Roughly 60 percent of the forklift market is made up by electric forklift units. These models get their power from big, heavy lead-acid batteries which give the machinery it's counterweight in order to avoid it from tipping over.
Based on ITA, electric counterbalanced lift trucks are considered Class 1 lift trucks. Class 1 is the category which includes all stand-up counterbalanced trucks and other electric forklifts. Although the initial investment when purchasing an electric lift truck is more compared to an IC or internal combustion forklift, electric lift trucks are much less expensive to run and operate in the long-run. This is because of lower fuel and maintenance costs, than the internal combustion models.
Within North America, the majority of electric rider lift trucks are made for transporting materials indoors. Electric rider trucks are utilized most frequently in warehousing applications, and retail spaces. The electric models are the best choice for inside applications because they emit zero toxic emissions and make less noise.
Moreover, electric forklift can usually work a complete 8 hour shift on a single battery charge. Reloading, recharging and removing batteries, which generally weigh about 3000 lbs. can be time consuming and hard. This cumbersome job often needs a dedicated area for battery handling. Nevertheless, new fast charging technologies are now used to update this process and change the procedure to be able to accomplish it in a much faster way.
Fast charging technologies are considered the best charging technologies. It has changed electric model lift trucks and the time it takes to charge their batteries. The material handling business experts, state that these new developments in the battery charging systems and battery technology can cut charging time by as much as 50%!
Internal Combustion Counterbalanced Forklifts
IC forklifts depend on a variety of different types of fuels, like liquid propane gas or LPG, diesel, compressed natural gas or CNG and gasoline. The bigger forklifts are usually utilized outside. Normally, these units are gas or diesel powered and utilizes air-filled or pneumatic tires so as to make them suitable for rough environment and steep inclines, compared to cushion tires. Cushion tires are more suitable for indoor use and smooth services because they are made from solid rubber.
The most common fuel choice for indoor trucks is LPG. There are over 600,000 propane-filled forklifts nowadays which are operating within DCs and in warehouses. These units offer a huge variety of advantages. Like for instance, propane-fueled forklifts maintain 100 percent consistent power during operation. Moreover, these units offer faster ground speeds than other power sources.