New three tier VARTA battery range for CV aftermarket

Johnson Controls, the manufacturer of VARTA truck batteries, is increasing its product availability for the UK aftermarket to reflect emerging trends in OE fitment.

The new Promotive CV battery range comes in three clearly defined performance levels to meet all commercial applications – from trucks, buses and coaches to construction and agricultural machinery.

Long distance trucks with sleeper cabs, buses and coaches and special vehicles with additional electrical equipment need the VARTA Promotive Silver battery, which offers the highest EN level V3 vibration-resistant and EN level E4 cyclic durability ratings.

Available in three types with 145, 180 and 225 Ah ratings in silver-coloured cases, these super heavy duty specification batteries are also totally maintenance-free.

They feature a specially designed labyrinth safety lid, central degassing, flame arrestor and glass mat envelope separators for added cyclic durability in extremely demanding conditions.

For more recently manufactured commercial vehicles with standard power requirements, Johnson Controls recommends the VARTA Promotive Blue battery, a heavy duty product with high cyclic durability and vibration resistance. This battery is ideally suited to standard specification long and short distance trucks, municipal, construction and agricultural vehicles and machinery.

These Promotive Blue batteries are 100 per cent maintenance-free, and also feature a labyrinth safety cover, central degassing, special vent plugs and an integral flame arrestor for added safety. Five battery types rated from 140 – 215 Ah are offered in a silver-coloured case with blue labeling.

For older trucks, light commercials and plant and farm machinery, the manufacturer is introducing the VARTA Promotive Black, a maintenance-free battery incorporating hybrid technology and built to a robust specification to deliver high vibration resistance.

Johnson Controls‘ Calcium-silver technology batteries have already been put through an exhaustive four year test programme to analyse their performance against traditional lead-acid batteries. These tests proved conclusively that the Promotive batteries incorporating Calcium-silver technology performed significantly better. The longer lifespan of these batteries should translate into a real business advantage for the fleet operator.

It is important to remember that commercial vehicles with Calcium-silver batteries as original equipment must be fitted with like for like replacements. Failure to do so may cause premature failure as the battery may not meet the vehicle manufacturer’s specification.

Promotive Silver and Promotive Blue batteries using Calcium-silver technology have far superior recharge acceptance and cyclic performance, while a lesser specification or technology in relevant applications will not be able to recover as quickly and will thus be working with less available capacity, which over time would accelerate the rate of decline.

A 2009 applications catalogue with full details of the new VARTA CV battery range has been published to help operators find the correct specification for their vehicles.

The new range is available from a network of more than 500 VARTA battery stockists throughout the UK. CV operators can find details of their nearest stockist at varta-automotive.com