DerekU

Thanks, but knowing which type of battery my Fabia has (Breezy_Pete has confirmed it's EFB) will do.

My October 2023-built Fabia was bought from a Skoda dealership's showroom and came with the standard 12V inflator and container of sealant. If I had ordered the car myself, I would have specified that the optional spare-wheel package be included. There APPEAR to be two spare-wheel options (both costing £150 when ordered for a new car). 1: A steel spare wheel (for 15" wheels) with tool kit and jack and an original equipment tyre. 2: An emergency space-saving spare wheel (for 16"-18" wheels) with tool kit and jack and a space-saving spare wheel. I asked the dealership to obtain the optional spare wheel 'kit' for my Fabia SE L (that has 16"-diameter alloy wheels) and the 1st type (for £200) was provided. My car has Goodyear 195/55 R16 91V tyres, whereas the 15"-diameter steel spare wheel carries a Nexen 185/65 R15 88H tyre. Obviously neither that steel wheel nor its Nexen tyre match the alloy wheels and Goodyear tyres fitted to the car's other four wheels, but the rolling circumference of 195/55 Ri6 and 185/65 R15 tyres is near as dammit the same. So - if I have to bring the spare wheel into play - the car's handling should not be much affected and the distance and speed limitations that bedevil space-saver tyres won't apply. As the rolling circumference of the 17"-diameter and 18"-diameter wheels fitted to some Fabias (as standard or optionally) is greater than that of the 15" and 16" wheels, It's possible that a wheel fitted with a 215/45 R17 or 215/40 R18 tyre would not fit in the spare-wheel well, which might explain why there are two spare wheel options. Anyway, as far as the sealant/inflator is concerned, I initially considered removing the purpose-designed polystyrene 'box' in which the jack and tools are tidily stored and put the jack, tools, sealant and inflator into a bag and store the lot inside the spare wheel. This offended my OCD though and, as i was going to carry other stuff (torque wrench, sockets, fire extinguisher, Glock 30, etc.) in a couple of bags to be kept in the boot, I just added the sealant and inflator. I've also DIYed a couple of 'pullers' to remove the Aero wheel trims more easily. (Unusual that all current Fabia models (including the quite-quick Monte Carlo) are said to have rear drum brakes. Probably doesn't matter much I suppose as the front brakes do all the work and there's a sporting chance the handbrake will be more effective.)

These links may be helpful https://www.rbbattery.com/efb-vs-agm-batteries-whats-the-difference/#:~:text=Even in low-voltage situations,were using an AGM battery. https://www.interstatebatteries.com/blog/how-to-charge-an-agm-battery#:~:text=What's an AGM battery charger,less than 14-15 volts. The charging differences began to be highlighted where motohome deep-cycle 'leisure' batteries (rather than starter batteries) were concerned, when motorhome manufacturers were switching from deep-cycle gel batteries to AGM batteries but retaining the same battery chargers. The problem was that, although most of the battery chargers used had a 'gel' setting and that setting could be used to charge other battery types, none at that stage had a dedicated AGM setting, with the result that the AGM batteries were unable to attain their 100%-full state of charge. Eventually chargers gained a specific AGM setting, but, by then, many motorhome owners had become wary of AGM technology. Advice is that - if a vehicle starts life with an 'ordinary' wet-acid starter-battery - there should be no problems replacing that battery with an EFB equivalent. But, - if a the vehicle starts life with an AGM starter-battery - only an AGM battery should be fitted as a replacement. However, it's to be expected (hoped) that any vehicle that has as OE an AGM starter-battery, will also have been provided with suitable electrical equipment to charge it properly. (Thanks for the offering to check which battery my Fabia has. I'll Message you with the VIN later.)

I recently bought a new Fabia SE L DSG (built in October 2023). Rough measurements suggest that its starter-battery is 063 size (Length/Width/Height in mm of 207x175x190) and the battery-tray's fixing points indicate that two different-size longer batteries could be fitted. My car's battery has no visible markings to indicate its manufacturer or its type (traditional wet-acid, EFB or AGM) or its capacity (though I'd guess at around 50Ah for a 063 size) and I'm reluctant to start removing stuff above the battery's top surface or to completely remove the battery in the hope that my idle curiosity would be satisfied. My car, unsurprisingly, has Stop/Start (S/S) - that I turn off each time I start the vehicle together with the loathsome lane-keeping assist feature - and, although 'received wisdom' is that cars with S/S should/must have an EFB or AGM starter-battery, that's definitely not always the case. My previous car was a 2021 Hyundai i20 mild-hybrid with a small lithium battery in its spare-wheel well and a dinky little 40Ah wet-acid starter-battery and, before anyone says "That's because it was a hybrid", the Hyundai i20N hot-hatch non-hybrid and with S/S has an ordinary 60Ah wet-acid starter-battery. I'd guess from on-line comments that my car's battery is EFB type as - unlike AGM batteries - the optimum charging regimen for EFB is the same as for a wet-acid battery's (and EFB tends to be cheaper than AGM) but I'd be interested if anyone KNOWS if that's the case (and perhaps who the OEM manufacturer is too). Obviously I could ask the technicians at the Skoda dealership I got the car from, but - as the Australians are fond of saying - that would be "Too Easy!"