Usually, electric lift trucks are the best option for indoor use within warehouses and manufacturing operations for 2 major reasons: First off they create zero emissions. This is an extremely essential factor to take into account for indoor work places. Among the IC or internal combustion models, only the propane-fueled units are able to be used indoors and these units still require extremely good ventilation. Diesel and gas powered units are not able to be used inside under any circumstances.
The primary benefit of electric forklifts is fuel costs. Compared to IC or internal combustion models, these have lower costs per hour. One of the main drawbacks to using the electric forklifts is their higher initial cost. Brand new electric forklifts could vary from 20 percent to 40% more than internal combustion units which are rated the same.
However, electric forklifts offer numerous advantages like quiet operation. This is a huge plus for indoor applications. Additionally, no need for fuel storage mean no room needs to be allotted for tanks of dangerous and flammable fuels. Because electric forklifts have less parts that move compared to internal combustion units, and they are typically used indoors and within cleaner environments, they tend to have a longer overall lifespan.
The battery downtime is the biggest disadvantage of an electric lift truck. These models run with heavy, large, lead-acid batteries, similar to the ones found inside your car. These batteries are extremely strong and really big. Usually, batteries offer enough power for one regular 8-hour shift, and this means 5 or 6 hours of nonstop utilization.
Charging a lift truck battery would take around 8 hours. An additional 8 hours of cooling time is needed before it could be used after the charging process is completed. Due to this long process of additional cooling time and slow charging speed, if you need lift trucks for 2 or 3 shift operations, you would have to purchase additional batteries so you could be charging the nest battery always. These additional batteries would add approximately $1000 to $2000 to purchase.
There are some new fast charge electric forklifts available on the market. These specialized batteries have changed the electric forklift business. Their charging could be completed in the course of coffee and lunch breaks, allowing them to get back to work a lot sooner.