Roughly 60 percent of the forklift market is made up by electric lift truck models. These units derive their power from heavy, large lead-acid batteries that give the machine it's counterweight so as to avoid it from tipping over.
The ITA states that electric counterbalanced lift trucks are considered Class 1 forklifts. The category of Class1 also includes stand-up counterbalanced trucks along with other electric trucks that are designed for general use. Though the initial investment when purchasing an electric lift truck is more than an IC or internal combustion lift truck, electric forklifts are a lot less expensive to operate and run in the long-run. This is due to lesser maintenance and fuel costs, than the IC or internal combustion models.
In North America, most electric rider forklifts are designed for transporting materials indoors. Electric rider trucks are used most frequently in warehousing applications, and retail spaces. The electric models are the right choice for inside applications because they make less noise and emit zero toxic emissions.
The battery of an electric lift truck can run on average for 8 hours or for one shift. The reloading, recharging and removing batteries that weigh upwards of 3000 pounds can be hard and time consuming. This burdensome task usually requires a dedicated area for battery handling. Then again, new fast charging technologies are now utilized to change the procedure and update this process to be able to complete it in a a lot quicker method.
This fast charging technology is considered to be better charging technology. It has revolutionized electric unit lift trucks and the charging time of their batteries. The professionals of the material handling industry, state that these new developments within the battery technology and battery charging systems can lessen charging time by up to 50%!
IC or Internal Combustion Counterbalanced Forklifts
Internal combustion lift trucks depend on a variety of different types of fuels, such as liquid propane gas or LPG, diesel, compressed natural gas or CNG and gasoline. The bigger forklifts are normally utilized outdoors. Normally, these models operate on gas or diesel and uses pneumatic or air-filled tires so as to make them suitable for rough environment and steep inclines, as opposed to cushion tires. Cushion tires are more suitable for indoor applications and smooth services since they are made from solid rubber.
The most common fuel option for indoor trucks is LPG. There are more than 600,000 propane-filled forklifts today that are operating in DCs and in warehouses. These models offer a huge range of benefits. For instance, lift trucks that run on propane fuel maintain 100 percent consistent power during operation. As well, these models offer faster ground speeds as opposed to other power sources.