# Can I leave lithium batteries in a hot or cold car?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-leave-lithium-batteries-in-a-hot-or-cold-car/528235>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 9, 2010, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-leave-lithium-batteries-in-a-hot-or-cold-car/528235 "2010-02-09T03:59:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-leave-lithium-batteries-in-a-hot-or-cold-car/528235/1 "2010-02-09T03:59:30Z")

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Most portable electronics these days use lithium-ion or lithium-polymer batteries. Is it safe to leave these in a cold or hot car? Right now it’s cold, in the teens to thirties. In the summer it might get into the nineties, and hotter inside a car of course. Would either of these damage a battery, or reduce its performance temporarily?

I’ve never noticed problems with my cellphone being left in the car, but that’s not as demanding or expensive an application as something like a GPS unit or a netbook.

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**Author:** ![IAmNotSpartacus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@IAmNotSpartacus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IAmNotSpartacus)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-leave-lithium-batteries-in-a-hot-or-cold-car/528235/2 "2010-02-09T04:21:37Z")

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You can, it’s not a great idea, and prolonged or repeated exposure to extreme cold or heat will cause the cells to prematurely degrade.

[http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm](http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm)