The electric lift truck is usually the best choice for indoor applications within manufacturing and warehousing environments. This is mostly due to 2 reasons with the first being that they create zero emissions. This is an extremely vital factor to take into account for indoor work places. Among the Internal Combustion or IC units, just the propane-fueled models can be used inside and these units still require really good ventilation. Diesel and gas powered units can not be utilized inside under any circumstances.
The main benefit of electric lift trucks is fuel costs. As opposed to internal combustion or IC models, these have lower expenses per hour. Amongst the main drawbacks to using the electric forklifts is their higher initial expense. Brand new electric lift trucks can vary from 20 percent to 40% more compared to internal combustion units that are rated the same.
Electric lift trucks however, provide many advantages such as quiet operations, that can be a big plus for indoor environments. Additionally, no requirement for fuel storage mean no room needs to be allotted for tanks of fuels that are both flammable and dangerous. Since electric forklifts have less parts that move compared to IC models, and they are typically utilized within cleaner settings and inside, they tend to have a longer overall lifespan.
The battery downtime is the biggest downside of an electric forklift. These units run with heavy, large, lead-acid batteries, similar to those found inside your automobile. These batteries are really powerful and really large. Usually, batteries offer a sufficient amount of power for one regular 8-hour shift, and this translates into 5 or 6 hours of nonstop use.
Originally, charging a forklift battery takes approximately 8 hours. After the charging process is done, an extra 8 hours of cooling time is required before it could be utilized. Due to this long method of slow charging speed and extra cooling time, if you need lift trucks for 2 or 3 shift operations, you will need to purchase additional batteries so you can always be charging the next battery. These extra batteries would add roughly $1000 to $2000 to buy.
On the market today, there are a few new fast charge electric lift trucks. These fast charge batteries have changed the business of electric lift trucks. Their charging could be done in the course of lunch and coffee breaks, allowing them to get back to work a lot sooner.