Automotive Repair News Today

Braxton Critcher [00:00:05]:
All right, welcome in. You are listening and I guess watching to the Automotive Repair News Today podcast. I'm Braxton, your host and if you are checking us out on YouTube, hit the subscribe button. Click the bell for notifications when new content like this comes out, because we want to keep you informed. That's the idea of the show. The vision behind the podcast is to let you know what's happening around the automotive industry so that if you're in a repair shop as a technician or owner, you know what's coming up. You know, new technologies, new things to implement, new trainings coming up. But you know, you're also a consumer perhaps, and you kind of just have a, a knowledge and a, an interest in the industry and you want to keep up to date.

Braxton Critcher [00:00:48]:
That's for you too. And for whatever else reason you're checking out the podcast, hit the subscribe button. And would love to have you following along on the podcast today. I have Alan Kohler. He is with Odyssey Battery and we're going to talk about batteries and why they're different. So, Alan Kohler, is there any connection to the clothing store? I Just off the top need to know. It's spelled the same except drop the last two letters. I mean, no, no, but you're wearing a nice shirt today.

Braxton Critcher [00:01:25]:
That could be something you bought from Kohl's.

Alan Kohler [00:01:27]:
You know, work bought this for me, but I. No, I. What I usually get being the last name Kohler is either the, the small engines that they put in lawnmowers and things. That's Kohler brand. And the sinks, faucets and toilets, which is also.

Braxton Critcher [00:01:44]:
That's. Yeah, well, that's spelled a little different, isn't it?

Alan Kohler [00:01:46]:
No, no, it's the same as mine. It is K, O, H, L, E, R. Both of them. And yeah, I get that all time, but unfortunately not so.

Braxton Critcher [00:01:55]:
So is this. Is this your first Kohl's comparison or.

Alan Kohler [00:01:59]:
I think so. Yeah.

Braxton Critcher [00:02:00]:
Well. Well, I, I guess I'll pat myself on the back after the podcast, but thought that was an obvious connection. You. You mean you could model for Coles. You look nice in that Polo, but thank you. Okay. Odyssey batteries. We.

Braxton Critcher [00:02:17]:
So there's a couple things. There's a new Odyssey Connect was just released. We'll talk about that in a minute. I want to hear about. You can. Just a tease. What we're going to talk about.

Alan Kohler [00:02:29]:
Some.

Braxton Critcher [00:02:29]:
Batteries, voltages that you can monitor on your phone using an app. Really cool system that just released with Odyssey. But I guess the first thing that you had mentioned you Know, wanting to clear the air about and to let people know is TPPL batteries are the type of batteries that you guys, that you guys create, but it's different. So for my listeners who know me, I'm not, you know, I, I can talk about the industry, I know what's going on, I cover the news, but I'm not an auto guy. So I, I don't know much about cars, much less batteries. So I don't know what the difference is. So you educate me and educate the listener on why you guys are different.

Alan Kohler [00:03:14]:
Yeah, yeah, not a problem. I mean, cars have been been using lead acid batteries for starting purposes for, geez, many, many decades. Right? So, and, and really the technology, the basic technology of a lead acid battery has not changed for decades. Right. You know, back in the day you might have a 6 volt battery in your 57 Chevy or whatever, but 12 volt batteries have been around for a long time and, and they have always been what we consider a flooded lead acid battery. I mean cars on, you know, dealer's lot today will, will sit there with a regular old flooded lead acid battery. So it's still a viable technology. I don't see it going away anytime soon.

Alan Kohler [00:04:01]:
But there are a couple variations of that, right? So geez, it was maybe like late 80s, early 90s where cars started to use what they call AGM battery. So AGM stands for absorbed glass mat. So that refers to the material that's in between. In between the positive and negative plates on the battery is able to absorb the acid. Right. So in a flooded battery, the acid just kind of floats around in there. Plates are floating around in there. In an AGM battery, the acid is absorbed and it's actually packed a lot tighter.

Alan Kohler [00:04:35]:
So not only can you get more, more plates in there, it's, it's more vibration resistant because of the res, you know, how tight it is. So AGM batteries, like I said, they've been around for a while too, but still not a lot of cars use them. If you've seen any cars where batteries may be in the trunk or underneath the seat, typically a lot of higher end European cars, they will typically use AGM batteries, but for the most part not so much. And then what we did, and Odyssey's been around since 1996, what we did is we went one step above that. So we actually call it AGM2. Just to say it's, it's one step better than a regular agm. And as you mentioned, that's, that's made out of what we Call tppl, which is thin plate pure lead. So two things there, one being it's made out of actual pure lead.

Alan Kohler [00:05:26]:
So it's brand new, you know, untainted mined lead. It goes directly into the batteries. And then the thin plate part of that is just kind of what I was talking about a minute ago with the agm. The thinner you can make a plate, the more you can put in a battery. And more plates you can put in a battery, more cranking power you have. So again we dialed ours in to those two factors. And you know, if you're going shopping for a battery at an auto parts store today, you know, you walk in the door, you can get several different levels of even a regular flooded lead acid battery where there's different warranties, different power rating, stuff like that. So call it the good better best scenario, right? So you walk in the door, you just decide what you, what you want and what you need.

Alan Kohler [00:06:08]:
Right. So you know, if you don't need anything, great, you know, you can buy the, the cheapest one that's on the shelf. But if you want to, you know, upgrade, there's ops, different, definitely different options you can go to. One of the things that we, we take into consideration these days where you didn't have to 20 years ago is just the fact that cars have a lot more electronics. So those batteries are doing more work than what they used to. Cars that have start stop, interesting thing there is, you know, as soon as that engine stops running, you're running all of your systems off your battery. Right?

Braxton Critcher [00:06:46]:
Right.

Alan Kohler [00:06:47]:
Yeah. So that, as you can imagine, that puts a, a good load on that battery. And then every time you pull out from the light, it starts it again. So think about how many times you're starting that battery in your car every time you're driving down the road. So that really, really beats up batteries.

Braxton Critcher [00:07:02]:
And so it'll, the battery won't last as long.

Alan Kohler [00:07:06]:
Right.

Braxton Critcher [00:07:06]:
Because I've always thought about that my car is not start stop, but my father in law's is and I've driven it a few times and I'm not a fan of that.

Alan Kohler [00:07:17]:
Right.

Braxton Critcher [00:07:18]:
But, but I've just thought like man, this, I mean it can't be good for, for. I didn't think just the battery. I was like all the mechanisms in this car that are constantly, especially if you're driving through town, stopping and starting at stoplight and stop signs. Like man, this poor car is like having to put in over time for what?

Alan Kohler [00:07:38]:
I mean so, so, yeah, so, so what happens when you Have a normal, normal starting battery and you just, you start your engine for, you know, the two seconds it takes to fire that engine over. Then your alternator takes over and it starts charging the battery. Right? So in the start stop cars, as you can imagine, you're using that battery a lot and it's, it's really cycling it deeply, right. So if you think about deep cycle batteries where you're using those, you know, they've typically used those in the marine industry, whatever else, you know, your battery has to be able to do that, has to be able to go down to a much, much lower voltage than what a normal starting battery does. So the car manufacturers and the battery manufacturers actually got together when that whole thing came out and they came out with what they call an EFB or an enhanced flooded battery. So still that original flooded style battery construction. But they tweak it a little bit so that it has a little bit more of a deep cycle capability. So that's how they're getting away with being able to beat those batteries up and, and you know, have them last a little bit is, have a slightly better battery.

Alan Kohler [00:08:41]:
But over and above that, the AGM and the AGM2, the TPPL is really a much better battery. So you know, maybe they don't put the expensive expense into the car out of the gate by getting the best of the best, but you're absolutely, obviously more than welcome to upgrade all the way to that. And you know, your battery will definitely last longer. The pure lead itself in the Odyssey battery is what allows for that deep cycle. So we say in our specs it's like 400 cycles at 80% depth of discharge. That means you can go through 80% of 100%. Right? Discharge. That battery basically kill it 400 times.

Alan Kohler [00:09:25]:
And that's, you know, a big number as compared to a standard battery. I mean, the standard batteries might only get, you know, a couple, a dozen, you know, I mean, and then they're, they're toast.

Braxton Critcher [00:09:34]:
A couple dozen.

Alan Kohler [00:09:35]:
A couple or a dozen? Yeah, like, like maximum.

Braxton Critcher [00:09:39]:
So you're saying what, what is, I mean, 400 to, you know, a couple to a dozen. That's, that's, I don't even know the math on that. That's pretty incredible.

Alan Kohler [00:09:51]:
No, for sure. And like I said, that's with, with the newer vehicles. And you know, you really do got to take into consideration what, what you really need. I mean, there's some places if you're looking at a catalog, it'll tell you, oh, you need an EFB battery or you need an AGM battery so you can't go backwards. Right. You can't use the lower capacity versions, but you can always upgrade. Right. So that's why, you know, we make, you know, the best of the best and, you know, cover all those applications.

Braxton Critcher [00:10:27]:
What's your relationship with the aftermarket? So I mean, obviously you mentioned you're supplying like the O'Reilly's of the world, the advanced auto parts, all of that stuff. So with the aftermarket, with repair shops, they go get their parts from some of these stores. How often do you connect with owners of repair shops and you know, pick their brain about the type of batteries that they recommend for customers? And I mean, I'm sure you deal a lot with, you know, users or car owners and manufacturers who like, like I mentioned, the O'Reilly's of the world, but how often are you able to connect with an owner and talk about what their, their expertise is and their likes, dislikes about batteries?

Alan Kohler [00:11:19]:
Probably not nearly enough as we, as we should. And you know, that's why, you know, we're here today trying to get the word out. I mean, we welcome, you know, any questions from anybody. I, I do get a lot of questions from consumers looking to upgrade, but yeah, where a shop may not be fully aware of, you know, all the options and why you need those options.

Braxton Critcher [00:11:40]:
You know, we're, do you, do you know the percentage? And this is just a random question that came into my mind and that's okay if you don't know the answer. But how often do consumers generally go to a service store to purchase a battery and have it installed versus at the repair shop to fix a dead battery? You know, I would, to me, I would think it's, and this is just my experience, I guess more people probably go to the store to just buy the battery, have it installed rather than the repair shop, you know.

Alan Kohler [00:12:15]:
Yeah. And I think, you know, with people like, you know, AutoZone and Advance New rallies that will, you know, sell you the battery and install it. That's why they do it. Right. They want your money, they don't want you going to the, to the repair shop.

Braxton Critcher [00:12:28]:
Right.

Alan Kohler [00:12:28]:
But you know, the thing about repair shops is, you know, say you have an electrical problem or you don't know that your battery, you know, you take it to the repair shop, they can test it, they can analyze your system, maybe it's your alternator, and then, you know, give you the right solution as in this case, you know, possibly the replacement of a battery. So I'd say it's, it's fairly even, but. And then you got to do it yourselfers too, that, you know, don't even want the auto parts store guy to touch his car. Right. So you know, there's, obviously there's different ways but, but again it's, you know, getting the word out to everyone through the chain is, is, is difficult. That's why, you know, this is an important podcast we're doing there. Hopefully we reach so. And they can understand.

Braxton Critcher [00:13:17]:
What was the term again, you got. It's 400. What for. For Odyssey batteries.

Alan Kohler [00:13:25]:
400 cycles. 400.

Braxton Critcher [00:13:27]:
Okay, so 400 cycles and you were saying two to a dozen for your average. Your battery. What, what's the next standard like? Okay, 400 cycles for Odyssey batteries for an excellent another brand battery. What's the top of the line cycles? Because 400 seems like a large number.

Alan Kohler [00:13:48]:
Yeah, I, I don't know, to be honest with you. I mean I, I'm just aware that, that you know, most of them are very, very low. I don't know we've done any kind of competitive testing against, you know, the.

Braxton Critcher [00:13:59]:
It just seems to me like you're the, the standard.

Alan Kohler [00:14:03]:
Yeah, yeah. I mean on the high end, definitely. You know, it's interesting because in most auto parts stores, we're not even on the shelf, right. We're more or less special order. We're in the warehouse. Right. So you can walk into an auto parts store and I mentioned you have multiple different options and one of those options is an AGM battery. So.

Alan Kohler [00:14:24]:
And not all battery sizes are made in agm, but you know, if you, if you walk in door and just say, I mean there's people like that just say, I want the best of the best. Right. I don't want the cheap stuff.

Braxton Critcher [00:14:33]:
I want.

Alan Kohler [00:14:34]:
I don't have to come back and replace it in a year. I don't have to deal with warranty, you know, give me the best one so I don't have to come back. I don't care about the cost. Right. So typically they'll, they'll sell them the highest end, which is, which is the agm, which again, you know, has, has some benefits similar to ours because ours are AGM as well. But if those counter people aren't aware that we have the, the better option in the warehouse, they, they wouldn't even know to, you know, to upsell in this case. But you know, like I said, there's a reason for what we make. The reason where it's more expensive.

Alan Kohler [00:15:08]:
And yeah, that's why we're trying to let Everybody know, right?

Braxton Critcher [00:15:13]:
Okay, so tell me about Odyssey Connect. I teased it a minute ago. Something you're testing, I believe, in the trucking industry. So Odyssey Connect, let me know what this is about, because the way you were describing it earlier, it's not pretty cool.

Alan Kohler [00:15:27]:
Yeah. So something that's been in the works for a while. You know, obviously with technology the way it is today, it's great to be able to push a button or pull up an app and be able to do anything you want to do. Right. So one of the reasons why we actually developed it in the, in the trucking industry, first, keep in mind a sleeper cab truck can have eight batteries, and they're big batteries. So they're, they're, they're, they're not cheap. So think of the investment a fleet of truck, you know, trucks is with just, with batteries and the down time it creates. If you have a problem, you know, whether it be a jump start or having to bring it in to replace the batteries, there's so much warranty dollars, so much downtime dollars that goes into play there that we said, well, you know, we need a better way to understand what's going on.

Alan Kohler [00:16:15]:
Right. To help our customers. So this particular product is a chip that's embedded in the battery, and then it talks to an app on your phone and it will tell you a bunch of things about your battery's health, you know, how, how it's been charging, voltage wise, temperature wise. So there's a lot of stuff that we can pull from there. The data goes to the cloud, pull from there and see, you know, what kind of life this battery is having. You know, are we exceeding those 400 cycles?

Braxton Critcher [00:16:45]:
Yeah.

Alan Kohler [00:16:46]:
So it's been a very great tool for, for the trucking industry. And there was a lot of, a lot of hype around it, you know, just in the battery industry as a whole. And so very quickly we turned that on to the marine industry. So as you can imagine, those, those batteries, especially if you're using like a trolling motor or something like that, those batteries cycle a lot and they're multiple batteries. So again, there's a lot of expense involved with somebody having a battery set up and they want to be able to protect it. So that's the way to do it. And then the ultimate goal is to bring this through pretty much our entire battery line. Obviously, if we're going to do an automotive anytime soon, it would be in the popular sizes first.

Alan Kohler [00:17:27]:
But eventual goal is, is to, to really have this available to, to every consumer for every application that's great.

Braxton Critcher [00:17:35]:
I mean, I think this is, this is good for me, good for the, the consumer too, to think about, you know, because I'm the kind of person that generally, not that I don't care about cost, but generally I want the, the best for my vehicle, you know, because I'm that kind of person that when I get in the car, I'm usually pressed for time. I got things to do, places to be, and I want my car to be reliable. You know, it was expensive, but we, we got my wife some new wiper blades for her car and we, we got the best of the best on there. And there was $120 total. I mean it was high, but, but you know, when it rains, I want her to be safe on the road. And same for batteries. You know, I'd rather not have to replace it every year. I want it to last as long as possible, but also, you know, operate all the things it needs to in the car as best as capable.

Braxton Critcher [00:18:42]:
So I think it's good to know that there's options out there. Especially like you mentioned, if you're a stop start car owner that, you know, the, it's, it's draining the battery a lot faster than others and having one that can have, you know, up to 400 fails and it can manage that is, is, is pretty important to know. So anything else you'd like to, to get out there, Alan?

Alan Kohler [00:19:11]:
Yeah, it's, it's, it's funny. You and I were talking before we, we jumped on this podcast about the weather and, and temperatures and that's another thing that's very, very important in battery ownership. Car ownership, right, Is, is climate where you live. So people that own a car and live in Phoenix, Arizona, they will tell us, I mean, and we, people will come up to us at shows and events and say, man, I only get a year out of my battery and it's dead. I said, because it's brutal. Hot batteries can't handle it. You know, what do you guys have that's going to get me more than a year? Right? And that is one of the things again with Odyssey, that it's very, very temperature tolerant, high end and low end. So, so we are able to, to get people better life in, in, in high temperatures as well as low temperatures.

Alan Kohler [00:20:02]:
So same thing applies, you know, if you live in Anchorage, Alaska. You know, imagine how you beat up a battery trying to start that in minus double digits, right? So, so again, a battery's got to be well built and robust enough to be able to handle those types of things. And, you know, again, that's one of the things we pride ourselves on.

Braxton Critcher [00:20:23]:
And I think this is good for for, you know, folks who do work in repair shop owners, technicians, to know this information, because, you know, so many repair shops that are in this industry that go to these training events are in the business to help their customers have a safe vehicle, but also just do the best possible work. And if you're going to recommend a battery, I mean, why not recommend the best that can handle all these things? And so I it's good to know, if you're a shop owner, look into Odyssey battery and, you know, provide the best for your customers. So, Alan, thank you.

Alan Kohler [00:21:02]:
No problem. Thanks for having me.