What are the Most Common Car Battery Terminals?
- by Joe Weber - updated on 7/26/2024
We mention battery terminals all the time, so let's talk about them. They are an incredibly important part of your car battery, and without them, your battery is just a really heavy paperweight. It's not really even a battery without terminals since it can't connect to anything.
What Are Battery Terminals?
Battery terminals are the metal electrical contacts used to connect your battery to your vehicle's battery cables. Battery terminals come in several different sizes, shapes and locations depending on the type of battery.
What Are Battery Terminals Made Of?
Battery terminals can be made of several materials but terminals in automotive batteries are predominantly made of a lead alloy.
Automotive battery terminals can also be made of copper, brass, zinc and steel depending on the manufacturer and type of battery.
Premium batteries like our X2Power AGM line of car and truck batteries often use brass terminals for their durability and corrosion resistance while still being highly conductive for better electrical connectivity.
What are the Different Types of Battery Terminals?
Here is a brief look at the most common battery terminal types and what application they are typically used in.
SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) Terminals
- The most common type of automotive battery terminal type.
- Feature a tapered design that resembles a cone with the top cut off.
- Terminals are located on the top of the battery casing.
- With SAE terminals, the positive terminal is always slightly larger than the negative one.
JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard) Terminals
- Also known as Pencil Posts
- Look similar in design to SAE terminals, but smaller
- Terminals are located on the top of the battery casing
- Similar to SAE terminals, the positive terminal is slightly larger than the negative terminal
- JIS terminals are found predominantly in older Japanese-manufactured cars
L Terminals
- L terminals resemble an upside-down "L" with a hole through the vertical side
- Terminals are located on the top of the battery casing
- L terminals can be found on a few European car batteries, but are more commonly used on light-duty vehicles like motorcycles, snowmobiles & lawn mowers
Stud Terminals
- A terminal shaped like a threaded stud
- Terminals are located on the top of the battery casing
- Stud terminals are found in many medium and heavy-duty Class 8 trucks
Side Post Battery Terminals
- Side post terminals are located on the sidewall of the battery container near the top edge
- Side post terminals are found primarily in some General Motors (GM) vehicles & GMC trucks, along with a few additional older vehicles
How Do You Identify Battery Terminals?
All batteries have one thing in common, each features a positive terminal (called a cathode) and a negative terminal (called an anode). Car battery terminals will typically be marked in some way. Some batteries feature a "+" symbol near the positive terminal and a "-" symbol near the negative post. Other batteries will use a red cover to indicate the positive terminal and a black cover for the negative one.
It's important to correctly identify the positive and negative terminals before you attempt to connect, disconnect or jump-start your auto battery.
Which Side is Positive and What Side is Negative On a Car Battery?
The location of the positive and negative terminals will also vary from battery to battery and car to car. When purchasing an auto battery, you must choose one with the correct positive/negative terminal configuration.
If you get a battery with reversed terminals, your cables may not be able to reach to make proper connections. Here is a breakdown of the different auto battery terminal configurations you may see in different vehicles:
- Battery terminals are positioned on the long side of the battery, with positive in the left corner and negative in the right corner
- Battery terminals are positioned on the long side of the battery, with negative in the left corner and positive in the right corner
- Terminals are positioned on the short side of the battery with positive in the right upper corner and negative in the lower right corner
- Terminals are positioned on the short side of the battery with negative in the right upper corner and positive in the lower right corner
Find the Right Car Battery at Batteries Plus
The nice thing about all of this is that we make it easy for you to find the right battery for your car, truck, van or SUV. Just head over to your nearest Batteries Plus or visit us online and enter your vehicle Make and Model, VIN, or License Plate to see all of the battery options available to you.
If you still have questions about your vehicle battery, check out our blog for all of the information you need to make the best buying decision.