Roughly 60 percent of the forklift market is made up by electric forklift models. These models get their power from heavy, large lead-acid batteries which that prevents the machinery from tipping over because it acts as the counterweight.
Based on ITA, electric counterbalanced forklifts are considered Class 1 lift trucks. Class 1 is the category which includes all stand-up counterbalanced trucks and other electric lift trucks. Even if the initial investment when purchasing an electric lift truck is more than an IC or internal combustion forklift, electric forklifts are a lot less expensive to operate and run in the long-run. This is because of lesser fuel and maintenance expenses, than the internal combustion models.
Within North America, the majority of electric rider forklifts are designed for moving materials indoors. Electric rider trucks are used most frequently in retail spaces, and warehousing applications. The electric units are the right choice for inside use because of their ability to emit zero toxic emissions and make less noise.
Furthermore, electric lift truck could usually run a complete 8 hour shift on a single battery charge. Reloading, recharging and removing batteries, that roughly weigh about 3000 pounds can be time consuming and hard. This cumbersome job normally requires a dedicated area for battery handling. Then again, new fast charging technologies are being utilized to update this process and change the procedure to be able to complete it in a a lot 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 material handling industry experts, state that these new developments within the battery technology and battery charging systems can cut charging time by up to 50 percent!
Internal Combustion Counterbalanced Lift Trucks
IC forklifts rely on a variety of different kinds of fuels, such as liquid propane gas or LPG, diesel, CNG or compressed natural gas and gasoline. The larger lift trucks are usually used outside. Normally, these units operate on diesel or gas and uses air-filled or pneumatic tires so as to make them suitable for rough environment and steep slopes, as opposed to cushion tires. Cushion tires are more suitable for smooth services and indoor applications as they are made from solid rubber.
The LPG model is the most common fuel choice for indoor trucks. Nowadays, there are over 600,000 propane-filled lift trucks working around the globe. These models offer various advantages. For instance, propane-fueled lift trucks maintain 100 percent constant power during operation. What's more, these units offer faster ground speeds compared to other power sources.