About 60 percent of the lift truck market is made up by electric lift truck models. These units are powered by heavy, huge lead-acid batteries which that prevents the equipment from tipping over since it gives it the counterweight.
The ITA states that electric counterbalanced forklifts are considered Class 1 forklifts. The category of Class1 also includes stand-up counterbalanced trucks as well as other electric trucks which are made for general application. Even if the first investment when you buy an electric lift truck is more compared to an IC or internal combustion lift truck, electric trucks are a lot less costly to operate and run in the long-run. This is because of lower fuel and maintenance expenses, compared to the internal combustion units.
Most of the electric rider forklift trucks shipped within North America is made for moving material indoors. They are usually used in retail spaces, and warehousing applications. The electric models are the right alternative for inside applications due to their ability to emit zero toxic emissions and make less noise.
In addition, electric forklift could usually operate a complete 8 hour shift on a single battery charge. Reloading, recharging and removing batteries, which roughly weigh approximately 3000 pounds could be time consuming and hard. This burdensome job usually needs a dedicated space for handling the battery. Nonetheless, new fast charging technologies are being utilized to update this process and change the procedure to be able to accomplish it in a much quicker way.
Fast charging technologies are considered the best charging technologies. It has revolutionized electric unit lift trucks and the charging time of their batteries. The experts of the material handling business, state that these new developments in the battery technology and battery charging systems could lessen charging time by up to 50%!
Internal Combustion or IC Counterbalanced Lift Trucks
The IC powered forklifts will depend on types of fuels, like LPG or liquid propane gas, diesel, CNG or compressed natural gas and gasoline. The bigger forklifts are commonly utilized outside. Generally, these models are gas or diesel powered and utilizes air-filled or pneumatic tires in order to make them suitable for rough environment and steep slopes, as opposed to cushion tires. Cushion tires are more suitable for indoor use and smooth services as they are made from solid rubber.
The LPG model is the most popular fuel choice for indoor trucks. Nowadays, there are over 600,000 propane-filled lift trucks working all over the globe. These models provide various advantages. Like for example, forklifts which operate on propane fuel maintain 100 percent constant power during operation. Also, these units offer faster ground speeds compared to other power sources.