Normally, electric lift trucks are the most ideal choice for indoor use in warehouses and manufacturing applications for 2 main reasons: First off they create zero emissions. This is an extremely essential factor to consider for indoor work places. Among the IC or internal combustion models, just the propane-fueled units can be utilized inside and these units still need really good ventilation. Units that work on gas and diesel can not be utilized indoors under any circumstances.
The primary benefit of electric forklifts is fuel costs. As opposed to internal combustion or IC models, these have lower costs per hour. Among the main disadvantages to utilizing the electric forklifts is their higher initial cost. Brand new electric lift trucks can range from 20% to 40 percent more than IC models which are similarly rated.
Electric forklifts however, provide many benefits like quiet operations, that can be a huge plus for indoor settings. In addition, no requirement for fuel storage mean no room needs to be allotted for tanks of flammable and dangerous fuels. Because electric lift trucks have less components that move as opposed to IC units, and they are usually utilized within cleaner settings and indoors, they tend to have a longer lifespan overall.
The battery downtime is the biggest downside of an electric forklift. These units function with heavy, large, lead-acid batteries, similar to those found inside your car. These batteries are very big and very powerful. Normally, batteries provide sufficient power for one standard 8-hour shift, and this translates into 5 or 6 hours of nonstop use.
Originally, charging a forklift battery takes roughly 8 hours. After the charging process is completed, an additional 8 hours of cooling time is needed before it could be utilized. Due to this long process of slow charging speed and extra cooling time, if you need forklifts for 2 or 3 shift operations, you should buy additional batteries so you could always be charging the next battery. These extra batteries would add about $1000 to $2000 to the acquisition price.
There are some new fast charge electric lift trucks available on the market. These specialized batteries have changed the electric lift truck business. Their charging can be done during the course of coffee and lunch breaks, allowing them to return to work much sooner.