When it comes to consumer advice, not many publications are as well-known or even as long-standing as Consumer Reports. The nonprofit has been providing consumers with honest advice on what to buy for the better part of a century. With world-class testing facilities, proven methods, and more than 6 million members nationwide, when Consumer Reports talks, people tend to listen—including us at SlashGear.
Fortunately for car owners, car batteries are among the things Consumer Reports tracks. The battery is an often overlooked car component, but it’s very important because you can’t even start your car without it. Consumer Reports maintains a list of BCI group-sized automotive batteries, ranking each group based on the battery’s performance in three main categories: longevity, reserve capacity and cold-crank performance. Life represents charge-discharge cycles at high temperatures under the hood; reserve capacity refers to how long the alternator can run when “dead” and cold-crank performance measures cold cranking amps (CCA) at low temperatures. All of these elements combine to give a “score” that ultimately determines a battery’s performance on the CR list.
We decided to break down this list and select five batteries from different BCI groups that you should avoid. These groups determine the size of the battery, and the wrong size can be one of the reasons your car battery keeps draining. We select them by weighing review performance from Consumer Reports and feedback from users and other authoritative sources. This should give you an idea of ​​which models you might want to avoid.
Read more: Major car battery brands ranked from worst to best
Econocraft 24F-E — Group 24 and 24F
Black Econocraft Car Battery with Carrying Handle and Marked Top Terminals – AutoZone
Econocraft is AutoZone’s own range of economical batteries, built for them by major OEM suppliers such as Clarios, with a focus on the “economy” part. Econocraft batteries are cheap to make, cheap to sell, and sometimes don’t last longer than the three-month warranty. The Econocraft 24F-E is a perfect example, scoring average for battery life and backup capacity, but falling well below average for cold weather performance. The latter part isn’t surprising, as its CCA is only around 585 amps, which is the lowest on CR’s Group 24 and 24F lists and 124.25 amps below the group average.
Interestingly, the 24F-E performs relatively well in customer reviews outside of Consumer Reports, but that’s mostly due to its low $90 price. People say this is a great battery if you just need to keep something in the car temporarily. For example, if you’re planning to sell your car, or you just need a battery to fill a gap until you get a good car, this is a good option. With a 90-day warranty, this is clearly not a battery you’ll want to use long-term, especially when you consider that the next lowest warranty on CR’s list is a whopping 12 months.
If money is your main concern, then purchasing the EverStart Maxx-24S (South) may be a better fit for you. It’s also priced at $90, outperforms the Econocraft in every metric, and even comes with a 36-month warranty.
Econocraft 35E — Group 35
Top view of Econocraft 35-E car battery showing labeled terminals and safety warnings – AutoZone
Econocraft strikes again in the BCI 35 class, but this time, it’s arguably worse. Consumer Reports ranks the Econocraft 35E lowest in this group due to short lifespan, poor cold weather performance, and poor reserve capacity. According to CR’s lab testing, this battery has a very low reserve capacity, the worst on the entire list. So if you have a problem car and you know it has alternator issues or isn’t reliably charging the battery, you definitely don’t want that sitting in your engine bay. It also comes with Econocraft’s infamous three-month warranty, which suggests the manufacturer doesn’t have much confidence in its longevity either.
However, like the 24F-E, it does well in AutoZone store reviews, scoring over four stars, with reviews saying it’s cheap and gets the job done. A handful of negative reviews pointed out longevity and power issues that overlapped with the CR Labs evaluation. Some say the battery won’t start the car at all, and part of the reason may be its lower 490 CCA. The Econocraft battery’s CCA is again so low that it’s the lowest in the group, here about 140 amps below the group average.
Granted, few other well-known brands of BCI 35 batteries are as cheap as the Econocraft 35E, which sells for $100. But at $125, the Interstate Mega-Tron Plus MTP-35 is a steal, and far surpasses the Econocraft in every metric.
EverStart AGM H5 – Group 47 (H5)
EverStart Platinum H5 Car Battery with AGM Technology and Four-Year Warranty Label – Walmart
EverStart is Walmart’s own car battery brand and generally offers three levels of batteries: Value (cheapest), Maxx (mid-range) and Platinum (high-quality). As a brand, EverStart ranks near the bottom of SlashGear’s ranking of major car battery brands, despite its overall good sales and positive reviews from car owners. But this may be because many reviews are short-term feedback rather than long-term reviews spanning several years.
Still, it can make some good batteries. For example, the EverStart Platinum AGM H5/47 is one of Consumer Reports’ recommended batteries and performed well in all battery tests. Consumer Reports’ testing revealed divisions within the EverStart product line. The EverStart Platinum AGM H5/47 is listed as one of CR’s recommended 47/H5 pack batteries and performed well in its standardized tests. In comparison, the non-Platinum EverStart AGM H5 had one of the lowest scores in the group due to its weaker lifetime performance, middling cold weather results, and only modest reserve capacity compared to competing H5 batteries.
Customer reviews for the EverStart AGM H5 on Walmart tend to be favorable in the short term, with many buyers reporting that the battery immediately resolved low voltage or no-start symptoms. This is also consistent with forum discussions on vehicles such as the Ford Maverick Hybrid and Hyundai Ioniq 5, where owners describe installing the EverStart AGM H5 as a practical AGM replacement for weak factory 12V batteries. These owner reports typically cover a few months to a year of use, which is a much shorter evaluation window than Consumer Reports’ multi-cycle lab life tests.
Econocraft H6-E — Group 48
Econocraft H6 Car Battery with Black Case and Red Positive Terminal Cover – AutoZone
Unfortunately, the Econocraft’s pattern of weak batteries continues with a ranking of No. 48 in Consumer Reports’ BCI group. It’s clear that AutoZone is positioning the Econocraft battery as an “emergency budget” option, and the Econocraft H6-E leans heavily into that. According to its product page, the H6-E is a fully charged Group 48/H6 battery with 615 amps of cold cranking, 755 amps of cranking amps, approximately 75 minutes of reserve capacity at a 25 amp load, comes with a 3-month free replacement warranty, and costs $100 plus core charging. On the same page, it’s advertised as “ample starting power” and “reliable starting performance,” but CR’s testing shows you shouldn’t mistake it for long-distance premium equipment.
The Econocraft H6-E is at the bottom of the pack in CR’s Group 48 (H6) table, with its projected lifespan at the very low end of CR’s scale compared to other H6 batteries, and only in the middle of the pack in terms of reserve capacity and cold-weather performance. In other words, it will usually jump-start the car, but CR’s lab testing shows it’s not the battery for you if you expect to forget about it for a few years. This seems to be a common theme among CR’s lower-ranked batteries, which explains why they still get good ratings despite such low test results. That said, for this battery, AutoZone’s own AI-generated review summary flagged a recurring theme of shorter-than-expected life, with some buyers reporting their H6-Es failing in less than a year.
Duralast Platinum 51R-AGM — 51R Group
Duralast Platinum AGM Automotive Battery with Labeled Terminals and Black Rectangular Case – AutoZone
On paper, the Duralast Platinum 51R-AGM looks like the kind of battery you can hook up and stop worrying about. It’s AutoZone’s premium AGM option in size 51R, comes with a four-year free replacement warranty, is listed at 435 cold cranking amps, 540 cranking amps, 45 minutes of reserve capacity, and costs about $250-$260 before core charges on the AutoZone website. However, Consumer Reports’ Group 51R testing shows that Duralast Platinum 51R-AGM may perform well in cold conditions, but it doesn’t last as long as its marketing or price suggests.
Customer feedback seems to tell a more flattering story, at least in the short term. On AutoZone, the 51R-AGM received a rating of 4.7 out of 5 from more than 300 reviews, including more than 270 five-star ratings. Owners praise its strong starting capabilities and reliability in daily use. One Nissan Leaf owner documented switching to Duralast Platinum 51R AGM because it was cheaper than the highly recommended Optima YellowTop, while still offering a three-year replacement warranty, and reported good results. Another Civic owner on the Mechanics Stack Exchange discovered that the previous owner had upgraded to Duralast Platinum 51R AGM to support an aftermarket subwoofer.
The problem is, for a small 51R battery, it’s hard to justify spending around $260 for a model that Consumer Reports rates poorly for longevity when alternatives exist. If you want an AGM battery in the same BCI group without any potential longevity issues, CR recommends the Super Start Platinum AGM, which retails for about the same price.
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