Battery Jargon

Can anyone tell me what SAE and EN on a car battery refers to? I need a 570 cca battery with 60 Ah (according to Peugeot) but have just bought a different battery which is apparently suitable (according to the garage).

The battery I have bought is a 60 Ah but on the label is printed - 540 A (EN) and 600 A (SAE). Some sites say that the SAE refers to CCA, but others say that the EN refers to it (I'm in the UK). I'm just getting blank looks when I ask at the garage or elsewhere!

Asked on 6 December 2012 by Jul

Answered by Alan Ross
Well lets start with CCA. This stands for Cold Cranking Amps and is a way of measuring the amount of power the battery can deliver when under load ie turning the engine over at 32 degrees C.

Now this can be measured in differing ways, in Europe this is acknowledged as EN (European Normal). However in the far East and the USA they use the term SAE ( standard automotive electronics)

As many batteries are imported from outside of Europe, it is important
that the differences in Cold Cranking ratings are understood by UK customers; essentially the test used to obtain SAE values discharges the battery more than the EN test, with the result that SAE values are always higher than EN. However this has no bearing on the real performance of the battery, nor does it mean that a higher SAE rating is better than a lower EN rating.

The code numbers ie 570 are model numbers and help the business and indicates the dimensions and what it will fit.

So hopefully you now know, SAE and EN are basically the same for the Cold Crank Amps but it depends on whether you are in Europe ( then its is EN ) or USA ( then read SAE)
Regards
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