Usually, electric forklifts are the best option for indoor use in manufacturing and warehousing operations for 2 main reasons: First off they produce zero emissions. This is a very vital factor to consider for indoor work places. Among the Internal Combustion or IC models, just the propane-fueled models could be used indoors and these models still require really good ventilation. Models that run on diesel and gas can not be used indoors under any circumstances.
Fuel cost is the other main advantage of electric forklifts. These models have lower cost per hour as opposed to any of the other internal combustion or IC models. Amongst the main disadvantages to using the electric forklifts is their higher initial expense. New electric lift trucks could range from 20 percent to 40 percent more than IC models which are similarly rated.
Electric forklifts however, offer many benefits such as quiet operations, that can be a big plus for indoor environments. Moreover, no fuel storage requirements mean no room needs to be allotted for tanks of fuels that are flammable and dangerous. As electric lift trucks have less moving parts compared to IC units, and they are usually used in cleaner settings and indoors, they tend to have a longer lifespan overall.
The electric forklifts biggest downside is the batteries downtime. The big and really heavy, lead acid batteries are quite similar to the ones now found in cars. These batteries are extremely big and extremely powerful. Normally, batteries provide enough power for one regular 8-hour shift, and this means 5 or 6 hours of continuous utilization.
Charging a lift truck battery will take around 8 hours. An additional 8 hours of cooling time is needed before it could be utilized after the charging process is done. Because of this long process of additional cooling time and slow charging speed, if you require forklifts for 2 or 3 shift operations, you must purchase extra batteries so you can always be charging the next battery. These additional batteries will add approximately $1000 to $2000 to the acquisition price.
There are several new fast charge electric forklifts available on the market. These specialized batteries have revolutionized the electric lift truck business. Their charging could be completed in the course of lunch and coffee breaks, enabling them to get back to work much sooner.