During the digital specialist event Conference Days 2025, Patric Rückert, Field Sales Representative at Clarios Germany GmbH & Co. KG, presented practical insights into current and future battery requirements for commercial vehicles on May 13th on the "Truck & Bus" stage. Under the title "VARTA - The Right Battery for Modern Commercial Vehicle Electrical Systems," the speaker illuminated technological differences, common failure causes, and central trends in power supply for heavy-duty transport.
Key result: Battery stress is increasing due to longer idle times and more electronic consumers in vehicles—from stationary air conditioning to comfort features like microwaves or ovens. The common cause of failure remains
deep discharge (61%). Heat, vibrations due to rear axle mounting, and fuel-saving measures such as disconnecting the alternator exacerbate the strain.
Rückert presented a comparison of three battery types: the classic SLI battery (Starting, Lighting, Ignition) with short endurance during stationary air conditioning operation, the more powerful EFB variant (EFB stands for "Enhanced Flooded Battery" and refers to a battery technology developed for vehicles with start-stop systems), and the AGM battery (Absorbent Glass Mat), which scores with improved deep discharge properties, longer lifespan, and vibration resistance. The latter allows for up to eight hours of stationary air conditioning operation without recharging.
More Performance with Higher
Efficiency Required
Regarding future requirements in fleet operations, it is clear: The on-board battery remains essential even with the increasing spread of high-voltage systems. It continues to handle all key-off functions, ensures the shutdown of the HV system, and serves as a fallback in emergencies. At the same time, cycle stress increases as recuperation energy is primarily fed into the HV battery. The "Varta Promotive AGM" already meets these requirements today—including potential savings of up to 400 liters of fuel per year and vehicle.
Fleet operators receive additional support through the Varta Partner Portal with an integrated TCO calculator and the Varta Van mobile on-site
service for customer consultation.
Digital Forum for Logistics Decision Makers
The session took place as part of the Conference Days 2025—a purely digital B2B event of the HUSS-VERLAG, which will be held for the fifth time on CONFERENCE-DAYS.de from May 12 to 15, 2025. In 2024, over 1,100 participants used the online format to learn about current developments in logistics, transport, and commercial vehicle technology in 30 live sessions. The platform offers, besides knowledge transfer, numerous digital opportunities for networking and exchange between participants and partners.
Further information and the current program of the Conference Days can be found at https://conference-days.de/. Expired sessions are available
