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I don't have AC power source that can trickle charge the battery where I park my car. Hence, I'm planning to have constant monitoring of the battery strength to avoid ending up with totally dead battery (to avoid the hassle of opening bonnet when battery goes totally flat). My questions are (appreciate all your advise and guidance): 1. Is it ok to leave a voltmeter plugged in to the cigarette socket charger all the time, including when car engine is off and parked? So I know the battery strength at all times? Will it not drain the battery? 2. If you have purchased and used one, which brand/model is that? And which are the good ones? Thanks in advance.

Can you please share specific model of C-TEK charger and socket adapter you used, am thinking of buying the exact same one. Thanks again. 👍🏻

Good to know, thanks! As long as I'm able to open the passenger door even with flat battery, this works for me!

Thanks for sharing your experience, much appreciated.

There were some earlier discussions on that, there might be some risk of affecting some of the electronics and might cause more damage. Great if someone can share expert view on this approach, or if anyone has already tried with positive results.

Thanks for the feedback and advise. The challenge was that my car battery did not give any "low charge" warning, and got flat after just a week from last car use when everything seemed like normal. So it can potentially happen again without pre-warning. If I get a slightest hint that car battery is getting weak, I shall have it replaced immediately as it is a much bigger hassle to end up with flat dead battery (can't open passenger door, can't pull lever, can't pop open the bonnet, which means cannot access to replace battery).

Hi Dave, thanks for sharing your experience, and exactly same as what I encountered already a couple of times. I also have Karoq RHD and just interested to know how exactly RAC was able to pop open the hood when your battery is flat dead and car is locked. I experienced this twice already, if car is locked and battery is dead, you can manually get in but cannot open the passenger door even from inside, and the passenger door blocks the lever that pops the bonnet. I called Skoda service and they can't open it also and had to send a tow truck to collect my car and bring to their shop. Would be great to understand what was done in your case to pop open the bonnet to access the car battery.

Hi Ken Fowler, I also have Karoq RHD and just interested to know how are you able to pop open the hood when your battery is flat dead and car is locked. I experienced this twice already, if car is locked and battery is dead, you can manually get in but cannot open the passenger door even from inside, and the passenger door blocks the lever that pops the bonnet. I called Skoda service and they can't open it also and had to send a tow truck to collect my car and bring to their shop. Would be great to understand what was done in your case to pop open the bonnet to access the car battery.