Batteries

Like

Parts of an automobile Tyres

Lubricants- engine and its oil Engine Oil and its viscosity
Batteries  

Car Batteries 
A car battery is principally used to start the engine. It is also used to filter or
stabilize power and to provide extra power for the ignition, lighting and
other accessories when their combined load exceeds the capability of the
charging system, i.e., when the engine is idling. It also provides power to
the electrical system when the charging system is not operating. The
battery lies hidden under the bonnet and is an essential component of your
vehicle. Regular care is a must, for if it in bad shape, the car will refuse to
move. "Push-start" is a solution but cannot be carried on for long. A well-
maintained battery lasts for two years. Regular care of your battery is a must, otherwise your car will not
move. "Push-start" is an option but not a long term solution. A well maintained battery usually lasts for two
years. 
Points to note when buying a new battery
Climatic conditions determine the kind of battery you should buy. Colder climates require batteries with
higher CCA ratings than in a hot climate. 

Cold Cranking Amps (CCA)

The most important consideration is sizing the battery's CCA rating to meet or exceed, depending on the
climate, is the car's OEM cranking requirements. CCA's are defined as the discharge loads measured in
amps that a fully charged battery at 0 degrees F (-17.8 degrees C) can deliver for 30 seconds while
maintaining the voltage above 7.2 volts. 

Batteries are sometimes advertised by their Cranking Performance Amps (CA) or Marine Cranking Amps
(MCA), which is measured at 32 degrees F (0 degrees C) or Hot Cranking Amps. 

HCA is measured at 80 degrees F (26.7 degrees C), which is not the same as CCA. Do not be misled by
CA, MCA or HCA ratings. Multiply the CAs by 8 to convert Cas to CCAs. To convert HCAs to CCAs,
multiply HCAs by 0.69. 

Buying batteries with double or triple CCA ratings that exceed the OEM requirement are a waste of
money for hot climates. However, in colder climates the higher the CCA rating the better, due to
increased power required to crank a sluggish engine and the inefficiency of the cold battery. As batteries
age, they are less capable of producing CCAs. 

One of the major battery manufacturers, Exide, publishes the following table:

Available Power from battery Temperature Degrees F Power Required to crank engine
100% 80 100%
65% 32 155%
40% 0 210%
25% -32 350%
If more CCA capacity is required, two (or more) 12 volt batteries can be connected in parallel. Within a
BCI group size, generally the battery with more CCA will have more plates because a larger surface area
is required to produce the higher current.

Reserve Capacity (RC)

The Reserve Capacity rating is the second most important consideration while buying a battery. This is
because of the effects of an increased parasitic (key off) load and in emergencies. Reserve Capacity is
the number of minutes a fully charged battery at 80 degrees F (26.7 degrees C) can be discharged at 25
amps until the voltage falls below 10.5 volts. More RC is better in every case! In a hot climate, for
example, if your car has a 360 OEM cranking amp requirement, then a 400 CCA rated battery with 120
minute RC with more electrolyte would be more desirable than one with 1000 CCA with 90 minutes of RC.
If more RC is required, two six-volt batteries can be connected in series or two (or more) 12 volt batteries
can be connected in parallel. Within a BCI group size, generally the battery with larger RC will weigh more
because it contains more lead.

Type

Low maintenance (non-sealed) and maintenance free (non-sealed or sealed) are the two most common
types of car batteries.
The advantages of maintenance free batteries are less preventative maintenance, longer life, faster
recharging, greater overcharge resistance, reduced terminal corrosion and longer shelf life, but they are
more prone to deep discharge (dead battery) failures due to increased shedding of active plate material.

In hot climates, buying non-sealed batteries is recommended because a sealed battery will not allow
you to add water when required, or to test the specific gravity with an external hydrometer. Some
manufacturers introduced a third type of car battery, "dual", that combined a standard battery with
switchable emergency backup cells. For about the same cost a better approach was to buy two
batteries and isolate them.

It is best to buy a commercial or AMG battery for excessive vibration applications. Car batteries are
specially designed for high initial cranking amps (usually for five to 15 seconds) to start an engine;
whereas, deep cycle (or marine) batteries are designed for prolonged discharges at lower amperage.

A "dual marine" battery is a compromise between a car and deep cycle battery; However, a car battery
will give you the best performance in a car. For RVs, a car battery is used to start the engine and a deep
cycle battery is used to power the accessories. The batteries are connected to a diode isolator and both
are automatically recharged by the RV's charging system when engine is running. 
Size

Batteries are generally sold by model, so the group numbers will vary for the same price. This means that
for the SAME price you can potentially buy a physically larger battery with more RC than the battery you
are replacing, e.g. a 34/78 group might replace a smaller 26/70 group and give you an additional 30
minutes of RC. 
If you do this, be sure that the replacement battery will fit, the cables will connect to the correct terminals,
and that the terminals will NOT touch the hood when closed. 

BCI and the battery manufacturers publish application guides that will contain the OEM cranking
amperage requirements and group number replacement recommendations by make, model and year of
car, and battery size, CCA and RC specifications. Manufacturers might not build or the store might not
carry all the BCI group numbers. To reduce inventory costs, dual terminal "universal" batteries that will
replace several group sizes are becoming more popular and fit 75% or more of cars on the road today.  

Freshness

Determining the "freshness" of a battery is sometimes difficult. A battery that is more than six months old
should never be bought because it begins to sulfate. Sulfation occurs when lead sulfate can not be
converted back to charged material and is created when discharged batteries stand for a long time or
from excessive water loss.

Warranty

As with every thing else, it is necessary that you check the warranty period of the battery before you buy
it.

It is extremely important to note that

batteries contain a sulfuric acid electrolyte, which is a highly corrosive poison. It produces gasses when
recharged and explode if ignited. When working with batteries, you need to have plenty of ventilation,
remove jewelry, wear protective clothing and eyewear (safety glasses), and exercise caution. Whenever
possible, you are requested to follow the manufacturer's instructions for testing, jumping, installing and
charging.
Amaron : Lasts Long , Really Long . TingTong !

Brand : Amaron
Company :Amara Raja
Agency: O&M

Amaron is a disruptive brand in the automotive segment. Launched in mid 2000 , this brand
has created some excitement in the rather dull automotive battery market in India. Amara Raja
has been a leading player in the industrial battery segment. In 2000 they forayed in the lucrative
Automotive battery market which is predominantly dominated by players like Exide.

Automotive battery market can be categorized into two: OEM and replacement market. OEM
segment is dominated by established players while replacement market is dominated by local
players and other non branded batteries.

Car Battery replacement is viewed as a grudge purchase by the car owners. No one thinks of
battery until it breaks down. This product comes under the category of High Involvement and
Low Interest product. We can consider this as a slow moving consumer good .
Amaron wanted to differentiate itself from the existing players in the market. It had to do so
because the product category is SMCG with low interest. So the question is how to create that
excitement. The Indian automotive battery market is worth around 1200 crore. Organised
players constitute 40% of that market.

The first thing the company has done was to create the product differentiation with respect to
the product feature. Amaron decided to bringout the Zero maintenance battery into the Indian
market ( I think it is the first company to do so). That means that we needn't check for the water
level and so on.

Amaron also ensured that the product commands the best quality so that the product can be
positioned as a premium brand.

Then came the form differentiation. Conventional batteries were all looking alike with a
transparent body and blue/ red top. Amaron decided on a black body with fluorescent green

logo splashed over. Th ere was also another reason for the black body.
There is a possibility of government regulations stipulating the use of Recycled plastics for
battery. Amaron is using such plastics so it need not effect the changes once the regulations are
implemented. And since the water level needn't be checked, Black body will have no problem for
the customers.

The purpose of using fluorescent green was that since our country is very hot, the color should
stay in Promotional materials , hoarding and in the product. So green was chosen.

Then came the differentiation regarding the advertising. Amaron decided that it will do the
breakaway advertising. Traditionally conventional battery ads seldom sells battery. It is the
sheer distribution and the presence of well established brand
name that does the selling.
So Amaron wanted its ads to look different and establish the brand name in this crowded
market.

So O&M decided to have a un-battery like campaign for Amaron. For the first time in India
"Claymation" ie using clay models + animation was used for advertising .Amaron ads were
classic examples of " Clutter busting". The ads were attention grabbing and outright funny. It
won many awards for the agency and Amaron grabbed 6% market share in a short span of time.
The Amaron Campaign Pandu Mangal has been well received by the public and research shows
that Amaron has a top of the mind brand recall . The ads coupled with claymation and hyperbole
effectively communicates the positioning of " lasting long" . The jingle "TingTong" has also been
a smash hit.

This is a brand that is a classic case of smart marketing and careful differentiation. I hope this
brand " Lasts Long, really long" ( I just bought one for my car !) Ting Tong.

Labels: absurdism in advertising, automobile brands, branding,smcg

Automobile Industry
 Indian lead acid battery market is estimated at Rs 21 billion (automotive at Rs 13
billion and industrial at Rs 8 billion)
 India is the second largest two-wheeler market in the world. Two-wheelers account
for 79% of all automobile sales inIndia (source: Society of Indian Automobile
Manufacturers - SIAM).
 India’s tyre market is Rs 120 billion (source; SIAM)
 World market for bicycles is 108 million. Hero Honda of India is worlds largest
manufacturer of bicycles.
 1 million passenger cars were sold in India in 2003-04 (source: SIAM). Maruti 800 at
US$4200 is the cheapest car in the world.
 Automobile lubricants market is Rs 55 billion
 Tata Automobile is the youngest passenger car company in the world,
putting India in the top 10 countries in the world for car manufacturing
Industry
 India uses 80 million rolls per annum, whereas USA uses 850 million and Japan 400
million and China uses 200 million film rolls per annum.
 Indian hospitality industry is Rs 60 billion in annual revenues (source: Department of
Tourism). India has 85,000 hotel rooms.
 Indian courier (domestic and international) market is Rs 25 billion (source: ORG
MARG)
 Indian telecom industry has 42.58 million fixed line telephones as of March 2004
(source;TRAI)
 Indian jewelery market is Rs 500 billion, of which organized sector is Rs 10 billion
 India’s paint market is Rs 45.7 billion with sales of 567 million liters of paint sold
every year
 Plywood and allied products market is Rs 35 billion in India
 Writing instruments market in India is Rs 150 billion
 There are 5,638 dailies in circulation in 101 languagaes and dialects in 2002
(Source: Registrar of Newspapers in India). Times of India is world’s largest read
English newspaper with 7.4 million readers (source: IRS 2003)
 Indian watch market is 30 million watches perr annum (source: Horological Fed of
India)
 India’s Refrigeration and washing machine market is Rs 50 billion (source: ORG)
 Total market size of 293 scheduled commercial banks (2004) was Rs 14.2 trillion for
deposits (source: RBI)
 World’s first floating ATM is located on a barge on backwaters of Kerala
 TV channel market is expected to grow from Rs 111 billion in 2003 to Rs 292 billion
in 2007. Subscription forms 70% and advertisements 30% of the revenues (source:
FICCI)
 Annual jeans wear is 24 million pairs in India
 88 million shirts are sold in India annually and branded apparel market is Rs 40
billion