Please note that a simply battery charger might not do much. A battery conditioner for your type of battery might.

Sadly in the 21st century not even charging a battery is simple. That might or might not be considered progress.

Note also that some batteries are designed to support stop start and some are not.

A £15 Aldi/Lidl charger maintainer will do the job, the battery is low not "dead" - though I've recovered dead batteries with 40 year-old simple charger and 30 year old charger maintainer and for modern stop/start I might start or continue on with my £23 Ring "smart" (it ain't nothing electronic called "smart" really is, just a marketing wet-dream) similar to its replacement RSC904, other much more expensive and cheaper charger maintainers are available and from other suppliers. - https://shop.ringautomotive.com/rsc904-4a-smart-battery-charger-maintainer.html

The following is how all work and farting about with cars should be, hook it up and let it do the work whilst you do something better which is just about most things.-

Edited 8 August, 20258 Aug by nta16
typos

57 minutes ago, nta16 said:

A £15 Aldi/Lidl charger maintainer will do the job, the battery is low not "dead" - though I've recovered dead batteries with 40 year-old simply charger and 30 year old charger maintainer and for modern stop/start I might start or continue on with my £23 Ring "smart" (it ain't nothing electronic called "smart" really is, just a marketing wet-dream) similar to its replacement RSC904, other much more expensive and cheaper charger maintainers are available and from other suppliers. - https://shop.ringautomotive.com/rsc904-4a-smart-battery-charger-maintainer.html

The following is how all work and farting about with cars should, hook it up and let it do the work whilst you do something better which is just about most things.-

Or just drive the car

1 hour ago, Blue8793841 said:

Or just drive the car

Yeap that was also suggested in an earlier post(s?) but included in EMike's opening posts was -

On 06/08/2025 at 16:22, EMike said:

I put this down to not using the car regularly and then generally only short distances.

so EMike is aware of this option.

Modern cars are not well suited to the low mileage and less frequent use of some owners< I have decades of experience of this from my neighbours and many of the old-farts that own old over-priced, over-valued old cars called "classics", some owning more than one or several or more. A couple of them I've known spend months trying to track down the source of issues to eventually 'discover' it's low battery charge and health from lack of vehicle use and a little (more?) effort with the battery.

With the amount of electrics in a modern car, the battery gets drained faster, even though it is considerably beefier than those a few decades ago.

The best option, really, is to buy a quality battery charger and hook it up for a few hours every weekend (CTEK do some good ones). Any decent charger can charge all types of battery, be it AGM, EFB, Lead Acid, or whatever. I would also try and take the car for a proper run every now and again - running it for short journeys around town will kill it early.

For now, regarding the battery, it’s a fairly simple process -

Go to a garage and get the battery drop tested. They will be able to remove the top cover (it looks like four little plastic clips) and get at the part number. If it’s end of life, you’ll have to cross the bridge of getting a new one coded in, by somewhere that knows what they’re doing - probably either Skoda, or a VAG Indie, to avoid any issues.

If it’s not EOL then you can charge it up and go on your way - for now, anyway.

I've had this tester now (link below) for around 3 years, it's handy for telling if the battery is good, just needs a charge or needs replacing. It's accurate as I've tested my own batteries on 2/3 cars over the time I've had it. I've also got 2 battery maintenance chargers, I use them in winter especially on the garaged car, it can sit there for a month without use sometimes.

Both handy, charger, checker to have in any car owners tool box.

12V Car Battery Tester Crank Charge Alternator Starter Tool 100-2000CCA 3-220 AH | eBay UK https://share.google/2d1TYwVuV7CnVqo1j

Very good nta16 and a good Charger is a CTEK MX 5.0 I note also you must have changed your battery from a flooded lead acid to an AGM as you have changed the charging rate to FLEECE which is for an AGM. Now EMIKE will be thoroughly confused LOL

I love posters in this thread mentioning sad old farts they know. I have the feeling this forum is heavily populated with sad old farts. Me included!

1 hour ago, Aldfort said:

I love posters in this thread mentioning sad old farts they know. I have the feeling this forum is heavily populated with sad old farts. Me included!

You must be bloody old if you are older than me I got my licence in 1956. However I like technology and unlike Emikes battery shop am not stuck in 50 year old ideas LOL

Edited 9 August, 20259 Aug by Exkiwi

52 minutes ago, Exkiwi said:

Very good nta16 and a good Charger is a CTEK MX 5.0 I note also you must have changed your battery from a flooded lead acid to an AGM as you have changed the charging rate to FLEECE which is for an AGM. Now EMIKE will be thoroughly confused LOL

CTek are popular but in my experience over-priced and over-valued (like old cars called "classics" over here) the vast, vast majority of car owners on here will be fine with a (about) £15 Lidl/Aldi charger maintainer it has 7-stage charging available so will recover a battery at very low state of charge well below what the vast majority here will encounter. Those that prefer to pay about £75 for the CTek MX 5.0 are fine to do so, each to their own.

Just an old example of a (about £15) Lidl/Aldi type charger maintainer. - IAN 383685_2110.pdf

I don't think Emike will be too confused by the AGM reference (and VW being VW calling it "fleece") as it was explained and Emike has put he's read up about batteries, there are lots and lots of posts on Briskoda about battery changing and charging, quite a few from me.

For decades I've run old cars, originally because that's all I could afford and later because I could afford the over-priced over-valued old cars called "classics" and I preferred them to most new or more modern cars, though I've had a few of those too. Until 3 years ago my one and only everyday car was a 1973 MG Midget which I ran for the previous 16 year and before that various "classic" cars as everyday cars for work, commuting (300 and 500 miles a week for a period), club use, holidays in the UK and Europe, so I know the importance of a good battery in a good state of charge and health. Which has only got a greater need with these infotainment wheeled machines that many now use as also transport.

I have enough build quality issues with my wife's 2015 VWŠkoda Fabia Mk3 without the need for battery issues, the wiring and electronics issues are already too much.

My attitude has always been get the car started, get yourself home and worry about what needs doing after a rest at home, the car is just a lump of metal or metal and wunderbar fantastic plastic with 21st-century German marques.

Edited 9 August, 20259 Aug by nta16
typos

If only the technology, much of it not modern or new at all, was better quality, better built, better designed for use, better programmed for the computer stuff. Although the like of VW and Merc were all in to getting the technology on their cars (being over "clever" and over-complex than required) certainly going back a good while now they used the cheap end of stuff trying to get every decimal place of a cent more from their products.

I'm used to old (and brand new) British/English made cars so very used to some lower standards but have always been amazed at how the general public accept the unreliability of computer programs and "smart" (they aren't) devices with the lack of proper use design of products, with the young I can understand it a bit as they haven't experienced different but old-farts falling for the marketing and thinking products are great when they not is beyond me, reluctant acceptance maybe. If any of these caps fit then put them on, possibly pull them over your eyes. 😁

EMike's battery issue is basically the same sort of thing you ancient old-farts would have had in the 50s and 60s but you'd know better than me as I didn't get my driving licence until 1977, and it was valid until 2030! That was next century! Something a 17-year old didn't have to think or worry about. 😄

Wow Again! I find all this very interesting, and although I hadn't mentioned this, I had been looking at getting a new battery charger. One that kept popping up was indeed to Ctek 5.0 made in Sweden.

Yes I am also an old fart, and generally I can take as much critism that anyone wants to give. In my day you learnt how things worked by taking it apart, and very often messing it up at the same time. Alas, today everything is in a black box, and controlled by the dreaded software engineers, but that doesn't stop me from wanting to know how these things work. I appreciate that very often this isn't possible anymore, but I would like to ask, how do these chargers recover what I gather would be perhaps a dead battery that's many years old.

You see my experience of a lot of professionals is they don't like explaining what they've done, or they give an answer that requires an Oxometer.

Thanks again for all your information

I would sooner pay a bit more and get a known proven item. Yes I buy stuff from Aldi as it is just rebranded something else run specially for them. When I was a teen my father was a milkman with a 1950s Bedford truck and in the winter it had a 1950s battery charger on it every day. Whether it actually prolonged the battery life I dont know but we went through a few I know that. I got my MX 5 at a Sale at Repco so am quite happy and so far havent needed it for last 5 years but its always there if i do. Also handy to have the CTEK connect system so if you need to use a charger often you can just plug it in without opening the bonnet..

4 hours ago, EMike said:

Wow Again! I find all this very interesting, and although I hadn't mentioned this, I had been looking at getting a new battery charger. One that kept popping up was indeed to Ctek 5.0 made in Sweden.

Yes I am also an old fart, and generally I can take as much critism that anyone wants to give. In my day you learnt how things worked by taking it apart, and very often messing it up at the same time. Alas, today everything is in a black box, and controlled by the dreaded software engineers, but that doesn't stop me from wanting to know how these things work. I appreciate that very often this isn't possible anymore, but I would like to ask, how do these chargers recover what I gather would be perhaps a dead battery that's many years old.

You see my experience of a lot of professionals is they don't like explaining what they've done, or they give an answer that requires an Oxometer.

Thanks again for all your information

Well a quick Google showed that if you ask the right questions it gives the right answers and for this one " How does a Ctek battery charger recover a dead battery" it says this

A CTEK battery charger can recover a dead battery by using a multi-stage charging process, including desulfation, which can help revive batteries that have been deeply discharged. The charger analyzes the battery's condition and uses a series of steps, including soft start, bulk charge, absorption, and analysis, to safely and effectively restore the battery's charge. If the battery is severely damaged, it may not be able to be recovered.  As you say a software engineer will have written a program and installed it in the charger and away it goes. These days if you do disassemble things you often only find a circuit board which tells you nothing and we wouldnt understand the program it uses. Its enough for me to know it works and use it for intended purpose. I used to hack Playstations and had to program a chip and solder it in. It worked and that was enough as the program did its job without me having to know how. I uinderstood what it did but not how it did it,

Edited 9 August, 20259 Aug by Exkiwi

16 hours ago, EMike said:

In my day you learnt how things worked by taking it apart, and very often messing it up at the same time.

That's one method, the other you probably also know is to Read the Manual. Reading and referring to the manual for the car, and other items, can save you a lot of time, hassle and expense with unnecessary visits to Dealerships/garages/mechanics/auto-electricians. If you read and refer to the manual you can often know more about the car and its running than many long term owners of the model.

You haven't said anything to me to suggest your battery is very low of "furred" up, it's 5 years old on a modern VW product that's not driven far or frequently and not had preventative charging, that you have mentioned, so it may be low. You can most likely recover it from this by use of an appropriate charger maintainer £15 or £75 or more or in between. Obviously the better job you do of recharging the battery the greater possibly you have for more and longer lasting recovery. You may not need anything fancy to recharge the battery, I doubt you do given what you have put so far., Unless you've flogging the battery to death for months..

I personally recommend you need patience and time and to fully recharge the battery this may take many hours, overnight or more (or two days plus for a really "dead" battery using lower amps) and to use low amps for recharging, say 3, 4 or 5-amps charger maintainer.

Of course you first read the car's 'Owner's Manual' and charger's instruction of how to do the charging properly.

The old example of a (about £15) Lidl/Aldi type charger maintainer pdf is the user instructions and includes details of charging, you may prefer to look at the CTek MX-5 UK instructions and details.

Old example of a (about £15) Lidl/Aldi type charger maintainer. - IAN 383685_2110.pdf

CTek CT5 Start/Stop UK. - CT5_START_STOP-manual-low-UK-EN.pdf

Ctek MXS 5.0 UK. -MXS_5.0-manual-low-UK-EN.pdf

@Exkiwi are the CTek actually made in Sweden, they may be designed there but are they actually made there, what's it say on the box?

Thank you both very much for all that information.

I am definetaly going to buy a CTek battery charger, and I have had a look at the links you sent, very interesting.

I have also looked at the operators manual, ( I never invested in a workshop manual, mainly because my days of working on my cars are over really) but the manual is quite informative.

Very pleased I asked these questions now on this forum, there's a lot of helpful people out there that's for sure.

If I do end up getting a professional to change my battery, I know what questions to ask to satisfy myself whether they will fit it and program it correctly.

Even though I have had my Kamiq for 5 years now, I still find things that I didn't know, but have to say still very pleased with it.

Thank again

30 minutes ago, EMike said:

Even though I have had my Kamiq for 5 years now, I still find things that I didn't know,

That's why reading the 'Owner's Manual' as soon as you can will keep you more informed as well as possible unnecessary hassle and expense of trips to Dealerships/garages/mechanics/auto-electricians. I've known knowledgeable owners of cars they've had for literally decades learn or relearn something from the 'Owner's Manual'.

For those readers without a copy of the 'Owner's Manual' for their car a free VWŠkoda pdf can be download from the VWŠkoda 'Owner's Manual' site or, the more annoying to me, online manual or new models some or all(?) of it might be in an Infotainment menu. - https://www.skoda-auto.com/apps/manuals/Models

The VWŠkoda manuals aren't always well written and may have a few errors and omissions but generally they're quite good, very annoying that VW exclude some information that other car manufacturers give quite freely though.

1 hour ago, nta16 said:

That's one method, the other you probably also know is to Read the Manual. Reading and referring to the manual for the car, and other items, can save you a lot of time, hassle and expense with unnecessary visits to Dealerships/garages/mechanics/auto-electricians. If you read and refer to the manual you can often know more about the car and its running than many long term owners of the model.

You haven't said anything to me to suggest your battery is very low of "furred" up, it's 5 years old on a modern VW product that's not driven far or frequently and not had preventative charging, that you have mentioned, so it may be low. You can most likely recover it from this by use of an appropriate charger maintainer £15 or £75 or more or in between. Obviously the better job you do of recharging the battery the greater possibly you have for more and longer lasting recovery. You may not need anything fancy to recharge the battery, I doubt you do given what you have put so far., Unless you've flogging the battery to death for months..

I personally recommend you need patience and time and to fully recharge the battery this may take many hours, overnight or more (or two days plus for a really "dead" battery using lower amps) and to use low amps for recharging, say 3, 4 or 5-amps charger maintainer.

Of course you first read the car's 'Owner's Manual' and charger's instruction of how to do the charging properly.

The old example of a (about £15) Lidl/Aldi type charger maintainer pdf is the user instructions and includes details of charging, you may prefer to look at the CTek MX-5 UK instructions and details.

Old example of a (about £15) Lidl/Aldi type charger maintainer. - IAN 383685_2110.pdf

CTek CT5 Start/Stop UK. - CT5_START_STOP-manual-low-UK-EN.pdf

Ctek MXS 5.0 UK. -MXS_5.0-manual-low-UK-EN.pdf

@Exkiwi are the CTek actually made in Sweden, they may be designed there but are they actually made there, what's it say on the box?

12 hours ago, nta16 said:

That's one method, the other you probably also know is to Read the Manual. Reading and referring to the manual for the car, and other items, can save you a lot of time, hassle and expense with unnecessary visits to Dealerships/garages/mechanics/auto-electricians. If you read and refer to the manual you can often know more about the car and its running than many long term owners of the model.

You haven't said anything to me to suggest your battery is very low of "furred" up, it's 5 years old on a modern VW product that's not driven far or frequently and not had preventative charging, that you have mentioned, so it may be low. You can most likely recover it from this by use of an appropriate charger maintainer £15 or £75 or more or in between. Obviously the better job you do of recharging the battery the greater possibly you have for more and longer lasting recovery. You may not need anything fancy to recharge the battery, I doubt you do given what you have put so far., Unless you've flogging the battery to death for months..

I personally recommend you need patience and time and to fully recharge the battery this may take many hours, overnight or more (or two days plus for a really "dead" battery using lower amps) and to use low amps for recharging, say 3, 4 or 5-amps charger maintainer.

Of course you first read the car's 'Owner's Manual' and charger's instruction of how to do the charging properly.

The old example of a (about £15) Lidl/Aldi type charger maintainer pdf is the user instructions and includes details of charging, you may prefer to look at the CTek MX-5 UK instructions and details.

Old example of a (about £15) Lidl/Aldi type charger maintainer. - IAN 383685_2110.pdf

CTek CT5 Start/Stop UK. - CT5_START_STOP-manual-low-UK-EN.pdf

Ctek MXS 5.0 UK. -MXS_5.0-manual-low-UK-EN.pdf

@Exkiwi are the CTek actually made in Sweden, they may be designed there but are they actually made there, what's it say on the box?

It says Designed in Sweden Made in China. Which almost everything is. Also if it is made to a standard there is nothing wrong with it. Lots of computer gear is Chinese made and I havent had a bad one for may years and Ive certainly built a few.

I would also say that when Made in Gt Britain was the thing , it certainly didnt apply to the car industry as they made some dogs and very rusty ones at that.

The battery in my Passat lasted 4 1/2 years and the last 6 months only survived with the help of the Ctek Which I find on getting it out of the cupboard is an MX 7.0 which cost me $139 AU. My wifes Polo lasted a bit longer as it got used more .

The manual tells you SFA about battery charging from what Ive read and the usual notification is a christmas tree of lights and S/S not working because of low voltage. Then you should get the battery LOAD TESTED because thats what matters. Float charge means nothing if the car wont start. Can have a reasonable float charge and when you put the load on it the arse drops right out.

I wouldnt be buying any $25 anything to work on a $60,000 car Im afraid. Why F around having to sort out charging rates on cheap **** when you can plug a good one on and it will do it on its own and properly as well

You are expecting a bit much of someone who cant find the battery model to be working out manually what amperage to charge it at at different stages of its life.

It depends on the use. I have a Halfords charger (can't have been more than £40), but I only use it once a year. I've never actually used it on my Octavia!

By the sounds of it, OP would use it far more regularly, so the cost of something a bit nicer starts to justify itself.

Apple is made in China, and the quality of their stuff is superb.

11 minutes ago, Exkiwi said:

Why F around having to sort out charging rates on cheap **** when you can plug a good one on and it will do it on its own and properly as well

FWIW, and I can't believe I'm saying this, I do sort of agree. I'm not saying OP is like this, but the vast, vast majority of people just want to get in the car and go. If they have to charge the battery in their car, then having a nice charger that does everything for you probably takes the sting out of it a little bit - even if it was more expensive. I don't really think much about my battery (although the car has sat for two weeks without being driven, so when I next turn it on I will take it for a longer spin), but I'd get a more expensive charger if I were to leave it more often.

10 hours ago, Exkiwi said:

It says Designed in Sweden Made in China. . . .

I've never said Chinese made goods can't be very high quality, they certainly can given enough supervision of contract. Some higher end British hi-fi is made very well in China.

My point was that EMike didn't think the Chinese made less expensive Lidl/Aldi charger maintainers would be lesser than the CTek models because the Ctek were made in Sweden if they're not (as I suspected).

My £23 Ring charger maintainer is made in Chine, like the CTek to the manufacturer's design and standards and it works fine and has done since I bought it a number of years ago (I forget how many).

Also my neighbour's £15 Aldi/lLidl charger maintainer has worked fine for many more years.

Both of these chargers get a bit more use than once ever 4.5 years, if you wait 4 years to charge a battery that gets too low too often then yes it could be too late to fully recover it or have it provide useful service for too much longer.

Later I'll post up the info on the battery in the 'Owner's Manual' it's not much but a bit more than sweet fanny adams, no time now.

You and everyone else can do as they please about the car 12v battery and buy and use whatever charger maintainer, like you I just offer alternatives for those that want to to consider.

EMike as far as I remember couldn't see the label which is different to not knowing where it is, even you had to learn things for a first time, and like all of us somethings you forget or ignore and believe what you believe based on the evidence or lack of you consider - like all of us (the repeat was deliberate as you're quick to look for something to argue about).

@Exkiwi my apologises to you, I was rushing too much with my last post I didn't thank you for answering my question about where the CTek was made, sorry about this, I shouldn't forget good manners even when rushing.

ETA: I can't post up extracts from your 'Owner's Manual' as I have no idea of what vehicle you own, I thought I'd seen it mentioned or in your 'Author's stats' but once again I am wrong it seems, or I've forgot both very possible many times a day.

Edited 11 August, 202511 Aug by nta16

10 hours ago, nta16 said:

@Exkiwi my apologises to you, I was rushing too much with my last post I didn't thank you for answering my question about where the CTek was made, sorry about this, I shouldn't forget good manners even when rushing.

ETA: I can't post up extracts from your 'Owner's Manual' as I have no idea of what vehicle you own, I thought I'd seen it mentioned or in your 'Author's stats' but once again I am wrong it seems, or I've forgot both very possible many times a day.

Not needed I know im abrupt and to the point as I am OCD but try to soften it. As for reading manuals etc. In my 20's we lived in the bush 3 hours walk from nearest road and then 79 miles to nearest small town and 3 more hours to a city. We had quite a bit of gear we had to look after on our own as no phone no radio no nothing. We had a Hamilton Jet boat, 2 Seagull outboards, a Lister diesel generator, diesel hot water and cooking. an Atlas Copco rock drill and a big box of gelignite LOL. Had 6 packhorses that we had to fix the packing gear and shoe them ourselves. Also a Fergie and a Farmall tractor at the road end. No one to tell us what to do except one guy had been a mechanic for a while. So we taught ourselves and still figure out things on my own. So get a bit !!!!!! when people cant do simple things without having to ask the world. I probably shouldnt be on Forums LOL

PS. I have a Kamiq LE 2021 the latest of the 36 cars I have owned

15 minutes ago, Exkiwi said:

Not needed I know im abrupt and to the point as I am OCD but try to soften it. As for reading manuals etc. In my 20's we lived in the bush 3 hours walk from nearest road and then 79 miles to nearest small town and 3 more hours to a city. We had quite a bit of gear we had to look after on our own as no phone no radio no nothing. We had a Hamilton Jet boat, 2 Seagull outboards, a Lister diesel generator, diesel hot water and cooking. an Atlas Copco rock drill and a big box of gelignite LOL. Had 6 packhorses that we had to fix the packing gear and shoe them ourselves. Also a Fergie and a Farmall tractor at the road end. No one to tell us what to do except one guy had been a mechanic for a while. So we taught ourselves and still figure out things on my own. So get a bit !!!!!! when people cant do simple things without having to ask the world. I probably shouldnt be on Forums LOL

PS. I have a Kamiq LE 2021 the latest of the 36 cars I have owned

Things are different now. Manuals used to tell you how to change the steering rack - now they tell you not to drink the contents of the battery.

Armed with a workshop manual and a knack for doing things, I’ve learned most of the stuff on my cars myself. Most people aren’t that mechanically minded these days though, so it’s more difficult.

If people are willing to get underneath their car and spend some hours on Google, then they are welcome on forums like this. If they’re uninterested in learning, figuring it out themselves or simply want an easy answer, then I’m personally not so sure.

I am/was a humanities student. I’ve had no training on anything, really, and I get on alright.

We can all help each other and very often learn from each about the cars yes but also more if we want to.

Anyone posting has no obligations other than to stick to the rules of the site. If they don't want to waste their lives farting about with cars I don't blame them. I do think as a driver they should at least know the basic driver maintenance items and have some additional knowledge so that some of those in the UK motor trade don't rip them off, and as I put to save time, hassle and expense from unnecessary visits to anyone in the motor trade.

We can save small fortunes by learning from the mistakes of others, I know as I've wasted a small fortune on cars, much of it by trusting some in the English motor trade - so had I studied humanities I might have avoided some, most or all of them - but I doubt it as some were successful well practiced con-men in their businesses, I certainly should have done more research on a couple of them rather than just go on trust.

Be careful with workshop manuals from any source including the manufacturers as, like all sources of information, they can contain errors and omissions.

Edited 12 August, 202512 Aug by nta16
typos

9 hours ago, Exkiwi said:

Not needed I know im abrupt and to the point as I am OCD but try to soften it. As for reading manuals etc. In my 20's we lived in the bush 3 hours walk from nearest road and then 79 miles to nearest small town and 3 more hours to a city. We had quite a bit of gear we had to look after on our own as no phone no radio no nothing. We had a Hamilton Jet boat, 2 Seagull outboards, a Lister diesel generator, diesel hot water and cooking. an Atlas Copco rock drill and a big box of gelignite LOL. Had 6 packhorses that we had to fix the packing gear and shoe them ourselves. Also a Fergie and a Farmall tractor at the road end. No one to tell us what to do except one guy had been a mechanic for a while. So we taught ourselves and still figure out things on my own. So get a bit !!!!!! when people cant do simple things without having to ask the world. I probably shouldnt be on Forums LOL

PS. I have a Kamiq LE 2021 the latest of the 36 cars I have owned

That sounds like you were working in the Jackson Bay area - or Big Bay in the Southland Region - Crays?

Edited 12 August, 202512 Aug by Warrior193
question

@Exkiwi, thanks, even if I don't need to apologise for your sake I need to for mine and other viewers.

Great that you taught yourself about machinery, you did have some guidance at least, from the bloke that was a mechanic, and I'm sure during your learning you probably broke stuff or not repair or service or maintain it as well as you could later. You didn't always have the opportunity then that others have now to get guidance and learn from others to do something for a first time and avoid breaking anything and do a better job.

From a (later) 2021 Kamiq 'Owner's manual' (issue date 29.11.2021, part number 658012720AF) like you say it's not much but it is something. Bear in mind although my post is addressed to you others will view it so even if it means nothing to you others can see there is some information in the 'Owner's Manual' about battery charging (and discharging).

12v vehicle battery and fuses > 12v vehicle battery > Checking and charging the 12 volt vehicle battery

12v vehicle battery and fuses > 12v vehicle battery > Functionality – Protection against discharge of the 12 volt vehicle battery