Click. If you’ve ever heard that sound when turning the key in the ignition of your car, you'll know all too well the sinking feeling that accompanies it.

A flat battery, just like flattery, will get you nowhere. But at a push, you'll be able to get started again.

Just get out the jumper cables, find a donor car, and…wait, you do have a set of cables with crocodile clips attached, right?

And you will be able to find a good Samaritan to turn their car nose to nose with yours? There has to be an easier way. And now, there is.

In a giant jump start for emergency car-starting technology, comes the portable jump starter. A simple device, not much bigger than a cell phone, that lets you jolt your dormant car battery back to life at the press of a button.

The PowerUp 800A Jump Starter, as the name suggests, delivers 800 amps of peak current, enough to boost the battery of a 4-litre petrol car or a 2.4-litre diesel.

It’ll even do the trick with an automatic, which is the kind of vehicle that doesn’t take easily to a downhill push-start. No need for old-fashioned muscle power with this little gadget, of course.

Just pop the bonnet, clip the croc-clips to the matching terminals of your car battery, and start the engine. VROOM.

It’s a quick and easy one-person operation, making the Jump Starter an essential addition to your in-car just-in-case checklist, right up there with the spare tyre, the first aid kit, and the flashlight.

Indeed, this Jump Starter has a built-in LED light for jump starting in the dark, along with USB ports for charging your phone or tablet during loadshedding.

A single charge will keep the Jump Starter on standby for weeks, which means you can safely stow it in your car, ready to be pressed into duty when next your battery gives up the ghost.

And who knows? You might even turn out to be the high-tech good Samaritan someone else with a flat battery is hoping to find.

The PowerUp 800A Jump Starter is available on Takealot. Subject to availability.