For those that didn’t get a chance to make it to Automechanika earlier in the year, and want to learn more about ONE BOX, Ecobat’s installation and testing solution for start/stop batteries, the company explains what the package has to offer.
Ecobat Battery Technologies (EBT), formerly Manbat, has long expressed the need for independent workshops to be fully up to speed when it comes to both the batteries and the associated technology present in every micro-hybrid, or start/stop, enabled vehicle.
However, there are still a surprisingly large number of workshops that have yet to grasp the issue and are therefore losing out on the potential it offers. The knock-on effect to motor factors is obvious, inasmuch as they can’t sell the number of replacement batteries they ought to be able to due to the lack of demand from their customers.
Following some detailed research, EBT discovered that nationally, 43% of workshops turn away start/stop battery replacement. This points to an assumption that they consider fitting them to be complicated and the necessary equipment costly, or that the potential negative publicity to their incorrect fitment, as seen through recent news stories concerning a prominent chain, and the subsequent demand for compensation, has led them to decide that it is something they think is best to steer clear of.
However, the number of start/stop vehicles entering the workshop, all of which are fitted with either an AGM or EFB battery, is only going to continue to grow because since 2016, virtually all petrol and diesel engines have the system as standard.
In order to alleviate the problem, EBT has developed ONE BOX, a solution that consolidates all the equipment needed to test and install start/stop batteries into a single package to provide workshops with an easy route to access the profit potential, which they would typically charge at more than £185 per installation.
With the ONE BOX package and a little training to enable technicians get the very best from the equipment, workshops will find that fitting these batteries correctly is not a complicated process and allows them to provide a more professional service. The benefit from a motor factor perspective is equally positive, as they can finally begin to sell the much publicised AGM and EFB batteries alongside their existing traditional SLI sales.
The components brought together in the ONE BOX bundle include a battery analyser to accurately assess the condition of the existing battery, a NOCO charger and OBD lead to support the vehicle’s ECU/data storage during the replacement process, and a battery validation tool to ensure the new AGM/EFB battery is correctly assimilated into the vehicle’s battery management system.
Demand for the solution was demonstrated when the package was introduced at Automechanika Birmingham in June, when sales during the show were 400% up on the company’s preshow projection. In common with the other products in the EBT portfolio, which include the VARTA, Lucas and Numax brands, ONE BOX is only available to workshops through wholesalers and motor factors. The orders taken at the event have now been supplied and the training support arranged, through the company’s existing customers.
However, enquiries from workshops remain ongoing, which is why factors would benefit from supporting the initiative; the product is stimulating sales in an underdeveloped market, opening up previously untapped profits – something all too rare in such a mature industry.
