Today’s gadget-packed cars have made owning a battery charger more necessary than ever. Even if your vehicle is parked on the street or in your garage, its immobiliser and other security kit can drain the powerpack round the clock. Batteries have changed to meet the new demands – and so have chargers. Older, less sophisticated designs could damage modern powerpacks, which are less tolerant of overcharging and the resulting ‘gassing’ of the cells.

The latest products are designed to solve these problems. Most can tackle deeply discharged batteries, which old-fashioned designs simply wouldn’t touch. And sophisticated electronic monitoring means the gassing caused by overcharging should no longer happen.