Exide launches 'Epiq’ battery with 6-year warranty

Exide Industries Ltd, South Asia's largest lead acid storage battery maker, on Thursday launched a new range of automotive batteries in the Indian market, branded Epiq. The battery comes with a 6-year warranty – the highest in the Indian market.

The new battery range uses 'GreenSeal' technology sourced from Michigan, US-based Advanced Battery Concepts, which, the US battery technology company says, drastically simplifies lead battery manufacturing and significantly improves lead battery performance by increasing cycle life, lowering weight, reducing recharge time, improving reliability and is fully recyclable.

''This improvement is achieved through reduction of lead-metal content by an average of 46 per cent and more efficient working of the active materials through innovative patented design,'' according to Advanced Battery Concepts.

''As the Indian automotive market matures and new generation cars become more demanding with a slew of electrical gadgets putting more load on the vehicle's electrical system, the battery has to live up to the expectations of the modern auto enthusiast and keep pace with this changing trend. We sourced the best technology in the world to make a battery that will last for a long time in the Indian conditions. Epiq takes the automotive battery technology in the country to the next generation,'' said Gautam Chatterjee, managing director and chief executive officer, Exide Industries Ltd.

Epiq hits the Indian streets after months of field trials by Exide in the trying Indian conditions.

Exide said the technology has been adopted and adapted to suit the local requirements and unique ways of Indian driving realities like bumper to bumper jams and potholed roads.

Epiq will be manufactured in Exide's factories across the country and sold exclusively through its national network of 1,500 premium Exide Care outlets.

''We put our unique knowledge of operating for seventy years in the Indian market to bring out the Epiq. It will soon set a benchmark in the Indian battery industry,'' said Subir Chakraborty, director automotive, Exide Industries Ltd.

Epiq, which is positioned and targeted at the highest end of the automotive battery aftermarket, will be available in full range for cars and SUVs operating in the Indian market.

It will be the most premium vehicular battery from Exide.

While Epiq will be the flagship sub-brand of Exide, the company also launched a slew of other products targeted at the other segments of the automotive battery aftermarket. Anticipating the needs for a high performance battery at an affordable price, Exide also launched Exide Gold with 18-month warranty for the entire range of four-wheelers. For the commercial and metered taxi market it launched a competitively priced Exide Cabby.

Exide Industries Limited is a world leading manufacturer of lead batteries used in multiple market segments, including automotive, power and telecoms. Exide Industries has a dominant market position in the very important and growing domestic Indian market. With annual sales of more than $1.3 billion, Exide Industries manufactures possibly the widest range of storage batteries in the world covering the broadest spectrum of applications supplied from its seven battery manufacturing facilities.