Generally, electric forklifts are the best choice for indoor use within manufacturing and warehousing applications for 2 main reasons: First off they produce zero emissions. This is a very essential factor to take into consideration for indoor work places. Among the Internal Combustion or IC models, just the propane-fueled units can be used indoors and these models still require really good ventilation. Diesel and gas powered models are not able to be used inside under any circumstances.
Fuel cost is the other primary advantage of electric forklifts. These units have lower cost per hour as opposed to any of the other internal combustion or IC models. Amongst the main drawbacks to the electric forklifts is their higher initial cost. Brand new electric forklifts can vary from 20% to 40 percent more compared to internal combustion units that are rated the same.
Electric lift trucks on the other hand, offer numerous advantages such as quiet operations, that could be a huge plus for indoor settings. 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 parts compared to IC models, and they are normally used indoors and within cleaner environments, they tend to have a longer lifespan overall.
The electric lift trucks biggest disadvantage is the batteries downtime. The big and very heavy, lead acid batteries are quite similar to those now found inside automobiles. These batteries are extremely powerful and extremely large. Normally, batteries provide enough power for one regular 8-hour shift, and this translates into 5 or 6 hours of continuous utilization.
Charging a forklift battery will take around 8 hours. An additional 8 hours of cooling time is required before it can be used after the charging process is completed. Because of this long process of additional cooling time and slow charging speed, if you need forklifts for 2 or 3 shift operations, you would need to purchase additional batteries so you could always be charging the next battery. These additional batteries would add around $1000 to $2000 to buy.
On the market these days, there are a few new fast charge electric lift trucks. These fast charge batteries have revolutionized the business of electric lift trucks. Their charging can be completed during the course of coffee and lunch breaks, allowing them to return to work much faster.