Different car battery

That sounds like Apollo 13.

Well yes, and airline reservations systems mainframes. Because they drive not only reservations fares, ticketing etc. but checkin and departure control (or they did when mainframes were THE thing) if the central systems started to play up they would stop certain functions until all that was left were the programs necessary to allow flights to depart.

I've had that kind of weirdness on a car with definitely no smarts... I suspect there was an earthing problem, so some things would come and go depending on whether they could get a path to earth through the chassis. Of course, the problem went away any time I went to try and pinpoint it.

Theo

Modern (i.e. 90s onwards) tend to be very good at starting so it is easy not to notice that the battery that the failing. When one car's battery failed, I charged it up drove the car 10 miles to Halfords, bought a new battery and then had to fit it to start the car to go home.

As far as Covid is concerned, a car is very much safer than the London tube.

Odd - given modern alternators can cope with the total load at very low engine speeds.

My C5 (replaced 7 years ago) did some form of load shedding if the battery wss getting flat. Parked up for a week and the remote unlocking didn't. The was a relevant message on the car's display screen.

I can see that. But with the engine running, battery on charge?

Had a BMW where the alternator failed on the way to work. But warning light not on. First thing to suffer was the auto - went into limp home mode with only (IIRC) 3rd gear out of five neutral and reverse available. Followed by the radio failing.

Last time I had a battery go it was overnight in cold weather. The day before the starter motor turned over fast and the car started OK and during the day it had a 30 mile run so the battery was probably fully charged. The next day - nothing - and the battery failed to charge on a main operated battery charger.

My S-Max does this. There are peiods when I only do short journeys, then I go back to longer ones.

After a period of short journeys, the touch locking ceases to work on all but the driver's door. Sometimes that goes out too and I have to press the button on the fob.

Not got as far as the emergency key yet.