Maintaining personal car's battery while you're driving OTR

I'm curious how the battery would charge if the ignition or accessories isn't turned on.

 

In which scenario?. Solar charger?. I would connect directly to the battery/battery jump points.

 

My 2016 Silverado has two different fuse slots for the cigarette lighter socket

one slot the lighter is switched with the key.
And the other slot puts the lighter socket on all the time even if the key is off .

 

And then you have to hope no one cuts the wires to the solar panel and steals it.

 

They sit INSIDE the car on the dash

 

Look into purchasing an AGM battery. They have an extremely long charge life. I have one in my Jeep. I can easily go 4 months without starting it up, and when I do it turns like it was running yesterday. They are not cheap but are worth it for reliability.

 

Will a car sitting at idle even be able to spin the alternator enough to charge the battery ? Every vehicle I've ever had to jump start required me to drive around for at least 20 minutes to actually charge up the battery . Otherwise , it seems that every time you start your car and shut it off without driving around , you're actually just using up the battery charge

 

Everyone is talking about the socket..

Most newer cars these days shut the socket off.

 

Stop buying the crap batteries that AutoZone, Advance, WalMart, etc. sell. They're designed for limited life so you'll have to go buy another one before you should.

Find an independent battery dealer in your area that carries a brand like Interstate, or even their own rebranded batteries.

1-800-CrankIt.

 

Put it on a battery tender… if you have some where to plug in the trucks use it to plug in the car