Guard Your Independence: Protecting Battery Life in Your Accessible Vehicle
BraunAbility’s accessible vehicles offer a wide array of accommodations and personalized features for maximized mobility. Still, even the best features are only as good as the power source that keeps them going.
These features require additional battery power to operate and usually run through the battery on your vehicle. To ensure reliable independence and accessibility, it is crucial to maintain a strong, functional battery on your vehicle.
Here’s how to get the most from your accessible vehicle battery.
Protecting Your Battery Protects Your Independence
The battery is the power hub for your mobility vehicle and all of its specialized mobility functions. Proper battery maintenance ensures that you:
●Get where you need to go: Don’t let anything- including a slow battery– stand in the way of your day.
●Get in and out of the vehicle: Reliable and independent access to your vehicle is fueled by the power behind your mobility access points.
●Can use all of your vehicle’s customized mobility features: Your vehicle was customized for your specific needs. Keeping all of the equipment and systems functioning ensures that your needs continue to be met.
●Arrive safely: Road trips are exhilarating, but they can be unpredictable. Weather, rough roads, and unexpected closures can be stressors but being stranded with a dead battery– especially without use of your vehicle’s mobility modifications– can lead to a potentially dangerous situation.
Wheelchair Van Battery Life
The battery of an average vehicle with no modifications should last about five years. An accessible vehicle, modified with a ramp, swivel chair, lift, or other accessories that rely on the vehicle’s power to work, puts more strain on a battery. Battery replacement may be needed every two to three years.
Maximizing battery power is less about choosing the best battery for van life and more about properly maintaining the one you have. A combination of at-home maintenance and regular inspections with a certified mobility consultant are a great way to monitor this need and ensure you are never left without full accessibility.
Maintain Your Accessible Vehicle Battery at Home
There is a lot you can do at home to ensure that your battery and your mobility vehicle keep you moving the way you want. Here’s a quick home battery maintenance checklist:
●Have the battery voltage checked every few months.
●Check the battery and terminals for cleanliness and wipe clean, if necessary.
●Pay attention to your wheelchair ramp or accessories. Are they suddenly operating at a slower or weaker pace?
●Make sure all lights are off and technology chargers are unplugged before getting out of your vehicle.
●Minimize heat exposure by parking in a shady location or garage, when possible.
●Regularly start the car and drive it. Leaving it unused can be harmful to the battery.
●Keep a log with the age of your battery and how often you use the equipment.
●Share recorded information with your accessible vehicle technician.
Maintain Your Accessible Vehicle Battery with the Right Professional
Biannually and before any long road trips, have your vehicle battery checked out by your local BraunAbility service technician. They specialize in both mobility vehicles and the holistic systems that keep them running their best.
In addition to the battery, they can do a full vehicle inspection and assess all your customized mobility accessories– ramps, and ramp entry access points, seating solutions, specialized driving equipment, tie downs, and tracks.
Just a few simple and regular precautions will help you avoid an inconvenient or potentially dangerous situation from a dead battery. Your diligence will keep you and your family safe and get you where you need to go for many miles to come.
Ready to have your battery checked by a professional? Find your closest Mobility Service Excellence (MSE) trained technician.
