Approximately 60 percent of the lift truck market is made up by electric forklift units. These models derive their power from heavy, huge lead-acid batteries which give the equipment it's counterweight in order to prevent it from tipping over.
Based on ITA, electric counterbalanced lift trucks are considered Class 1 forklifts. Class 1 is the category which includes all stand-up counterbalanced trucks and other electric lift trucks. Even though the initial investment when you purchase an electric lift truck is more than an internal combustion or IC lift truck, electric forklifts are a lot less costly to run and operate in the long-run. This is due to lower fuel and maintenance costs, than the internal combustion units.
In North America, the majority of electric rider lift trucks are made for transporting materials indoors. Electric rider trucks are utilized most commonly in warehousing applications, and retail spaces. The electric units are the right option for inside applications because of their ability to emit zero toxic emissions and make less noise.
As well, electric lift truck could normally work a complete 8 hour shift on a single battery charge. Reloading, recharging and removing batteries, that generally weigh approximately 3000 lbs. could be time consuming and hard. This cumbersome task normally requires a dedicated area for battery handling. Nonetheless, new fast charging technologies are now used to change the procedure and update this process to be able to complete it in a a lot faster method.
Fast charging technologies are considered the best charging technologies. It has changed electric unit lift trucks and the charging time of their batteries. The material handling business professionals, state that these new developments in the battery charging systems and battery technology can lessen charging time by up to 50 percent!
Internal Combustion or IC Counterbalanced Forklifts
Internal combustion forklifts rely on a range of different kinds of fuels, like liquid propane gas or LPG, diesel, compressed natural gas or CNG and gasoline. The larger forklifts are normally used outdoors. Usually, these models operate on diesel or gas and uses pneumatic or air-filled tires in order to make them suitable for rough terrain and steep slopes, compared to cushion tires. Cushion tires are more suitable for indoor applications and smooth services as they are made from solid rubber.
The most popular fuel option for indoor trucks is LPG. There are over 600,000 propane-filled lift trucks today that are operating within DCs and in warehouses. These models offer various advantages. For instance, lift trucks which operate on propane fuel maintain 100% constant power during operation. Additionally, these models offer faster ground speeds compared to other power sources.