Generally, electric forklifts are the most ideal choice for indoor use within manufacturing and warehousing applications for 2 key reasons: First off they produce zero emissions. This is a really essential factor to consider for indoor work places. Among the Internal Combustion or IC units, just the propane-fueled units are able to be used indoors and these units still need extremely good ventilation. Models which work on diesel and gas are not able to be utilized indoors under any circumstances.
The main benefit of electric forklifts is fuel expenses. As opposed to IC or internal combustion models, these have lower expenses per hour. Among the main disadvantages to utilizing the electric forklifts is their higher initial expense. New electric lift trucks can range from 20% to 40 percent more than IC models which are similarly rated.
On the other hand, electric forklifts provide many benefits like quiet operation. This is a big plus for indoor operations. Furthermore, no requirement for fuel storage mean no room has to be allotted for tanks of dangerous and flammable fuels. As electric lift trucks have less moving components compared to IC models, and they are typically used inside and in cleaner settings, they tend to have a longer overall lifespan.
The electric lift trucks biggest downside is the batteries downtime. The big and very heavy, lead acid batteries are quite similar to the ones now found inside automobiles. These batteries are very powerful and really large. Normally, batteries provide enough power for one regular 8-hour shift, and this translates into 5 or 6 hours of nonstop use.
Initially, charging a forklift battery takes approximately 8 hours. After the charging process is done, an extra 8 hours of cooling time is required before it can be used. Because of this long process of extra cooling time and slow charging speed, if you require lift trucks for 2 or 3 shift operations, you should buy extra batteries so you could be charging the nest battery always. These extra batteries will add roughly $1000 to $2000 to buy.
There are some new fast charge electric lift trucks available on the market. These specialized batteries have revolutionized the electric lift truck industry. Their charging could be completed during the course of lunch and coffee breaks, allowing them to return to work a lot faster.