Usually, electric lift trucks are the best choice for indoor use within manufacturing and warehousing operations for 2 main reasons: First off they create zero emissions. This is a very important factor to take into account for indoor work places. Amongst the Internal Combustion or IC units, just the propane-fueled models can be utilized indoors and these units still require extremely good ventilation. Units which run on diesel and gas can not be utilized inside under any circumstances.
Fuel cost is the other primary advantage of electric lift trucks. These models have lower cost per hour compared to any of the other IC or internal combustion units. Amongst the main drawbacks to the electric forklifts is their higher initial expense. Brand new electric lift trucks could range from 20 percent to 40 percent more than IC units that are rated the same.
Electric lift trucks however, offer many advantages such as quiet operations, which can be a big plus for indoor settings. Furthermore, no need for fuel storage mean no room needs to be allotted for tanks of fuels that are both flammable and dangerous. Because electric lift trucks have less components that move compared to internal combustion units, and they are typically used indoors and within cleaner settings, they tend to have a longer overall lifespan.
The battery downtime is the biggest disadvantage of an electric lift truck. These models function with heavy, large, lead-acid batteries, similar to those found in your car. These batteries are extremely large and really strong. 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 will take roughly 8 hours. An additional 8 hours of cooling time is needed before it can be used after the charging process is completed. Due to this long method of additional cooling time and slow charging speed, if you require forklifts for 2 or 3 shift operations, you should buy additional batteries so you can be charging the nest battery always. These additional batteries would add around $1000 to $2000 to buy.
There are several new fast charge electric lift trucks available on the market. These specialized batteries have changed the electric lift truck business. Their charging could be completed during the course of lunch and coffee breaks, allowing them to get back to work a lot faster.