The electric lift truck is normally the most ideal option for indoor use within warehouses and manufacturing environments. This is mostly due to 2 reasons with the first being that they create zero emissions. This is an extremely important factor to take into consideration for indoor work places. Amongst the Internal Combustion or IC units, only the propane-fueled units are able to be used indoors and these units still need really good ventilation. Units which work on diesel and gas are not able to be used indoors under any circumstances.
Fuel cost is the other primary advantage of electric lift trucks. These models have less cost per hour compared to any of the other internal combustion or IC models. Among the main disadvantages to utilizing the electric forklifts is their higher initial expense. New electric lift trucks can vary from 20 percent to 40% more than IC models which are rated the same.
On the other hand, electric forklifts offer many benefits like quiet operation. This is a huge plus for indoor applications. Additionally, no requirement for fuel storage 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 models, and they are usually utilized in cleaner environments and indoors, they tend to have a longer overall lifespan.
The electric lift trucks biggest downside is the batteries downtime. The large and very heavy, lead acid batteries are somewhat like the ones now found in automobiles. These batteries are really big and extremely strong. Usually, batteries provide sufficient power for one regular 8-hour shift, and this translates into 5 or 6 hours of continuous use.
Charging a lift truck battery would take approximately 8 hours. An additional 8 hours of cooling time is required before it can be utilized after the charging process is done. Because of this long method of slow charging speed and extra cooling time, if you require forklifts for 2 or 3 shift operations, you should purchase extra batteries so you could always be charging the next battery. These additional batteries will add about $1000 to $2000 to the purchase price.
There are some new fast charge electric forklifts on the market. These specialized batteries have changed the electric forklift business. Their charging could be done during the course of lunch and coffee breaks, enabling them to get back to work a lot faster.