If you are the Service Manager of any car dealership, then perhaps one of the worst things that can happen is that the sales team is not able to demonstrate a vehicle because of a flat battery. That means not being able to allow the potential customer to open the tailgate, use the infotainment, move the seats and have a good play with any of the vehicle’s functions. 

Rotronics has been working with the Shukers Land Rover team in Ludlow and Aberystwyth to provide them with the best option for showroom charging, to make sure that they are not faced with any of the above embarrassing situations.

What Problem Needed to be Solved?

Ken Clark visited the Ludlow Land Rover showroom at the beginning of the year to assess their requirements.  First things first, what issues were they facing?

Dave Roberts, Service Manager at Shukers Land Rover, told Ken: “The previous chargers used to turn themselves off after a while – we’d put them onto a setting and we’d find them switched off, not having charged the vehicles.  This meant that we’d have flat batteries.  Unfortunately, if the battery drains to zero, there’s only one option and that’s a new battery.

“In addition to needing a new battery and that additional cost, we would have to complete a total software reset as nothing on the vehicle would work.”

Rising Battery Costs

In a showroom containing anything up to eight vehicles, with new batteries costing from £150-£300, changing batteries too frequently would start to become pretty costly for the management team.

Embarrassing Batteries

It also means that a sales team would be placed in an embarrassing situation because showroom customers are always keen to be able to play with the functions of any vehicle, as far as they can in a showroom setting.  It is incredibly important that they can press the buttons and put the vehicle through its paces, without taking it out on the road.

What Solution Could Rotronics Provide?

Ken Clark, Managing Director at Rotronics, listened closely to the issues and suggested that the Shukers team trial the Pro25SE https://www.rotronicsbms.com/ctek-pro25se.html and the CTEK MXS25 EC charger https://www.rotronicsbms.com/ctek-mxs25-ec-charger.html for their in-showroom charging.

The features of the Pro25SE are:

• Comes with a wall bracket and hanger for cables
• Compatible with all battery technologies including Lithium
• Selectable charge modes
• 25a Output BSU
• Low voltage and Power ripple safety and stability
• Impact resistant for toughest environments
• Heavy duty extended 6 metre charging cables
• For batteries from 40Ah-500Ah
• Includes a two-year warranty

The features of the CTEK MXS25 EC are:

• Fully automatic
• 8 step 12v smart charger and battery support unit
• 25Amps of power,
• 6-metres of heavy-duty charging cables
• Easy-to-read LED screen and menu
• Spark protection
• Reverse polarity
• Comes with a wall bracket and hanger for cables

The benefits of the Pro25SE and the CTEK MXS25 EC are that they can be plugged in, connected to the vehicle, will self-test and then charge as required, without any human intervention.

The Shukers team trialled the CTEK technology for a few weeks and then placed an initial order for 10 chargers, to ensure that they could have one charger for every battery in the Ludlow showroom. The Aberystwyth showroom has up to eight Land Rover and Hyundai vehicles over two sites and will be kitted out with CTEK technology to improve their showroom charging, following the success in Ludlow.

During the initial trial, the Shukers team found the CTEK technology easy to use, and all batteries were maintained in optimal condition.

Dave Roberts from Shukers commented: “These CTEK chargers have been really easy to use in the showroom and I now don’t need to worry about the batteries performing. We just plug them in and leave them – and the batteries do exactly what they are meant to. The sales team are fully confident that each vehicle is in great condition for any potential customers to view them at their best.

“We also use the Pro25SE and MXS25 EC for our part-exchange vehicles when they arrive in the workshop, as we can leave it all connected overnight, to check the condition of the battery, and don’t have to worry about any settings.  We check it in the morning and have a clear plan of action. We don’t have any issues with the CTEK charger, it’s reliable, it’s easy-to-use and it’s plug in and forget.”