Usually, electric forklifts are the best option for indoor use within warehouses and manufacturing applications for 2 major reasons: First off they produce zero emissions. This is an extremely essential factor to consider for indoor work places. Out of the Internal Combustion or IC units, only the propane-fueled models are able to be used inside and these models still require extremely good ventilation. Diesel and gas powered models are not able to be utilized indoors under any circumstances.
The primary benefit of electric lift trucks is fuel expenses. As opposed to IC or internal combustion models, these have lower costs per hour. Among the main disadvantages to the electric forklifts is their higher initial expense. Brand new electric forklifts can vary from 20 percent to 40% more compared to IC models which are similarly rated.
Electric forklifts however, offer numerous advantages like quiet operations, that could be a huge plus for indoor settings. Moreover, no need for fuel storage mean no room has to be allotted for tanks of dangerous and flammable fuels. As electric forklifts have less parts that move than internal combustion units, and they are normally utilized in cleaner environments and indoors, they tend to have a longer overall lifespan.
The battery downtime is the biggest downside of an electric lift truck. These models run with heavy, large, lead-acid batteries, similar to the ones found inside your car. These batteries are very big and really powerful. Usually, batteries provide sufficient power for one regular 8-hour shift, and this means 5 or 6 hours of nonstop use.
Initially, charging a forklift battery takes roughly 8 hours. After the charging process is done, an extra 8 hours of cooling time is required before it could be utilized. Because of this long method of additional cooling time and slow charging speed, if you need lift trucks for 2 or 3 shift operations, you should purchase extra batteries so you can always be charging the next battery. These extra batteries would add around $1000 to $2000 to the purchase price.
There are a few new fast charge electric lift trucks on the market. These specialized batteries have revolutionized the electric lift truck business. Their charging could be completed in the course of coffee and lunch breaks, allowing them to return to work much faster.