Hey all!

If you haven't discovered it yet, you soon will... Range Rovers chew through batteries. This is partly due to the plethora of electronics all demanding power (fridge, seat ventilation, etc...) and the auto start/stop feature not only allowing these gizmos to run without the support of the engine, but also having to restart the car in general, which takes its toll on battery life too. The dealer actually replaced the batteries once under warranty already, but I decided that before I'm left stranded, I'll just make charging the batteries a monthly todo item.



So, let's first start by identifying locations. The big, main battery lives under the spare tire and is buried with all sorts of plastic cladding. Fortunately, the LR engineers provided terminals in the engine bay for easy charging access. The second battery that handles electronics while the car is using the stop/start feature is located in the trunk behind the right trim panel. It's also where a family of fuses live, FYI.

Let's begin with checking and charging the little battery. Remove the trim panel by getting your fingers up behind the top edge of it and gently pull toward the middle of the car. Three clips release easily and voila, there it is.




Connect the positive lead (red) and negative lead (black) on your battery charger to the matching terminals on the battery. I use this little Optima charger because it a) is compact and really well built, and b) works really great with an Optima battery, which is what’s in our Discovery. I’ve used many battery chargers and this one is the best by far.



My battery is new, only a month old, and it was already discharged to 75%. I left this connected for about 30 minutes to top it off to 100%.



Next, we turn to the big boye battery. Open the hood and on the passenger side of the engine bay you’ll see the battery leads that run back to the battery in the spare tire well. Just like the small battery, connect the positive and negative leads to the matching terminals. The negative terminal on the Range Rover is just a metal lug (because it’s ground). Far better than older cars though that have you attach to the motor or something.



I charged this to 100% a month ago and you can see it’s already down to 25%. This will probably take about 6-8 hours to fully charge up. Route the cable down the side of the fender and close the hood, lock and leave it to do its thing. Usually best to do it overnight so the car is available the next day, but it’s 108 degrees out and I have no plans on leaving the cool embrace of my air conditioned living room, ha.





Anyway, do this monthly and you’ll never be stranded because of a battery issue. Hope this helps!

B

 

FYI The Start/Stop battery is charged when your charge the main battery from the engine compartment. Makes it a little easier instead of having to undo that trim panel!

 

Hi You started talking about Range Rover and ended with Discovery? I assume that this is a slip.
The second post states an easy way to deal with both batteries I thank you both for the information.
Regards,

 

Nope, I think you misunderstood the context. I said that I like the Optima charger partly because it works best with the Optima battery we have in our Discovery.

 

Very helpful post. I have a 2014 L494 and its constantly showing "Low Battery" so I just use my charger on the front posts overnight and she' good to go for a week or two. I obviously need to just buy new batteries but haven't found the right one just yet so any suggestions would be great. I haven't tried charging the accessories battery in the rear quarter panel but that is very likely why my start/stop isn't working so I will give that a try, thanks for the suggestion.

 

This is the Platonic ideal of the perfect DIY post. Thank you!

 

Man was this issue fixed in later model years? I’ve had my 2018 for almost four years and never had a battery issue. Never charged it either.

 

Can you let me know what battery (make/etc.) you ended up getting? I need to replace mine and wondering what would be the best one to purchase. Thanks for your help!

 

I have a 2017 and getting the "Low Battery - Please start your car" message in the mornings. I just recently needed to get it jumped, not sure if something was left on / open to drain the battery, but it was drained completely.

 

I am getting the same issue, brand new main battery, drains throughout the day. Getting the low battery Please start your car, even when I charge the battery over night?