The VARTA Partner Portal is an online tool that can help turn your customers into battery experts.
Start-stop technology is on a roll. Johnson Controls, the global battery manufacturer behind the VARTA brand, estimates that by 2020 every third car that enters a workshop will be equipped with start-stop technology. This technology transition is supporting the reduction of fuel consumption and is therefore welcomed by car drivers. A lot of workshop professionals’ heads, however, are spinning.
Johnson Controls knows the challenges workshops face; not only are vehicle electronics becoming increasingly complex, battery testing and replacement is also becoming more difficult for workshops. Battery service time has increased up to 70 minutes because batteries can be installed in the boot, under the seats or in other places that are hard to access. Technicians face more complexity in the battery service and can often need, for example, 28 steps to replace a battery in a Volkswagen Touareg. That’s a big challenge for aftermarket workshops that are not adequately prepared for servicing start-stop vehicles.
Johnson Controls aims to prepare workshops for new situations around battery service. The VARTA Partner Portal is a convenient, accessible online service enabling every workshop employee to change a battery as quickly and as accurately as possible. With this tool, workshops save valuable time and costs.
Access to the VARTA Partner Portal is available via all internet-enabled devices. After a quick one-off registration, each workshop employee has free and unlimited access to step-by-step instructions, including photos, the right part number and battery location so that the correct battery is installed in the quickest time possible.
What does the VARTA Partner Portal offer?
After logging in, servicing can start without delay. Workshop employees have various options for entering the individual vehicle’s details to immediately obtain all the key information for replacing the battery in four transparent modules:
1. Battery position
50% of modern vehicle models have a complex battery location – the battery is not necessarily under the bonnet anymore. Using the VARTA Partner Portal, the workshop technician can see at a glance where the battery is installed. Further details can be called up at the click of a button, such as how to reach this position in the fastest possible way.
2. Battery selection
While conventional vehicles are mainly equipped with standard, flooded batteries, start-stop vehicles require AGM or EFB batteries. The challenge lies in choosing the right battery technology for each individual car model. Thanks to the portal displaying the correct replacement battery, the workshop employee saves valuable time. Alongside the OE-fitted battery, an alternative upselling option for special requirements is recommended in certain cases, too.
3. Fitting instructions
In some cases, it can take 28 steps to replace the battery. The portal’s step-by- step instructions make the battery replacement process easier for start-stop vehicles and show the estimated service time. In the process, the system follows every single detail and indicates whether you have to connect to a specialist diagnostics or reset tool.
4. Battery knowledge
Anyone who wants to become a real battery expert can acquire even more know-how through the portal, answering questions such as: how has the battery’s role changed? What do you have to take into account when testing batteries in start- stop vehicles? What makes the VARTA Silver Dynamic AGM the perfect battery for start-stop vehicles?
All of this helpful information can be called on, on all internet-enabled devices. The VARTA Partner Portal is available anywhere and at any time, for free.
