When a business starts thinking about either buying or renting a forklift. They begin to look at LPG Forklifts or diesel Forklifts. However Battery electric forklifts are rapidly growing in popularity in the market and can be of real value to a Business.
4 different types of Battery Electric Forklift
3-Wheel Counter Balance Forklift
Generally, you see 2 wheels at the front, and 1 or 2 wheels closely together at the rear.
4-Wheel Counter Balance Forklift
Just like a standard engineered powered forklift, with 4 wheels.
Reach Truck / Order Pickers
With reach truck there are two types – sit on reach truck and stand on reach truck, both having specific benefits in an application. the stand on the reach truck is generally small in turning radius. The Order Pickers come under this category.
Pedestrian operated
The units are designed so you walk behind the unit and steer it by a tiller handle. These units are very popular as you don’t need a license to operate them. Although they can take up quite a bit of room to operate them
There are several different reasons why you should consider a battery-electric forklift :
Space saving
When floor space is a premium in a business, quite often battery electric forklifts are the best option to go for. The different types of electric forklift configurations, all have smaller turning radius than their conventional Internal combustion forklift counterpart. Therefore giving you the ability to trade space as a premium in the business floor space.
Fumes
With a conventional Internal Combustion forklift, there are a lot of noxious fumes that the engine generates. Quite often forklifts are needed to operate in confined spaces, such as containers or enclosed areas.
This is where battery electric forklifts are suitable, due to the electric motor driving the units, they have no noxious fumes so they run very clean, making them an excellent choice for operating in confined areas.
Re-fuelling
Battery electric forklifts come with industrial capacity batteries in them in replacement of a standard fuel tank. The battery is what provides fuel for the forklift to operate. Industrial Forklift batteries are bought into Australia and rated as a 5-hour discharge use battery under Australian Standard AS2402.
They are referred to as an 8-hour shift battery. being the additional 3 hours of use allows for downtime during the day. such as operators’ lunch breaks, and operator breaks.
To charge a battery you plug it into a Battery Charger (Comes with the forklift), then plug the charger into the 240vlt wall socket. The Chargers come with single or 3-phase amperage plugs. By charging batteries this way, it makes it an extremely cheap way to refuel your forklift.
Servicing
Battery electric forklifts are driven by electrical motors. Most modern battery electric forklifts have sealed AC motors which allows for minimal servicing and downtime.
Tyre wear
Due to the electrical drive motors, it makes it nearly impossible for the tires to be spun. Which allows for maximum tire life.
Choosing a Battery Electric forklift can make a lot of sense for a business, just talk to your local forklift dealer if you are still unsure.
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