The electric lift truck is normally the best choice for indoor operations within warehouses and manufacturing environments. This is mainly because of 2 reasons with the first being that they produce zero emissions. This is a very important factor to take into account for indoor work places. Out of the Internal Combustion or IC models, only the propane-fueled units could be utilized inside and these units still need really good ventilation. Units which run on gas and diesel could not be utilized indoors under any circumstances.
Fuel cost is the other main advantage of electric forklifts. These models have less cost per hour compared to any of the other internal combustion or IC units. One of the main drawbacks to utilizing the electric forklifts is their higher initial expense. New electric forklifts can vary from 20% to 40 percent more compared to internal combustion units that are similarly rated.
On the other hand, electric lift trucks offer many advantages like quiet operation. This is a huge plus for indoor operations. Furthermore, no need for fuel storage mean no room has to be allotted for tanks of dangerous and flammable fuels. As electric lift trucks have less moving components as opposed to internal combustion units, and they are usually used indoors and within cleaner settings, they tend to have a longer lifespan overall.
The battery downtime is the biggest disadvantage of an electric forklift. These units function with heavy, large, lead-acid batteries, like those found in your automobile. These batteries are really large and extremely powerful. Usually, batteries provide sufficient power for one regular 8-hour shift, and this translates into 5 or 6 hours of nonstop utilization.
Originally, charging a lift truck battery takes around 8 hours. After the charging process is completed, an additional 8 hours of cooling time is needed before it could be used. Due to this long process of additional cooling time and slow charging speed, if you require lift trucks for 2 or 3 shift operations, you will need to purchase extra batteries so you could be charging the nest battery always. These additional batteries would add approximately $1000 to $2000 to buy.
On the market nowadays, there are several new fast charge electric forklifts. These fast charge batteries have revolutionized the industry of electric forklifts. Their charging could be completed in the course of coffee and lunch breaks, enabling them to get back to work much faster.