Normally, electric forklifts are the most ideal choice for indoor use within manufacturing and warehousing applications for 2 key reasons: First off they produce zero emissions. This is an extremely important factor to consider for indoor work places. Among the IC or internal combustion units, only the propane-fueled models could be used inside and these units still need extremely good ventilation. Units which work on diesel and gas are not able to be utilized inside under any circumstances.
The primary benefit of electric lift trucks is fuel costs. Compared to internal combustion or IC units, these have lower costs per hour. Amongst the main disadvantages to utilizing the electric forklifts is their higher initial expense. New electric forklifts could range from 20 percent to 40% more compared to IC models which are rated the same.
On the other hand, electric lift trucks provide numerous advantages like quiet operation. This is a huge plus for indoor operations. Additionally, no fuel storage needs mean no room has to be allotted for tanks of flammable and dangerous fuels. Because electric forklifts have less moving parts than IC models, and they are usually used inside and in cleaner environments, they tend to have a longer lifespan overall.
The electric forklifts biggest disadvantage is the batteries downtime. The big and really heavy, lead acid batteries are quite similar to those now found inside cars. These batteries are extremely large and really strong. Typically, batteries provide sufficient power for one standard 8-hour shift, and this means 5 or 6 hours of nonstop utilization.
Originally, charging a lift truck battery takes roughly 8 hours. After the charging process is done, an additional 8 hours of cooling time is needed before it could be utilized. Because of this long method of extra cooling time and slow charging speed, if you require lift trucks for 2 or 3 shift operations, you would need to buy extra batteries so you can always be charging the next battery. These additional batteries would add approximately $1000 to $2000 to purchase.
There are a few new fast charge electric forklifts on the market. These specialized batteries have revolutionized the electric lift truck business. Their charging can be done in the course of coffee and lunch breaks, enabling them to return to work a lot sooner.