summer heat, the metals expand, which can loosen your battery connections. You see, high temperatures makes your battery work harder, shortening its life. We recommend to get your battery checked by us before the summer heat kicks in. 

We check the battery's ability to hold its charge. We may need to replace the battery if it's not holding a charge or look at why it's not charging when you drive.  We also run diagnostics to check the vehicle charge system as well as components drawing unnecessary charge. The old battery will be removed and correctly disposed of, then the new battery is professionally installed and connected. 

Even if you’ve found online instructions on how to change a battery: It’s better to have your battery changed by a professional. After all, there are many things to take into account: Battery acid is highly corrosive, escaping gases may explode and an incorrectly installed battery will damage your Volkswagen.

Many Volkswagen contain a battery management system. It detects a number of aspects, such as the condition of the battery, and regulates the vehicle’s energy consumption. It only works if the battery is perfectly coordinated with the vehicle and the system correctly identifies it via a code. Otherwise the battery may be charged unnecessarily or too strongly discharged. This may result in lasting damage for your vehicle.

We recommend you head to your Volkswagen Partner when your battery is empty. With many remote control keys, the battery change has to be completed within seconds – otherwise the radio data stored in the key may be lost. This may result in your key no longer recognizing the vehicle and an initialization becomes necessary.