HANNOVER, Germany – Clarios is expanding its Battery Manager subscription service into Europe, bringing its battery-monitoring technology to commercial fleets across the continent. The company announced the European rollout on September 14 during the IAA Transportation show in Hanover, Germany.
Battery Manager was already operating on roughly 1,100 connected vehicles across last-mile, long-haul and day-cab operations in early September, according to Cagatay Topcu, Clarios’ vice president of Connected Services. Speaking during a September 8 media briefing, Topcu said the company was working with 20 fleets and expected the connected vehicle count to exceed 2,000 in October.
Clarios originally introduced the service under the name Battery Manager Pro in March at the Technology & Maintenance Council’s 2026 exhibition in Nashville, Tennessee. At the time, the company expected to sign its first customer that month, as reported by FreightWaves. Junior Barrett, Clarios’ global director of business development, said the company expects to reach around 2,000 paying installations by the end of September.
The company says fleets can face battery costs in very different ways. Some operators, according to Topcu, may put as many as eight batteries on a truck or replace them every year, while others only discover a problem when a dead battery leaves a truck stranded. Clarios estimates that Battery Manager can save a typical fleet approximately $500 per truck each year.
What Battery Manager monitors
The system relies on an aftermarket sensor installed on the battery’s negative post, a wire harness and a Clarios gateway that transmits the collected information to the cloud.
Heavy-duty trucks generally do not come equipped with battery sensors, Barrett said. Battery Manager instead uses the information gathered by its sensor to generate analytics for fleet operators.
The sensor is compatible with AGM and SLI batteries from any manufacturer, including batteries not produced by Clarios. It can also be used across trucks from different original equipment manufacturers.
According to Topcu, the system supports 12-, 24- and 48-volt electrical systems, including the low-voltage side of battery-electric vehicles.
Christina Yarnold, Clarios’ director of product management for Connected Services, said Battery Manager is designed to provide information on three key conditions: when a battery is approaching the end of its useful life, when the state of charge falls to a level that could result in a no-start situation, and when a starter or alternator is beginning to fail.
“It’s not about the data. It’s about insights and actions. Nobody needs another dashboard,” Yarnold said.
When battery charge drops too low, alerts can be sent by email or text message to the person responsible for the vehicle at that time. Since every sensor is paired with a single battery, technicians can replace only the battery that is showing signs of failure rather than changing an entire set unnecessarily.
Subscription costs and expected savings
The monthly subscription price depends on factors including fleet size, operational complexity and the level of engagement. Barrett said pricing can reach $15 per vehicle per month for smaller fleets.
At the maximum rate, that would amount to $180 per truck annually. That compares with Clarios’ estimate of about $500 in yearly savings per truck.
For a hypothetical fleet of 50,000 trucks, Barrett estimated annual savings could reach $25 million. However, that figure only reflects direct, measurable expenses such as jump starts and tow trucks.
“It’s not about the data. It’s about insights and actions. Nobody needs another dashboard,” Yarnold said, while Barrett separately noted that other costs are not included in the calculation.
“Soft cost isn’t in that math: driver sitting waiting, customer experience,” he said.
The European market presents another important consideration, Barrett said: downtime and driver hours. A battery failure occurring after a driver has reached or exceeded permitted hours can effectively remove that driver from service and keep the vehicle off the road.
Fleets can install the system themselves
Clarios initially expected Battery Manager installations to require professional technicians and hired a third-party installer for that purpose. Fleet customers, however, told the company that their own maintenance teams could handle the installation.
Barrett said technicians can now complete an installation in around 15 to 20 minutes once they have performed their first unit. One union shop, he added, completed its first installation in less than 10 minutes.
Installation and setup are managed through Clarios’ ConnectHub mobile application.
At present, each truck using the system has a dedicated Clarios gateway. Barrett described that arrangement as a short-term approach rather than the company’s long-term model.
Clarios ultimately plans to obtain the sensor information through telematics gateways that service providers already have installed on trucks. The strategy would allow Clarios to connect to existing fleet technology instead of requiring another piece of hardware for every vehicle.
Barrett said Clarios plans to use telematics service providers to reach smaller fleets while continuing to sell directly to larger operators.
“In the very near future you’ll hear another announcement about an actual TSP integration,” Barrett said. “We need to be seamless, not another login.”
