The company Optima
Website OptimaThe American company Johnson Controls International (JCI) is the largest battery manufacturer in the world. They produce, among other things, the batteries of the well-known brand in Europe, Varta. The brand Optima is the topline of batteries of JCI. This company has three major divisions, the first division is Automotiv; the company is the largest supplier to the automotive industry and the only manufacturer who supplies to all car manufacturer in the world. The second division is the Power Solutions including Varta and Optima. The third division is Building Efficiency.
The European head office of Johnson Controls International is in Hannover. In 2011 we from CaravanMoverShop have brought a visit to the headquarters in Hannover and we've got a tour. We have visited the production line of Varta batteries. This is pretty special, in 2012, 2013 and 2014 only a big car manufacturer got a tour also. We are the largest dealer of Optima batteries in Europe.
Optima batteries are used in applications where a normal battery cannot satisfy, think about Google data center (uninterruptible power supplies), the Auto Club (to be able to start any other car and truck engine), the taxis in London (which often have to start the engine and drive very short distances), milking robots, forklifts, but also closer to home: central automated waste containers.

The history of Optima goes back to the 60s of the last century. In the American space program the technique is used for the first moon car, the Lunar Rover, to provide it with energy. The then new technique was the solution for the disappointing quality of normal batteries.
This technology was bought in 1972 from Gates Rubber. The technology is then improved to use in earthly matters, such as cars. The Scandinavian Gylling-group bought the knowledge of the Optima batteries in 1994. They took it big, one year later they opened a factory in Colorado. The success of these batteries did not go unnoticed and in 2000 Optima was taken over by Johnson Controls, the parent company of Varta. In 2007 Optima has set up a new production line in the Mexican Monterrey.