Some good stuff there, but I think this article suffers from not distinguishing between a "dead battery" that's dead because, eg you left your headlights on, an

Some good stuff there, but I think this article suffers from not distinguishing between a "dead battery" that's dead because, eg you left your headlights on, and a battery that's "dead" because it's aged to the point of suffering internal defects. A "dead battery" in the former case (maybe we should just call it a "very discharged battery") can, in my experience, often be recharged by your alternator and it doesn't necessarily take a super long drive to do it. That's assuming you're able to get the car started in the first place, possibly by jump-starting from another car, or "roll it down a hill and pop the clutch" which will work IF there's "just enough" juice in the battery for the ignition coil to fire (and enough to provide the "seed" excitation current to the alternator). OTOH, a "dead battery" in the latter sense (maybe we should call it a "dying battery") simply needs to be replaced, ASAP. It won't ever hold a charge reliably, could (in an extreme worst case scenario) develop an internal short and catch fire, or damage your alternator. Fortunately most auto parts stores (here in the US anyway) offer a battery testing service that can tell you if your battery is truly shot or not. They'll also often have an alternator tester, but that usually means removing the alternator and bringing it in, which can be a lot of work on some vehicles. But a simple test is to start your engine and then disconnect the positive battery terminal. If the engine dies immediately, you know the alternator isn't emitting any current (the engine dies because there's no current for the ignition coil(s), ECM, fuel-injectors, etc).