Battery Marking

Performance

The performance of a car battery is normally expressed as follows:

Cold cranking amperes, CCA. See the explanation in, see COLD CRANKING AMPERES
Reserve capacity, RC. See the explanation in, see RESERVE CAPACITY, RC
Capacity, C20 (in certain cases). See the explanation in, see CAPACITY .

Recommended charge current

The cold cranking amperes according to the SAE and DIN norms and the corresponding capacity and recommended charge current are shown in the table below.

COLD CRANKING AMPERES ACCORDING TO THE SAE NORM AND THE CORRESPONDING CAPACITY AND RECOMMENDED CONSTANT CHARGE CURRENT


Cold cranking amperes (CCA) according to SAE	Capacity	Recommended constant charge current
420 A	45 Ah	4 A
440 A	50 Ah	4 A
520 A	50-60 Ah	5 A
600 A	65-70 Ah	6 A
680 A	90 Ah	7 A

COLD CRANKING AMPERES ACCORDING TO THE DIN NORM AND THE CORRESPONDING CAPACITY AND RECOMMENDED CONSTANT CHARGE CURRENT


Cold cranking amperes according to DIN	Capacity	Recommended constant charge current
250 A	45 Ah	4 A
310 A	63 Ah	5 A
420 A	72 Ah	7 A
590 A	60 Ah	9 A

Volvo battery labels

The illustrations show an example of how the battery labels may appear.

Fig 1: European Battery Label

Courtesy of VOLVO CARS CORPORATION

European label

Cold cranking amperes, CCA, according to the SAE norm (520 A)
Volvo part number (9472329)
Reserve capacity, RC, according to the SAE norm (95 min)
The nominal terminal voltage of the battery (12 V)*.

Fig 2: American Battery Label

Courtesy of VOLVO CARS CORPORATION

American labels

The nominal terminal voltage of the battery (12 V)*
Capacity (60 Ah)
Cold cranking amperes, CCA (550 A)
Reserve capacity, RC (100 min)
Volvo part number (9459947).

* 12 V is the nominal terminal voltage. This means that the battery has a stand-by voltage of 12.72 V when fully charged. Note that a battery with a stand-by voltage of 12 V is only charged to approximately 35% of capacity (see the diagram in, see ACID DENSITY ).