The electric lift truck is normally the most ideal choice for indoor applications within warehouses and manufacturing settings. This is mainly due to 2 reasons with the first being that they produce zero emissions. This is an extremely essential factor to take into account for indoor work places. Out of the Internal Combustion or IC units, only the propane-fueled models could be utilized indoors and these models still need extremely good ventilation. Gas and diesel powered units are not able to be used inside under any circumstances.
The main benefit of electric lift trucks is fuel costs. As opposed to internal combustion or IC units, these have less costs per hour. One of the main drawbacks to using the electric forklifts is their higher initial cost. Brand new electric lift trucks could vary from 20% to 40% more than IC units that are similarly rated.
On the other hand, electric forklifts offer many advantages including quiet operation. This is a huge plus for indoor operations. In addition, no need for fuel storage mean no room needs to be allotted for tanks of fuels that are flammable and dangerous. As electric lift trucks have less components that move compared to internal combustion units, and they are usually utilized indoors and in cleaner environments, they tend to have a longer overall lifespan.
The battery downtime is the biggest downside of an electric forklift. These models function with heavy, big, lead-acid batteries, like those found inside your car. These batteries are really powerful and very big. Usually, batteries offer enough power for one standard 8-hour shift, and this means 5 or 6 hours of nonstop utilization.
Charging a forklift battery would take around 8 hours. An extra 8 hours of cooling time is required before it can be utilized after the charging process is completed. Because of this long method of slow charging speed and additional cooling time, if you need forklifts for 2 or 3 shift operations, you would have to buy additional batteries so you could always be charging the next battery. These extra batteries would add approximately $1000 to $2000 to the purchase price.
On the market these days, there are several new fast charge electric lift trucks. These fast charge batteries have changed the business of electric forklifts. Their charging could be completed during the course of coffee and lunch breaks, enabling them to return to work a lot sooner.