Lithium-ion Batteries: Preserving Service Lifetime

Always left my c330 in the car, battery lasted about a year. Next GPS (nuvi855) was purchased because with removable battery. Never left it in the car, but still had to replace it after several years. At leas the replacement was easy!
Mark

I've got a Nuvi 350 for god-knows how many years. I still have the original battery in it. I do not keep it in the car where it would overheat during the summer months. I charge it when needed only. Best damned piece of electronics I've ever purchased!

Fred

My 855 is 8 years old and the battery still works fine. It never had a super long length though.

Since the 855 continues to run even when it is 'OFF,' I disable the battery with a small piece of paper over the contacts whenever I am not using it for more than a day. I rarely left it in my car which no doubt helps the batteries last longer. I also use a vent mount which keeps it cool during operation, in contrast to baking in the sun with a windshield mount.

Dash Cams are known for eating batteries very quickly due to extreme heat by the windshield glass. The alternative is to use a model with a capacitor which can keep a shorter charge, but is less sensitive to heat destroying batteries.

I bought a Nuvi 760 6 years ago (I think) and it still uses the same original battery that it came with.

I drove to Salt Lake City, UT in December 2012. The trip took at least 4 hours (from St. George, UT ) during which Nuvi stays plugged in to the car charger. When I got to SLC, a few minutes after unplugging Nuvi from the charger, it shows "low battery".

I thought the battery has reached its useful life and needs to be replaced. I was wrong. I'm still using the same battery today and it works fine. I think my Nuvi 760 is not used to the cold weather in SLC. It was around 25+ F that night and that is freezing cold for Southern Californians. Cold weather seems to kill battery quicker. My car battery needs a replacement a year after that trip.

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/

I have never used my GPS running only on battery power - I've always plugged it into the cigarette lighter outlet (says a former smoker). We don't really use the GPS on short trips, so it's usually running for a minimum of 2 -3 hours.

I would probably hardwire it in but we have two cars.

Is there any real problem with keeping the GPS plugged in when using it?

The nuvi series (especially the newer models) have a relatively short battery life. They are designed to be used while plugged in to a power adapter.