Generally, electric lift trucks are the most ideal alternative for indoor use in warehouses and manufacturing applications for 2 key reasons: First off they create zero emissions. This is an extremely important factor to consider for indoor work places. Amongst the IC or internal combustion models, just the propane-fueled models can be utilized indoors and these units still require really good ventilation. Units which work on diesel and gas are not able to be utilized indoors under any circumstances.
The primary benefit of electric lift trucks is fuel costs. As opposed to internal combustion or IC models, these have lower costs per hour. Among the main drawbacks to the electric forklifts is their higher initial expense. New electric lift trucks can range from 20% to 40 percent more than IC models that are similarly rated.
On the other hand, electric forklifts offer numerous benefits including quiet operation. This is a huge plus for indoor operations. Furthermore, no fuel storage requirements mean no room has to be allotted for tanks of dangerous and flammable fuels. Since electric forklifts have less moving components than IC models, and they are usually used in cleaner settings and inside, they tend to have a longer lifespan overall.
The electric forklifts biggest downside is the batteries downtime. The big and very heavy, lead acid batteries are quite like the ones now found inside cars. These batteries are extremely strong and very big. Normally, batteries provide enough power for one standard 8-hour shift, and this means 5 or 6 hours of continuous utilization.
Initially, charging a lift truck battery takes roughly 8 hours. After the charging process is done, an extra 8 hours of cooling time is needed before it could be utilized. Because of this long method of slow charging speed and additional cooling time, if you need forklifts for 2 or 3 shift operations, you must buy extra batteries so you could always be charging the next battery. These additional batteries will add around $1000 to $2000 to buy.
On the market today, there are several new fast charge electric lift trucks. These fast charge batteries have changed the industry of electric forklifts. Their charging can be completed in the course of coffee and lunch breaks, enabling them to get back to work a lot faster.