When Clarios began offering connectivity services for its 12-volt batteries, it took a call from a fleet that was struggling with its trailer batteries. Its first response was, trailers have batteries?

Turned out, it was a food delivery fleet that was struggling with liftgate battery failures. Such failures often occurred at customer facilities, obstructing the receiver’s parking lot, disrupting operations.

“If the battery is low and not working, the only solution was two new batteries costing $700-$900,” said Cagatay Topcu, vice president, connected services business unit at Clarios, speaking to press at a CES 2026 House of Journalists event.

Clarios was able to provide remote battery health insights to the carriers, offering real-time health reports and helping to eliminate battery failures in the field. It also helped lead to a new product rollout, Trailer Battery Manager, unveiled for the first time at CES.

“Trailer battery problems are often discovered too late — when a liftgate won’t operate or a delivery can’t be completed,” Topcu said at CES. “This new feature allows fleet managers to monitor trailer batteries remotely and take action before issues arise.”

The new subscription-based service is ideal for refrigerated fleets requiring consistent low-voltage power to keep trailer refrigerated units (TRUs) operating. It’s also ideal for those hauling pharmaceuticals, where high-value loads must be transported at precise temperatures. And it identifies and warns the driver when the electrical line is disconnected in transit.

“This new feature is a direct response to customer feedback,” said Topcu in a related release. “It empowers fleet managers to monitor trailer batteries remotely and take action before issues arise. That saves time, money, and frustration.”

Clarios’ Connected Services suite already includes IdleLess, which is aimed at reducing tractor idling, and Battery Manager, which predicts battery end-of-life to improve maintenance planning and to extend battery life. The products rely on artificial intelligence, machine learning and cloud computing to provide fleets with actionable insights, the company explained.

Sodium-ion batteries coming

On other news announced at CES, Clarios said it is progressing toward bringing low-voltage sodium-ion batteries to market, which will benefit fleets in several ways. First, they rely on the world’s most readily available commodities: salt; wood; iron; and air.

Environmentally, that’s a win compared to today’s batteries that rely on rare earth materials.

Frederico Morales Zimmermann, Clarios’ vice president and general manager, global OEM customers, products and engineering, also said sodium-ion batteries demonstrate excellent low-temperature startability.

He anticipates Clarios will bring sodium-ion batteries to market “before the end of the decade” and predicted that at scale, they’ll be cost-competitive with today’s absorbent glass mat (AGM) lead acid batteries, which currently make up 90-95% of the market.

Prototypes are being built and tested in Europe and Clarios is finding they offer low internal resistance and high power density.

“Launching serial production of sodium-ion batteries is a key step in our mission to deliver innovative, chemistry-agnostic energy solutions for the automotive industry,” said Morales-Zimmermann.