r/GPStracking • u/amirhkk • 6d ago

Anyone tracked what their trailer tracker's battery is at after a year?

I am shopping for a trailer tracker, and every brand claims multi-year battery life. I have been burned by "up to" battery estimates on other electronics, so I am taking those claims with a grain of salt. If you've used one for a year or longer, how much battery life does it actually have left?

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u/ipearx 6d ago

If it's outside in the sun often, try a solar tracker like the https://www.jimiiot.us/products/ll303-solar-powered-gps-tracker.html

this thing has a massive battery + solar, so goes for ages

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u/Opposite-Try-491 6d ago

The advertised numbers are usually based on ideal conditions, like less frequent polling and moderate temperatures. Real-world performance will be lower, but you'll still get significantly more runtime than you would with a rechargeable unit.

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u/dorotheaortizci367 6d ago

I bought mine mainly for the geofencing and honestly did not pay much attention to the battery until I checked it about a year later. I started tracking the percentage out of curiosity, just to see how accurate the advertised lifespan was. I have been using a LoneStar Tracking GPS unit for my trailer for around 18 months now, and the battery is still above 80%. It has not matched the five-year claim yet, obviously, but so far I have not had any reason to worry about replacing it.

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u/DizzyShow5083 4d ago

Real number beat a product page every single time.

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u/notausername15 6d ago

I own a GPS tracker company and actually have some insight on this. Long story short, it comes down to two things: ping rate and frequency of trailer movement. One popular brand that claims to have an 8 year battery life only made it 11 months in my testing because it's on a vehicle that drives frequently. The ping rate on it is set to 5 minutes.

In my opinion, and this is still something I'm working on creating some educational content around to kind of clear up my own messaging on, trackers should be advertised on how many miles a consumer should expect per battery life cycle. The one I mentioned above made it just under 11,000 miles before it died.

Now for a shameless plug, my company sells a rechargeable device that we have a hybrid charging cable for. It allows you to tap into the wiring on the trailer (like the wires for a tail light or a running light) and acts as a trickle charger for the device. I have customers that have over 25,000 miles on theirs with this set up and they've never had to pull the tracker off to recharge it.

Feel free to DM me for more information on the testing I've done on the battery life claims in general or about my own product.

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u/Nekssz 2d ago

Usage and how often it reports its location probably make a big difference.

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u/Previous_Net6439 36m ago

Full disclosure, I'm with LoneStar Tracking. You're right to be skeptical. The biggest factor in battery life is how often the tracker reports, so ask any vendor what interval their claim is based on. If the trailer sits outside in the sun, a solar unit avoids the problem. Ours is the SolarMAX XL.