Normally, electric forklifts are the most ideal option for indoor use in manufacturing and warehousing operations for 2 main 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, only the propane-fueled units can be utilized inside and these models still need extremely good ventilation. Units that work on gas and diesel are not able to be utilized indoors under any circumstances.
Fuel cost is the other main advantage of electric forklifts. These units have less cost per hour compared to any of the other IC or internal combustion units. One of the main drawbacks to the electric forklifts is their higher initial expense. New electric forklifts can vary from 20% to 40% more compared to internal combustion units that are similarly rated.
However, electric forklifts provide many benefits like quiet operation. This is a huge plus for indoor applications. Furthermore, no requirement for fuel storage mean no room needs to be allotted for tanks of fuels that are flammable and dangerous. Since electric lift trucks have less components that move compared to IC models, and they are normally used indoors and in cleaner environments, they tend to have a longer lifespan overall.
The electric lift trucks biggest disadvantage is the batteries downtime. The large and very heavy, lead acid batteries are somewhat similar to the ones now found in cars. These batteries are very strong and very big. Normally, batteries provide sufficient power for one regular 8-hour shift, and this means 5 or 6 hours of continuous use.
Charging a forklift battery would take roughly 8 hours. An extra 8 hours of cooling time is required before it could be used after the charging process is done. Because of this long process of extra cooling time and slow charging speed, if you need lift trucks for 2 or 3 shift operations, you should buy additional batteries so you could always be charging the next battery. These extra batteries would add around $1000 to $2000 to the purchase price.
On the market these days, there are a few new fast charge electric forklifts. These fast charge batteries have revolutionized the industry of electric forklifts. Their charging could be completed in the course of coffee and lunch breaks, allowing them to get back to work much sooner.