The electric lift truck is usually the best option for indoor use within manufacturing and warehousing environments. This is mainly because of 2 reasons with the first being that they create zero emissions. This is an extremely vital factor to take into consideration for indoor work places. Amongst the Internal Combustion or IC units, only the propane-fueled models could be used indoors and these models still need extremely good ventilation. Diesel and gas powered units are not able to be utilized inside under any circumstances.
The primary advantage of electric lift trucks is fuel expenses. As opposed to internal combustion or IC models, these have lower expenses per hour. Among the main disadvantages to using the electric forklifts is their higher initial cost. Brand new electric lift trucks could range from 20% to 40 percent more than IC models that are rated the same.
However, electric forklifts offer numerous advantages like quiet operation. This is a big plus for indoor applications. Moreover, no fuel storage needs mean no room needs to be allotted for tanks of flammable and dangerous fuels. Because electric lift trucks have less components that move than internal combustion units, and they are typically utilized 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 run with heavy, big, lead-acid batteries, like those found inside your car. These batteries are really powerful and very big. Normally, batteries provide an adequate amount of power for one regular 8-hour shift, and this translates into 5 or 6 hours of nonstop use.
Initially, charging a forklift battery takes roughly 8 hours. After the charging process is completed, an extra 8 hours of cooling time is required before it can be used. Due to this long process of extra cooling time and slow charging speed, if you need forklifts for 2 or 3 shift operations, you must purchase extra batteries so you can be charging the nest battery always. These extra batteries would add about $1000 to $2000 to buy.
There are some new fast charge electric lift trucks on the market. These specialized batteries have changed the electric forklift business. Their charging could be done during the course of coffee and lunch breaks, enabling them to get back to work much faster.