UK Power Up Brochure 2023

“ Charge up” your workshop for battery season

VARTA is fitted to 7 out of 10 of newly manufactured vehices in Europe

Battery maintenance with VARTA With the increased complexity of battery replacement on newer vehicles and especially Start-Stop models, we have worked closely with VARTA to provide a step-by- step guide. For Start-Stop batteries fitment can be tricky and the location of these batteries are not always easy to find. Take the Range Rover Velar; the battery is stowed away in the boot. These guides aim to take away the complexity of fitment, saving you time, and best of all not having turn work away to another garage or OES. VARTA battery fitting instructions exclusive to customers.

Find out more at Omnipart

There are plenty of opportunities for a workshop to upsell or gain extra revenue, no more so than batteries. Batteries eventually fail – simple. Checking a customer’s battery should be part of the service you offer, if it’s working then great, you can give the customer the good news, if not then recommend the next course of action, most customers will be receptive to getting it changed.

Vehicle and battery age The average age of the vehicle car parc is aging, and the used car market is on the increase. What does that mean for the IMT, more cars that will need servicing and probably many batteries that will need replacing due to end of life.

We have been promoting for the last couple of years the importance of battery testing, but did you know what can make a battery fail and why a simple test can be preventative for your customer.

But how long should a car battery last?

In general, a vehicle will usually need a new battery after four to five years. This figure can depend on how the vehicle is driven, mileage, storage and other factors. However as the car parc ages and consumers are keeping vehicles for longer, the likelihood is that there will be more battery failures. The answer is simple, test every vehicle that enters your workshop and make sure your customer has a fit for purpose battery. Turn over and read on about how testing batteries can help you and your customers.

Weather conditions Hot and cold weather both stress a battery. In the warmer weather it can cause cells to crack, the colder weather will exaggerate these failures, meaning poor or non performance (Cranking power).

Short journeys and low mileage Both of these will put huge amounts of stress through

Battery corrosion Battery corrosion over time will affect the how the battery will maintain a charge and eventually the ability to start the vehicle. Always look for corrosion and test.

a battery, being undercharged for any period of time will affect the condition of the battery, leading to poor performance.

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