Uplifting operations with electric forklifts

Numerous options are available when deciding how to power a forklift, depending on the needs of the operator. But the market has moved in one particular direction in recent years, according to Jason Pippin, major accounts manager at Hyster, a division of Hyster-Yale Materials Handling Inc., headquartered in Cleveland.

“If you look at the landscape 10 years ago, or even six or seven years ago, there really were a lot of different motive power options for forklifts out there,” he says. “But the market has moved toward lithium-ion batteries, at least from what I’ve seen with my customers.”

Internal combustion engine (ICE) models offer durability, consistent power delivery and are not dependent on an electrical grid. They remain prevalent in a wide range of industries, including the recycling of commodities such as ferrous and nonferrous metals, paper, plastics and electronics.

However, Pippin says electric models powered by lithium-ion batteries quickly are closing any perceived performance gaps relative to ICE models, offering users an attractive option when looking to upgrade an older machine or trying to decarbonize their operations.

“With the advent of lithium-ion batteries, the new electric forklifts of today can compete in almost any application you can imagine, right next to ICE trucks,” he says. “It’s something that a lot of people or customers might not be aware of.”

Considering the change

Forklift development has been a specialty of Greenville, North Carolina-based Hyster, which offers not just three- and four-wheel trucks but also pallet trucks and stackers, tow tractors, reach trucks, order pickers, narrow aisle trucks, container handlers and more for use in a variety of environments such as ports and terminals, manufacturing, agriculture, packaging and lumber, among others.

The company also offers a range of power types, including ICE and electric options that use lead-acid batteries, which the company says offer a low acquisition cost for a wide range of applications, and even hydrogen fuel cell-powered models, which offer consistent power delivery, quick refueling and “zero harmful emissions.”

Hyster boasts more than 90 years of experience in forklift design, with a focus on the needs of its clients as well as developing lift trucks that can withstand wear and tear while moving products efficiently, with lift capacities ranging from 2,000-105,000 pounds.

When helping customers determine whether to repair or replace their forklifts, Hyster leans on that experience.

“We use a lot of metrics to determine what we call the economic break-even point of a lift truck, and some of those metrics are based on parts obsolescence, the age of the asset and the usage of that asset,” Pippin says, adding that the decision to repair or replace a machine can vary by its application. “We’ve definitely seen units in use past 12,000 hours. We do study it across different industry segments.”

When purchasing a new machine, some customers will stick with an ICE model because of familiarity.

“With ICE models, a lot of people prefer it and customers still buy it,” Pippin says. “The benefit is that it’s common for them. They’re accustomed to being around and working on internal combustion engines, so they can find normal maintenance knowledge to be a little more applicable out of the box.”

An electric model, on the other hand, has fewer mechanical parts and more computerized programming is required, among other considerations.

“With the advent of some new motive power options, particularly lithium-ion chemistries available to us now, the conversion [to electric] has never been more attractive, in my opinion,” Pippin says. “A lot of our customers agree.

“There’s new types of power to buy. There have been major advances with lithium-ion battery options that extend the capabilities of electric forklifts beyond what may have been possible 10 years ago with lead-acid batteries. You’re also kind of riding the wave [when upgrading to an electric model] because there’s a lot more safety and innovation available on an electric truck.”

Setting up for success

When making the change from an ICE forklift to an electric forklift, infrastructure work could be required up front to ensure the operator’s electrical grid can handle the shift in power use, for example. But Pippin notes such preparation work usually is a one-time cost to get the facility outfitted with the power required in some demanding electrical applications.

Once the electric truck is in use, a manufacturer like Hyster, for example, works with its battery producers to provide data to customers that show the charge and discharge of the forklift’s battery.

Additionally, Hyster has introduced several features, such as cameras and its operator assist solution, Hyster Reaction, to enhance safety and increase productivity. The technology package includes what the company calls Advanced Dynamic Stability, or ADS, which continuously monitors the combined center of gravity of a lift truck and the load it carries to automatically apply performance adjustments to avoid abrupt shifts and jerks that can upset forklift stability.

The suite also provides two collision avoidance options, including object detection, which uses two-dimensional light detection and ranging, or LiDAR, technology to detect objects within the path of travel, such as facility infrastructure, material or other trucks and personnel, and proximity detection, which uses ultra-wideband technology to identify potential hazards from all angles within a 360-degree range. A pedestrian awareness camera system mounted on the forklift can identify people at ranges up to 16 feet through a 110-degree field of view and provides automatic audible or visual alerts to the forklift operator when a pedestrian is detected. Traction alerts automatically and gradually slow down the forklift.

For electric models that are powered by lithium-ion batteries, Pippin says several advantages have emerged regarding maintenance and charging.

“All our models have different levels of preventive maintenance service that are applicable at different levels of usage hours,” he says. “Normally, what we see with electric models is they have fewer moving parts and the maintenance is generally performed every 500 hours instead of 250 hours in its ICE equivalent.

“Because of that lithium-ion battery technology, specifically, the charging is so fast it allows us for the first time to put those trucks into very highly demanding applications.”

Pippin says with lead-acid batteries, for example, the charge time on a standard 5,000-pound capacity truck could be as much as five hours depending on how depleted the battery was. But with lithium-ion batteries, Hyster has seen a charge rate of 1 percent per minute for trucks in high-use applications.

“If you needed electric trucks and you had a high-demand application, you were just changing [lead-acid] batteries,” he says. “You’d take your forklift into a room, you’d have a battery change, and those batteries were very heavy and required special equipment and processes to move around. So, some customers who were motivated went electric a long time ago. But the customers who were still hanging around because there were still some performance gaps [between ICE and electric forklifts], those are all disappearing now [with lithium-ion batteries]. Any rationale not to convert is slowly disappearing,” Pippin explains.

Setting an example

A case study published on the Hyster website showcases the benefits of making the switch to electric forklifts powered by lithium-ion batteries.

According to the report, two large North American paper and packaging providers sought to limit costs, reduce emissions, improve their work environments and boost labor utilization. They had been using ICE- and lead-acid-battery-powered forklifts at their facilities.

At the facility using ICE trucks, Hyster partnered to provide 130 lithium-ion lift trucks with various attachments tailored to the facility’s operation. All were equipped with the Hyster Tracker telematics system, while several included Hyster Reaction for a trial.

The facility using lead-acid forklifts was supplied with 684 lithium-ion lift trucks, which also were equipped with the Tracker and Reaction platforms.

The report says that by making the switch to lithium-ion powered forklifts, the paper manufacturers eliminated ICE emissions and lead-acid battery charging fumes and realized productivity gains. The customer that switched from ICE trucks reduced energy expenses and saved on parts and maintenance over the life of the truck, while the customer that switched from lead-acid batteries benefited from faster charging times and zero battery maintenance.

In particular, the customer that switched from ICE power saved $1.5 million from changing the forklift fleet at just one facility, the report claims.

When it comes to using lithium-ion batteries to power forklifts, Pippin says, “We can do a lot of things that we weren’t able to do before.”

The author is associate editor at Recycling Today. Email him at cvoloschuk@gie.net.