Fleets don’t always have the most accurate insights into the health of their batteries, and more often than not either replace the batteries earlier than necessary — ultimately a waste of money — or wait until the battery fails to replace them, leading to what could have been a completely avoidable downtime event.

Battery Manager Pro helps alleviate those issues, by monitoring batteries remotely and automatically delivering replacements when the batteries are getting close to the end of their life. The fleet managers get a heads-up so those replacements can be part of the vehicles next scheduled preventive maintenance.

One of the biggest culprits that can lead to unanticipated battery-related downtime is heat. Battery maker EastPenn offers a technology that mitigates the effects of heat on the battery’s life. EastPenn’s appropriately named Fahrenheit technology purports to not only protect the battery from heat, but actually extend its life under extreme conditions. The company says that Fahrenheit actually cycles 50% longer than other systems in extreme heat testing. Fahrenheit commercial batteries, EastPenn notes, are the only batteries with Thermal Shielding Technology, which includes a strategic grid alloy formula with high lead purity, specifically tailored to match commercial truck applications and improve the conductivity of the mass-to-grid interface. An enhanced mass-to-grid interface optimizes the battery’s power delivery and promotes a longer life. The strategic alloy formula provides grids with corrosive tolerance and conductive performance.

Another technology to have on your radar, especially where electric vehicles are concerned, is lithium manganese-rich (LMR) prismatic battery cells. Typically, battery cathodes require materials like cobalt, nickel and manganese, with cobalt being the most expensive among those. LMR battery cells ramp up the proportion of much less costly manganese, while delivering greater capacity and energy density.

GM and LG Energy Solution announced last year that they would commercialize LMR prismatic battery cells for future GM trucks, cells that would unlock 33% higher density compared with the best-performing lithium iron phosphate-based cells, at a comparable cost.

Chemistry class isn’t quite over yet, as we spend a little more time with the Periodic Table of Elements to talk about the next development. As noted, lithium-ion batteries tend to be the most common in EVs. However, they tend not to do so well in freezing temperatures, losing power and potentially stranding the truck for hours.

That’s where sodium-ion batteries come in. Sodium-ion units actually thrive in cold temperatures. That’s why Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL) has launched its Tectrans II series, including the first mass-produced sodium-ion battery designed specifically for light commercial vehicles. CATL found that their batteries can still plug in and charge even when the temperature hits -22 degrees Fahrenheit. And, at an even more bitterly frigid -40 degrees Fahrenheit, the battery manages to retain 90% of its usable energy.

Whether it’s fighting extreme heat or extreme cold, or generally unpredictable capacity battery researchers and manufacturers are moving in a positive direction to address the key challenges that are working against your battery’s performance.