If you tend to leave your car parked at home for extended periods, you’ve likely encountered the dreaded dead battery. While this issue is less common with Japanese cars, it can still happen. And for those who own a collection of vehicles—some of which might only be driven once a month—it can be a real headache ensuring each one starts on the first crank.
To keep your car batteries topped up, there are products known as trickle chargers. One such offering comes from Bosch, which recently launched an upgraded battery charger: the Bosch C70-B. While Bosch already had products like the C7 in its lineup, the new C70-B brings a fresh design and more functionality to the table.
The Bosch C70-B is an enhanced battery charger compatible with 12V–24V lead-acid, AGM, GEL, EFB, and open-cell batteries—making it suitable for cars, mobile homes, commercial vehicles, and even motorboats.
A More Rugged, Smarter Design
Visually, the C70-B looks significantly more rugged than its predecessor. It features a dual-color shell with anti-shock protection, giving users more confidence when handling it. The LED display is now brighter, allowing you to check battery status from a greater distance. Bosch has also added cable number labeling to prevent misconnection of positive and negative terminals. Even if you do manage to connect it incorrectly, the C70-B includes a built-in reverse polarity warning system as an extra safety net.
According to Bosch, the C70-B charges batteries 5% faster than the C7 and can begin charging at a lower voltage of 3.75V. This is an improvement over the C7’s 7.5V start, offering better protection for your battery and reducing the risk of overcharging.
Unboxing and Setup Experience
Unboxing the C70-B is a straightforward affair. The charger comes neatly packed in a box, inside a cloth pouch. Included are the charger itself, cables, and even a wall mount, which is great if you prefer to keep things tidy in your garage.
Setup is simple. The battery connector is detachable from the main unit, which means you can leave the connector attached to the vehicle and only reconnect the main unit when needed. At the time of writing, Bosch hasn’t announced plans to sell additional battery connectors, but doing so would certainly expand the charger’s practicality for those with multiple cars.
Once connected, all you need to do is plug the charger into a power socket. It will automatically detect your battery type and display the current battery percentage during the charging process. There’s one small downside: the main power plug is a 2-pin type. I do wish Bosch had equipped it with a 3-pin plug to better suit the Malaysian market. While the 2-pin plug still works in Malaysia, you may need an adapter to fit your local socket.
In my case, we sometimes leave our personal vehicles unused for close to a week because we’re busy testing media cars. The C70-B has been incredibly handy—I just leave it connected when the car is parked, and the next time I start it, it fires up on the first crank.
Final Thoughts
The Bosch C70-B is a user-friendly, reliable charger that’s well worth the investment if you own several vehicles or simply don’t drive daily. Priced at RM450, it’s reasonably affordable, and you may even find better deals online. If you want to ensure your vehicles are always in top condition, this is a worthwhile purchase—especially considering the peace of mind it brings.
