Usually, electric forklifts are the most ideal choice for indoor use within warehouses and manufacturing applications for 2 key reasons: First off 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 units, only the propane-fueled models can be utilized inside and these models still require extremely good ventilation. Gas and diesel powered units are not able to be utilized inside under any circumstances.
The main advantage of electric forklifts is fuel costs. Compared to internal combustion or IC units, these have less costs per hour. Amongst the main disadvantages to utilizing the electric forklifts is their higher initial cost. Brand new electric lift trucks could range from 20% to 40% more compared to IC units which are similarly rated.
Electric lift trucks however, offer numerous advantages like quiet operations, that can be a big plus for indoor environments. Additionally, no fuel storage needs mean no room has to be allotted for tanks of flammable and dangerous fuels. Because electric lift trucks have less parts that move compared to internal combustion units, and they are usually used in cleaner settings and indoors, they tend to have a longer overall lifespan.
The battery downtime is the biggest disadvantage of an electric lift truck. These units function with heavy, big, lead-acid batteries, like those found in your car. These batteries are very large and really strong. Typically, batteries offer enough power for one standard 8-hour shift, and this translates into 5 or 6 hours of continuous use.
Initially, charging a forklift battery takes around 8 hours. After the charging process is completed, an additional 8 hours of cooling time is required before it could be used. Due to this long process of slow charging speed and additional cooling time, if you need forklifts for 2 or 3 shift operations, you must purchase additional batteries so you could always be charging the next battery. These extra batteries would add approximately $1000 to $2000 to the acquisition price.
There are several new fast charge electric forklifts 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, enabling them to return to work a lot sooner.