A few days ago I received an invitation to attend the launch of Century Battery Malaysia's new Ultramax battery as well as the Century Battery Assist – Which is Century Battery's new Emergency Battery Assist Service. It was to be held on the 15th of December 2011 at a top secret facility somewhere in KL. I decided to attend.
Well, actually it was held at KLPAC (Kuala Lumpur Performance Arts Centre) in Sentul East (which is actually a glamorous name for someplace Off Jalan Ipoh). It just felt like someplace mysterious to be as if you look at the photo below, it does look like some military bunker of sorts.
But anyway, once I entered the KLPAC's lobby cum event location it looked....
Mr Suresh Nanoo, General Manager of Century Monolite Battery Malaysia Sdn Bhd gave a short speech about the Century Ultramax battery and the continued with the Century Battery Assist service.
I shall start with the Century Battery Assist first, even though it was talked about later in the session. The Century Battery Assist service provides motorists a convenience that a motorist stricken with the sudden demise of their car battery can dial a toll free number at 1-800-BATTERY (22-88379).
Such a service would basically give the consumer less worries as it provides free delivery and installation 24/7, 365 days a year within the Klang Valley by a decent looking chap on a motorcycle (note this little fact people – it's only limited to the Klang Valley for the moment). Now this service is applicable to all motorists and not limited to current users of Century batteries. You can have your AYAM Brand battery die on you and still call Century Battery Assist for assistance or a new battery. Great isn't it?
The Century maintenance batteries sold, delivered and installed by this service will have nationwide warranty. Once the battery assist staff arrives, he will perform a complimentary check on the car charging system to make sure that the alternator is working. Plugging in a new battery will still not solve anything if the car has a faulty charging system. The Century maintenance free batteries provided in this service scheme is the Century Marathoner battery (a bit of it is shown at the right side in the photo below) instead of the newly launched Ultramax. However, one should also note that this service is a cash on delivery service – this means you should have cash in hand or you should make your way to the nearest ATM or you could try begging someone for cash if its in the middle of the night.
And now for the Century Ultramax battery. What I found out was that the maintenance free Ultramax battery is currently the only SIRIM (Malaysia's equivalent of the German TUV) approved battery on sale right now and it is the only one with a long warranty – 21 months. The usual market warranty for batteries in Malaysia these days is usually 12 months. So this is quite reassuring to most of us motorists. I could actually explain more about the technical details of the Ultramax, but to put it simply, Century uses more durable materials that last longer so that the battery will last longer giving the motorist who uses the battery peace of mind. Which is why Century now goes by the slogan 'MORE LIFE, LESS WORRIES' for both the Ultramax battery and the Century Battery Assist.
On a personal note, I usually go through a battery once every 18 -20 months or so and regardless whether it dies or not during that period, I will plonk in a new one by then. Now I was given an Ultramax battery to try out along with most of the invited media guests. This happened after food was served and duly eaten by yours truly. I parked my car at the designated space and some Century mechanics started work removing my earlier Century battery. Yes, apparently I was already using an earlier Century MF12 (Maintenance Free 12 – for 12 months warranty) series battery. I totally forgot what battery was in my Subaru, which means that most of us only think about the battery in our cars when it is about time to change it or when it dies on us. I suppose I will be writing an End-of-Term report 21 months from today to see if the Ultramax battery really does last that long.
The battery installation session went smoothly. The chaps from Century were friendly and capable. There was a lady named Leona Chin who drove a Nissan S13 and a chap from NST's car bikes and trucks with his Mazda MX5 Miata. Ms Chin couldn't get the battery installed as she had a massive sound system in that Nissan that would drain the Ultramax in NS40ZL size that she was using. This is what happens when people sponsor your but fail to sponsor a proper deep cycle battery like an OPTIMA for really serious wattage. This isn't her competition drift car (yes, I do know who she is) but her daily driver – I couldn't tell with all the stickers plastered all over. So she was left playing scissors and rocks by the looks of my photo below.
Yeah, right. Anyway the Ultramax battery is going to have its first real test in my Scooby. After the installation the car fired up instantly and it was off to a good start. I have already driven a total of 80km since the install earlier today and I am off to Indonesia – So the Scooby will be sitting quietly for a while until I get back. So let's see whether the Ultramax battery will last a few days without being started.
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