The electric lift truck is usually the most ideal choice for indoor use in manufacturing and warehousing environments. This is mostly because of 2 reasons with the first being that they produce zero emissions. This is an extremely important factor to take into consideration for indoor work places. Amongst the Internal Combustion or IC models, just the propane-fueled units can be used inside and these models still need extremely good ventilation. Models that work on diesel and gas could not be utilized indoors under any circumstances.
The primary benefit of electric forklifts is fuel expenses. As opposed to IC or internal combustion units, these have less expenses per hour. Amongst the main drawbacks to using the electric forklifts is their higher initial expense. Brand new electric lift trucks can range from 20 percent to 40% more compared to internal combustion models that are rated the same.
However, electric lift trucks provide numerous benefits including quiet operation. This is a huge plus for indoor operations. Furthermore, no fuel storage requirements mean no room has to be allotted for tanks of flammable and dangerous fuels. As electric lift trucks have less components that move compared to IC units, and they are normally used inside and within cleaner settings, they tend to have a longer overall lifespan.
The battery downtime is the biggest downside of an electric forklift. These units function with heavy, large, lead-acid batteries, like the ones found inside your car. These batteries are really large and really powerful. Typically, batteries provide sufficient power for one regular 8-hour shift, and this translates into 5 or 6 hours of nonstop use.
Charging a lift truck battery would take approximately 8 hours. An additional 8 hours of cooling time is needed before it can be used after the charging process is done. Due to this long process of slow charging speed and extra cooling time, if you need forklifts for 2 or 3 shift operations, you must buy additional batteries so you can always be charging the next battery. These additional batteries would add about $1000 to $2000 to purchase.
There are several new fast charge electric forklifts on the market. These specialized batteries have changed the electric forklift industry. Their charging could be done in the course of coffee and lunch breaks, enabling them to get back to work much faster.