The Cranking Amp Reality Index
Jump starters are marketed almost entirely on "peak amps" — a figure with no governing test standard. This dataset lines up the current portable-jump-starter lineup by what's actually disclosed: advertised peak amps, any published cranking-amps figure, battery capacity and chemistry, engine-size guidance, and a clearly-labeled derived plausibility flag comparing the peak-amp claim to the battery's stated capacity. No specific product's claim is asserted to be false — the numbers are presented side by side, and the absence of a governing standard speaks for itself.
The one thing to know: Across the current jump-starter lineup, disclosed cranking-amps (CA/CCA) figures are the exception, not the rule — most listings market only the undefined peak-amp number. That pattern of non-disclosure is itself a finding: if a sustained-current figure existed and looked good, it would likely be on the box.
License & how to cite
License: CC BY 4.0 — free to use with attribution.
How to cite: Jump Starter Decoded, "The Cranking Amp Reality Index," version 1.0, July 30, 2026. https://jumpstarter-decoded.pages.dev/cranking-amp-reality-index/
The dataset
| Brand | Model | Peak amps (advertised) | Cranking amps (disclosed) | Battery capacity | Chemistry | Engine guidance | Implied C-rate | Plausibility flag |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NOCO | Boost Plus GB40 | 1000 | not disclosed | 2150 mAh / 24 Wh | LiFePO4 | up to 6.0L gas / 3.0L diesel | ~465C | implausible as sustained (extreme pulse-only) |
| HULKMAN | Alpha85 | 2000 | not disclosed (marketed as "peak cranking amp") | 20000 mAh / 74 Wh | Li-ion | up to 8.5L gas / 6.0L diesel | ~100C | extreme pulse-only (borderline) |
| Weego | 66 (N66) | 2500 | 600 CA (manufacturer claim, not stated as SAE J537-tested) | 66 Wh (~5500 mAh implied at 12V) | Li-ion | 10L+ gas / 5L+ diesel | ~455C | implausible as sustained (extreme pulse-only) |
| GOOLOO | GP4000 | 4000 | not disclosed | 24000 mAh | Li-ion | up to 10.0L gas / 10.0L diesel | ~167C | implausible as sustained (extreme pulse-only) |
| Schumacher | SL1397 | 1000 | 500 CA (manufacturer claim, not stated as SAE J537-tested) | not disclosed | Li-ion | not specified in published spec sheet | not calculable (capacity not disclosed) | not calculable (capacity not disclosed) |
| Antigravity | XP-10 Gen 2 | 3000 | 600A "starting current" (manufacturer term, not a named CA/CCA/MCA standard) | 16000 mAh | Li-ion | up to 7.3L diesel | ~188C | implausible as sustained (extreme pulse-only) |
| Avapow | A28 | 3000 | not disclosed | 23800 mAh | Li-ion | up to 8.0L gas / 8.0L diesel | ~126C | extreme pulse-only |
| autowit | SuperCap 2 | 800 | not disclosed | N/A — supercapacitor, not rated in mAh/Wh | Supercapacitor | up to 8.0L gas / 4.0L diesel | not applicable (capacitor chemistry) | not applicable (capacitor chemistry) |
| DBPOWER | G16 | 3000 | not disclosed | 80.66 Wh (~6720 mAh implied at 12V) | Li-ion | up to 10.0L gas / 8.0L diesel | ~446C | implausible as sustained (extreme pulse-only) |
How the plausibility flag is calculated (assumptions stated plainly)
A plausibility flag compares a unit's advertised peak-amp claim to its disclosed battery capacity using a simple, stated assumption (peak amps ÷ rated amp-hours = an implied momentary C-rate). This is a derived estimate with named assumptions, not a lab measurement — it does not prove any specific product's claim is false, but very high implied C-rates are consistent only with an extremely brief instantaneous pulse, not a sustained 30-second cranking load like the one CCA actually measures.
The math: we divide the advertised peak-amp figure by the disclosed battery capacity in amp-hours (mAh ÷ 1000, or Wh ÷ 12V where only Wh is published) to get an implied momentary C-rate. We then bucket the result: under ~50C is labeled "high but plausible for a brief high-drain pulse," ~50–150C is labeled "extreme pulse-only (borderline)," and over ~150C is labeled "implausible as sustained (extreme pulse-only)." This is a derived estimate with a stated assumption, not a lab measurement, and it says nothing about whether a unit will successfully start a given engine.
Why so many rows say "not disclosed"
Across the current jump-starter lineup, disclosed cranking-amps (CA/CCA) figures are the exception, not the rule — most listings market only the undefined peak-amp number. That pattern of non-disclosure is itself a finding: if a sustained-current figure existed and looked good, it would likely be on the box. See the full standards breakdown at Peak Amps vs CA vs CCA vs MCA.
Caveats — read before citing a row
- We did not test any unit. Every figure here is a manufacturer-published spec or a retailer listing, recorded with its source and source class.
- The plausibility flag is derived, not measured. It uses a single stated assumption and does not constitute a claim that any product's advertised figure is false.
- Engine-size guidance is a manufacturer recommendation, not an independently verified rating.
- This is a snapshot as of the version date below. Manufacturers revise specs and lineups; check the current listing before buying.
- This is a specifications reference, not a safety determination for any vehicle or product — see Can a Jump Starter Damage My Car?
Methodology & versioning
Version 1.0 — published July 30, 2026. Facts are drawn from manufacturer specification pages and public retailer listings (Amazon, Walmart, eBay, brand sites), cross-checked against SAE's public J537 summary and Battery Council International's CA/MCA conventions. We do not test jump starters ourselves; this is a specifications-and-disclosure reference, not a lab result. Corrections: if a manufacturer updates a spec sheet or we find an error, this page and the CSV below are updated in place and the version/date bumped — see How We Evaluate for our full editorial policy.
Machine-readable download: the full table is available as CSV at /cranking-amp-reality-index.csv (version-pinned copy: /cranking-amp-reality-index-v1.0.csv), and a condensed digest is maintained in /llms-full.txt.
This page is a specifications and disclosure reference, not a safety or performance guarantee for any vehicle or product.
Frequently Asked Questions
A normalized dataset that lines up the current lineup of portable lithium jump starters by what each manufacturer actually discloses: advertised peak amps, any disclosed cranking-amps figure, battery capacity and chemistry, engine-size guidance, and a derived plausibility flag comparing the peak-amp claim to the battery's stated capacity. It exists because no neutral third-party reference for this comparison existed before it.
No. The flag is a derived estimate built from a stated assumption (advertised peak amps divided by the disclosed amp-hour capacity, giving an implied momentary C-rate). It does not measure anything in a lab and does not accuse any specific product of lying — it flags when a claim is consistent only with an extremely brief instantaneous pulse rather than a sustained current, and lets you weigh that alongside the marketing.
Because that's what the manufacturers' own published specs show. Most jump-starter listings market only an undefined peak-amp figure and do not publish a cranking-amps (CA) or Cold Cranking Amps (CCA) rating at all. We record that gap with a clean, uniform 'not disclosed' token rather than guessing a number — the pattern of non-disclosure is itself one of the dataset's findings.
No. SAE J537 is a defined, audited engineering standard for Cold Cranking Amps. Almost none of the products in this dataset publish an SAE J537-tested CCA figure; where a brand discloses something called 'cranking amps' or 'starting current,' we say so explicitly and note that it is a manufacturer claim, not a certified CCA rating, unless stated otherwise.
Yes. It's released under a CC BY 4.0 license — free to use with attribution. See the how-to-cite block below.