Sheltering in place? Start your car once a week, and other basic tips

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By now, it's hard to escape the severity of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. As more and more local and state authorities tell everyone to stay at home, traffic has declined to the point where there has been a meaningful (albeit temporary) fall in air pollution over major American cities as people give up the daily commute or school run. With commutes off the calendar for the time being, it's easy to forget about your car. If that sounds like a description of your new reality, don't just park up and put away the keys. Being completely sedentary is bad for a car, just like it's bad for humans. The following tips might come in handy, and don't worry-they're not as complicated as trying to refuel a nuclear reactor.

Try to drive your car(s) for at least 20 minutes once a week

The most immediate problem is keeping your car's 12V battery from dying, and running the engine-and therefore the alternator-for at least this long, about once every week, should prevent that from happening. But getting your car moving will help more than just the battery. Oils and fluids and lubricants will circulate around the bits that need them. Brakes will shed their surface rust. And in the long term, you'll avoid problems like tire flat spots and dried-out belts.

For people with only one car in the household, it's probably advice that's unnecessary, because everyone needs to pop out for groceries at some point. But America is the land of two (or more) cars per family, and both need the occasional bit of attention. Even if you have a battery electric vehicle that gets plugged into a nice, dry garage every night, it should get turned on weekly-even some BEVs will discharge their 12V batteries if left idle for too long.

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