CTEK’s PRO25S professional workshop charger has won the maintenance support category award in the prestigious Goods Awards from Japan’s leading newspaper for the automotive industry, Nikkan Jidosha Shimbum (Daily Automotive News). 

This is the first time a CTEK product has won this award and we are delighted to have been recognised by Nikkan Jidosha Shimbum which, with a circulation of 125,000 copies a day, is actually the largest specialised paper for the automotive industry worldwide. 

Nikkan Jidosha Shimbum journalists selected the award winners based on sales volume, product development ideas, topicality, contribution to the industry and social conditions, with information being drawn from the newspaper’s articles, and questionnaires conducted with car accessory retailers and students from maintenance schools.  

Journalists singled out the PRO25S for this recognition saying that this professional charger for car dealers and workshops can perform high speed charging with a max 25A output and that it automatically shifts to maintenance mode and full charging, so it can be left connected with no problem. The charger, which is compatible with both 12V lithium and lead acid batteries, can also be used as a power source for battery support during software programming and vehicle demonstrations.  

The CTEK PRO25S is an innovative, versatile and highly efficient 25A battery charger and power supply, designed around the needs of the automotive professional. Combining power and advanced technology with safety, portability and flexibility to work with any 12V vehicle battery including lithium batteries (LiFePO4, Li-Fe, Li-iron, LFP), the PRO25S is the perfect solution to professional battery charging, in the workshop or the showroom.  

CTEK has been supplying UK partner Rotronics to provide a complete showroom battery charging solution for the Land Rover teams in Ludlow and Aberystwyth, ensuring that their showroom charging is top-of-the-line, and their customers can see and experience everything that the vehicle has to offer. 

If you work at a car dealership, the last thing you want is a flat battery. This would ruin the experience for a potential customer because they cannot try all of the functions on the vehicle.  

Ken Clark from Rotronics went to visit the Ludlow Land Rover showroom to ask some questions and assess which kind of support they were looking for.  

The service manager at Ludlow Land Rover said that they previously had problems with chargers switching off, even though they selected a charger setting they would later find out that the chargers had turned themselves off. This would often happen before the battery was fully charged. If the battery is flat and drains to zero, there is no other option than to replace the battery.  

Because of the rising cost for batteries, a reliable charger is more important than ever. A new battery costs between £150-£300 and if several batteries need to be replaced, this will very quickly become costly for the management team. 

The service manager said that except from having to replace the battery and handle those additional costs, they would also need to reset the software because everything would be out of function.   

Ken Clark proposed to the team that they should try the CTEK PRO25SE charger, a solution that could solve their problems. The charger can be plugged in and connected to the vehicle while it is simultaneously self-testing and charging the right amount of power. 

The Land Rover team tried out the PRO25SE for a couple of weeks and then placed a preliminary order for 10 chargers. They wanted to make sure that they had one charger per battery in the showroom. After the success in Ludlow, the Aberystwyth showroom will be equipped with the PRO25SE chargers as well.  

The service manager explained that the CTEK chargers have been very easy to use and that they don’t have to worry about the performance of their batteries anymore. You just plug it in and let the charger do the job for you. The sales team is confident about the vehicles being in top condition when any potential customer visit the showroom. 

With a global shortage of new cars and ongoing concerns over the increased cost of living, we are seeing UK drivers hanging onto their cars for longer, with the vehicles on Britain’s roads currently averaging 8.4 years of age, the oldest since records began.  

The resulting increase in demand for older vehicles is also leading to an ageing stock on dealers’ forecourts, and these vehicles need additional care to keep their batteries in peak condition. 

CTEK has the following tips for car dealers stocking older vehicles, to keep batteries in the best of health, ready for that all-important test drive or delivery to a customer.  

1. Keeping an older battery healthy 

A car battery tends to degrade as it ages, with a build-up of lead sulphate crystals reducing the amount of charge the battery can hold.  

But this deterioration can be stopped in its tracks and even reversed with a professional battery charger like the CTEK PRO25S. 

The PRO25S is a combined battery charger and 12V power supply that’s been specifically developed for the automotive trade. It delivers a fast, safe charge that exactly meets the battery’s needs and has a dedicated lead-acid battery reconditioning programme to recondition flat batteries and restore battery life. It’s fully portable, so you can move it from vehicle to vehicle as and when you need it. The PRO25S is suitable for any type of 12V battery including lead-acid, gel, AGM and lithium (12V LiFePO4). 

2. Regular maintenance charging 

Regular maintenance charging is essential to maintain optimum battery health. This is particularly important if the car is sat on a vehicle forecourt and isn’t being driven very often, or very far. 

It takes 150-350A of battery power just to start the car, so short test drives, especially in municipal areas, drains the battery as the alternator won’t have the time or ability to change this charge. The same applies if you’re starting the car up at regular intervals to move it round the forecourt or showroom, or in and out of a workshop. 

Even while the vehicle is parked, the battery will lose 0.1V of energy every month and, if the car has onboard computer, remote locking, an alarm system etc, the continuous drain on the battery will be additional to that.   

Being proactive with battery management will ensure the cars on your forecourt are always ready to start when needed, protecting your brand and reputation, and ensuring you don’t lose out on a sale just because the customer can’t take the car out for a spin. 

In addition, regular battery maintenance can actually extend battery life by up to three times, so investing in a professional battery charger and getting into a routine of regular maintenance charging for the cars on your forecourt makes perfect financial sense, as well as helping to reduce wastage.   

3. Fully charged, customer ready! 

You’ll of course want to make sure that any car you sell has a fully charged battery when the new owner comes to collect it. But as driving in a vehicle will only ever charge the battery to 80% capacity, you’ll always need a battery charger to get it to 100%, so it’s fully charged and ready to go when the car is driven off the forecourt.  

4. A change in the weather 

The weather can have a significant impact on battery performance, especially when your car is parked outside. In cold conditions when the temperature reaches freezing, the battery can lose as much as 35% of its performance, and up to 50% if the conditions are even colder.  

But the PRO25S has you covered, as it has a built-in temperature sensor that ensures maximum charge levels are achieved, even in the toughest conditions. It is IP44 classified for outdoor use and, built to withstand the rigours of a Swedish winter, can handle anything the British weather has to throw at it, down to a bone chilling -20oC!