Normally, electric forklifts are the most ideal choice for indoor use within manufacturing and warehousing operations for 2 major 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 could be utilized indoors and these models still need extremely good ventilation. Diesel and gas powered models are not able to be used inside under any circumstances.
The primary benefit of electric lift trucks is fuel expenses. Compared to internal combustion or IC models, these have lower costs per hour. Amongst the main drawbacks to utilizing the electric forklifts is their higher initial expense. New electric lift trucks could vary from 20% to 40% more compared to internal combustion units that are similarly rated.
Electric lift trucks on the other hand, offer numerous advantages such as quiet operations, which can be a big plus for indoor settings. Additionally, no fuel storage requirements mean no room needs to be allotted for tanks of flammable and dangerous fuels. As electric forklifts have less parts that move compared to internal combustion models, and they are typically used inside and in cleaner environments, they tend to have a longer lifespan overall.
The battery downtime is the biggest disadvantage of an electric lift truck. These units function with heavy, big, lead-acid batteries, like the ones found in your car. These batteries are very large and very powerful. Normally, batteries offer sufficient power for one standard 8-hour shift, and this means 5 or 6 hours of continuous utilization.
Charging a lift truck battery will take approximately 8 hours. An extra 8 hours of cooling time is needed before it can be used after the charging process is completed. Due to this long method of slow charging speed and extra cooling time, if you require forklifts for 2 or 3 shift operations, you will need to purchase extra batteries so you could always be charging the next battery. These additional batteries would add about $1000 to $2000 to purchase.
On the market today, there are some new fast charge electric lift trucks. These fast charge batteries have changed the business of electric lift trucks. Their charging can be done in the course of lunch and coffee breaks, allowing them to get back to work a lot sooner.