How long will 12v battery last between drives?

+1 from me for sam spade 2 advice. I've used BatteryTenderPlus, 1.25a, for years, on a variety of vehicles, R/Vs, boat batteries.

Simple. Attach pigtail to the 12V battery, wire-tie it out of the way, and then simply plug in the charger every few weeks.

No need to disconnect anything, and with the "float" design of the BatteryTenderPlus, no risk of harming the battery by overcharging.

 

Well, the battery isn't the only thing that needs to be maintained. When you let a car sit for too long all the oil drains out from the engine into the pan, making the first start after a long period of inactivity harsh. Same with the transmission. Tires can develop flat spots.

Try to drive it every other day around the block a couple of times instead.

 

Every other day is overkill. WAY overkill.
And a couple of times around the block isn't far enough.......unless you live in the country.
Every other week, maybe, for at least 10 miles.

And even with that, an automatic battery tender still is not a bad idea.

 

Sorry, I have to disagree. This alternate day short drive would be more destructive than beneficial
1) The ICE wouldn't have adequate time to warm up, thus the large amount of water produced by cold ICE combustion would puddle in the exhaust.
2) That same water, produced by a cold ICE, would also remain in the oil, as it wouldn't get hot enough to burn off.
3) An ICE engine, at startup, is at its most "rich" mode, meaning excess fuel. This, too, would be left in the cold oil, compromising the integrity of the oil.

The only way your advice works would be if the "block" you're referring to is several miles long...and wide!

Much easier, less polluting, less wear-and-tear, is to utilize a battery tender.

 

The advice that Toyota have given us (the country is in lock-down) is to run the car for 20 minutes every 4 days. It doesn't rotate the tires, but does take care of batteries, oil pooling, and water/condensation.

It's not ideal, but under the circumstance, it is reasonable preventative maintenance

 

Even that is more than is really necessary.
A LOT of people don't drive that much under "normal" circumstances.
None of the "evils" of just sitting come into play in just 4 days.
Even the 12 V battery should not suffer for a couple of weeks, IF it is healthy and fully charged going in.

 

Not so much nowadays with modern oils, they have additives to make them cling to the bearing surfaces and in the case of the engine, modern oil pumps probably take less than a second to pressurise the system.