What are the Most Common Car Battery Terminals?

Power - by Bryan Veldboom - updated on 8/11/2023

Today we're going to be talking about auto battery terminals. Terminals are the metal electrical contacts used to connect your battery to your vehicle's battery cables. Battery terminals come in a number of different sizes, shapes and locations. Here is a brief look at the most common battery terminal types and what type of vehicles they are typically used in.

What are the Different Types of Battery Terminals?

These are the most common battery terminal types for cars:

SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) Terminals

• Feature a tapered design that resembles a cone with the top cut off
• Terminals are located on the top of the battery casing
• With SAE terminals, the positive terminal is always slightly larger than the negative one
• SAE is the most common auto battery terminal type.

JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard) Terminals

• Also known as Pencil Posts
• Look similar in design to SAE terminals, but smaller
• Terminals are located on the top of the battery casing
• Similar to SAE terminals, the positive terminal is slightly larger than the negative terminal
• JIS terminals are found predominantly in older Japanese manufactured cars

L Terminals

• L terminals resemble an upside down "L" with a hole through the vertical side
• Terminals are located on the top of the battery casing
• L terminals can be found on a few European car batteries, but are more commonly used on light duty vehicles like motorcycles, snowmobiles & lawn mowers

Stud Terminals

• A terminal shaped like a threaded stud
• Terminals are located on the top of the battery casing
• Stud terminals are found in medium and heavy-duty Class 8 trucks

Side Post Battery Terminals

• Side post terminals are located on the sidewall of the battery container near the top edge
• Side posts terminals are found primarily in GM & GMC vehicles, along with a few additional older vehicles

How Do You Identify Battery Terminals?

One thing all batteries have in common is that each one features a positive terminal (called a cathode) and a negative terminal (called an anode). Car battery terminals will typically be marked in some way. Some batteries feature a "+" symbol near the positive terminal and a "-" symbol near the negative post. Other batteries will use a red cover to indicate the positive terminal and a black cover for the negative one. It's important to correctly identify the positive and negative terminals any time you attempt to connect, disconnect or jump start your auto battery.

Which Side is Positive and What Side is Negative On a Car Battery?

The location of the positive and negative terminals will also vary from battery to battery. When purchasing an auto battery, it's important to choose one with the correct positive/negative terminal configuration. If not, your cables may not be able to reach proper connections. Here is a breakdown of the different auto battery terminal configurations:

• Battery terminals positioned on the long side of the battery, with positive in the left corner and negative in the right corner
• Battery terminals positioned on the long side of the battery, with negative in the left corner and positive in the right corner
• Terminals positioned on the short side of the battery with positive in the right upper corner and negative in the lower right corner
• Terminals positioned on the short side of the battery with negative in the right upper corner and positive in the lower right corner

Find the Right Car Battery at Batteries Plus

Still have questions? No problem. Batteries Plus makes it easy to find the right battery for your car or truck. Go to our car batteries page and enter the year, make and model into the Fitment Finder. Once you do, you'll be given a list of compatible batteries.

Want to have your questions answered face-to-face? No problem. The experts at your nearest Batteries Plus will be happy to help you find the perfect battery for any vehicle.