The electric forklift is usually the best choice for indoor operations within warehouses and manufacturing environments. This is mainly due to 2 reasons with the first being that they create zero emissions. This is an extremely vital factor to take into consideration for indoor work places. Out of the Internal Combustion or IC models, only the propane-fueled models are able to be used indoors and these units still require extremely good ventilation. Gas and diesel powered models are not able to be used inside under any circumstances.
Fuel cost is the other main advantage of electric forklifts. These units have lower cost per hour compared to any of the other IC or internal combustion units. Amongst the main disadvantages to using the electric forklifts is their higher initial cost. Brand new electric lift trucks could range from 20% to 40% more compared to IC models which are rated the same.
Electric forklifts however, offer many advantages like quiet operations, which can be a big plus for indoor environments. In addition, no fuel storage requirements mean no room needs to be allotted for tanks of dangerous and flammable fuels. As electric lift trucks have less components that move compared to IC units, and they are typically used inside and in cleaner settings, they tend to have a longer lifespan overall.
The battery downtime is the biggest downside of an electric forklift. These models run with heavy, large, lead-acid batteries, similar to the ones found in your automobile. These batteries are really strong and really large. Typically, batteries provide enough power for one regular 8-hour shift, and this means 5 or 6 hours of nonstop use.
Charging a lift truck battery would take about 8 hours. An additional 8 hours of cooling time is needed before it could be utilized after the charging process is done. Due to this long method of slow charging speed and extra cooling time, if you need forklifts for 2 or 3 shift operations, you would need to buy additional batteries so you could always be charging the next battery. These extra batteries will add roughly $1000 to $2000 to the acquisition price.
There are a few new fast charge electric lift trucks available on the market. These specialized batteries have changed the electric forklift business. Their charging can be done during the course of coffee and lunch breaks, enabling them to get back to work a lot sooner.