I only drive 2022 Acura MDX Platinum Elite once or twice a month. As such, my battery is often dead or very slow cranking. I went to the dealer to have them throw in a new battery. The dealer load tested my battery and dsaid it is in good shape, just discharged.

They ended up swelling me an AGM smart charger. My battery needs to be on the charger 60 to 70 hours a week.

I assume the parastic drain is due to the cellular connection broadcasting GPS and vehicle statistics and status to the Acura mothership. I wish I could turn this off.

What is your experience?

 

You are correct that much of the system remains in an ON state to transmit data, some of which may be desirable, for instance Acura can locate your vehicle if stolen. I beleive the one thing that can be disabled is the AT&T hotspot. Beyond that make sure your key fobs are being kept well away from the vehicle. These steps are not by any means going to eliminate the issue, especially since you say you only drive a few times a month.

To make the uses of the charger easier, you might want to get some quick connect leads. These are connected to the battery and it only takes a few seconds to connect the charger. The plug in connector is polarized to avoid any connection mistakes. What I use can be found at Quick connect leads. Make sure they are compatible with your charger.

I’d be interested in knowing what the dealer price was on the charger. There are very good chargers on the market in the US$30 and up region. I have used them for many years on my Porsche which frequently sits unused in the winter months. My parasitic drain is quite low compared to the Acura so I have the charger on a timer and it turns on for about 6 hours a week. .

 

As a possible solution, try keeping your key fob somewhat away from the parked car.

My car had constant battery drains previously, and once I began keeping my key fob away from the car, the battery drains have stopped.

The fob was basically constantly “talking to the car” due to proximity, causing the drain.