Novel Cobra Mobile Battery Pack Is Claimed To Jump-Start Most Vehicles
Cobra Electronics is offering a mobile battery pack with a twist -- it not only will recharge dead smartphones and function as an LED flashlight, but also promises to jump-start cars. Cobra’s CPP 8000 JumPack costs $99 and is about…
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the size of a deck of cards. Its lithium-cobalt battery delivers five volts at 2.1 amps for rapid charging of portable devices such as mobile phones, tablets and digital cameras. Unconventionally, JumPack also has a shuttered, twin-pin socket that takes short, fused leads with crocodile clips. These connect to a car battery and deliver bursts of 12 volts at around 200 amps. Cobra says this is enough to jump-start most vehicles. In London, we put the device to a real-world test, deliberately draining the battery of a Volkswagen Polo with 1.4-liter engine and then trying to start it with the JumPack. We found the JumPack delivered enough power to turn over the engine, several times, but lacked the speed and torque to get the engine running. We followed the instructions and tried several times with short bursts, but couldn't start the engine. Our test findings suggested the CPP 8000 may be best suited for cars with a low, but not completely drained, battery. Cobra representatives didn’t comment.