The electric forklift is generally the most ideal option for indoor operations within warehouses and manufacturing settings. This is mostly due to 2 reasons with the first being that they create zero emissions. This is a very important factor to consider for indoor work places. Among the IC or internal combustion units, just the propane-fueled units could be used inside and these models still need extremely good ventilation. Gas and diesel powered models are not able to be used inside under any circumstances.
Fuel cost is the other primary benefit of electric lift trucks. These models have lower cost per hour compared to any of the other IC or internal combustion models. Amongst the main disadvantages to using the electric forklifts is their higher initial cost. New electric lift trucks can range from 20% to 40% more than internal combustion models which are rated the same.
Electric forklifts however, provide numerous advantages like quiet operations, that can be a big plus for indoor settings. In addition, no requirement for fuel storage mean no room has to be allotted for tanks of fuels that are both flammable and dangerous. Since electric lift trucks have less moving parts compared to IC models, and they are usually utilized indoors and in cleaner settings, they tend to have a longer overall lifespan.
The electric forklifts biggest downside is the batteries downtime. The big and very heavy, lead acid batteries are quite similar to the ones now found in cars. These batteries are very powerful and very large. Typically, batteries provide enough power for one standard 8-hour shift, and this translates into 5 or 6 hours of continuous utilization.
Originally, charging a lift truck battery takes about 8 hours. After the charging process is completed, an extra 8 hours of cooling time is required before it could be used. Because of this long method of additional cooling time and slow charging speed, if you require forklifts for 2 or 3 shift operations, you would have to buy additional batteries so you can always be charging the next battery. These additional batteries would add about $1000 to $2000 to the purchase price.
On the market today, there are a few new fast charge electric forklifts. These fast charge batteries have changed the business of electric forklifts. Their charging could be done during the course of coffee and lunch breaks, enabling them to return to work much sooner.