With all the new battery technology out there, its only a matter of time before they take over. How long do you think its going to take for electric counterbalance lifts to replace all the LPG counterbalances running around in warehouses today? 2020?2030?2040? Will it ever happen? Sound off below.
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I worked on electric trucks for a little over 14 years before i.. got into lp and diesel. Some applications favor electric units , for example freezer , narrow aile and inside of buldings. Grocery applications with pallett jacks is another. Industrial applications where there is high production rates and a lot of pushing and shoving heavy loads(never happens in the real world) it is going to beat a ic unit. As far as the fuel cell tech is going , mayby in about 20 years before the costs are on par with ic units. I do not everything but i havent seen an electric container handler running on battery power
Opportunity chargers, yes we sell them. Great opportunity for extra sales! They work, for a short time.....same old lead acid battery.
Partsguy5, you're so right on the money about the whole process.
Anyone wanting to learn how bad lead is, just watch "Cosmos" episode about Claire Pattison. Lead is the final stage, after millions of years decaying, from it's original state...uranium. As for Hydro dams, just ask the first nation's people how they feel about being displaced, and seeing thousands of acres of trees cut down to make way for flooding..not very green at all.
Burning gas still pollutes too, but modern engines with catalyst systems and on board computerized fuel management cut emissions down to almost nothing. LPG trucks are still the best choice, til they invent warp drive!
Maximus,
In my opinion you really need to look at the complete process from start to finish before you say that it is "Green". The products that it takes to produce nuclear power are very harmful as well as the waste from that production. Not to mention the affects to the environment if there was a disaster such as we saw in Japan a few years ago.
The production of lead acid batteries is about as bad and as far as the recycling just Google lead acid battery reclamation and read the articles.
RayTech You didn't touch on opportunity charging some of my customers are running a 3 shift application and using only 1 battery which is an opportunity charge battery. IMO there is no question that if you are going to be storing the truck outside then IC trucks makes sense but honestly I think 95% of applications can use electric trucks. And as far as what you are talking about green.. We are both in Ontario most of our electricity comes from Nuclear or Quebec Dams which is pretty green to move and BTW lead although can poison fish is a precious metal and can be fully recycled and re built into new batteries.. so Yes it is Green!
LPG will remain king of outdoors. I've serviced electric only for 12 years, now doing LPG last 2, and there is no comparison regarding durability downtime. LPG outperform electric in so many ways. You cant leave an electric outside in the rain. If you have no spare battery, you're SOL when the primary one dies. LPG just swap tanks! If you have room for a spare battery, then you need a battery changer, or long *** bars to push and pull the battery when it's dead.
If running 3 shifts. then you need 3 batteries and all the real estate to store them big kahunas!
Battery technology has advanced soooooooo litttttle compared to everything else. They say its "green"... but ask the poor shmuck that services the battery...how his nostrils and eyes burn just from adding water and cleaning. Green eh? Does the word "lead" not go with "dead" or very bad for you. Lead never breaks down and does some bad *hit to anything living. Electricity is great, maybe concentrate on Hydrogen fuel cells. To ask this question. when will Electric CB trucks take over...reminds me of all the movies we watched as kids. What will the year 2000 be like? 2015 in back to the future movie....well, we are 2015 and roads are being taken over by BICYCLE lanes :)
Haven't they done that with Hydrogen fuel cell technology? Sure, it's expensive, but you can refuel in seconds, saving time from the battery change.
Recharging time it the biggest draw back !!
As soon as a battery can be charged as quickly as filling a fuel tank, ic trucks will always come 1st
I've tried to do it this year, buy up all counter balance requirements to run on electric rather than gas.
One problem though, make sure the warehouse has a big enough power supply to support all those chargers and spare batteries, and that you have room to store all the batteries.
Electric is the future, especially for counter balance, less service maintenance, less chance of abuse (low oil, water) the cost per litre of gas against a KwH of electricity, there is very little in it when i did the calculations, i think a.05ppl rise in gas prices, made electric trucks cheaper to run, it was that close.
Gas is better for where you haven't got to support them with a large infrastructure of battery handling etc, but in the world of RDC's gases are on the way out.
LPG with the larger fixed refuel tanks in my opinion would always be a better option ,no hassle don't even have to change tanks,only real issue is tank is out side of truck and vunrable
Lpg would always be first choice in larger trucks
You can change out a propane bottle a lot faster than a battery and they are usually serviced out by some one who is desiginated to do so. With batteries there is always the war between the shifts as to who changes out the battery and who waters the battery. You can have all the rules and regulations in place for the battery issues but you always have either non compliance with the rules or you have some one who figures how to screw over the next shift on a regular basis. Real world. I have yet to see a battery lift run as long as a LPG unit in the real world.
Carer of Italy manufacturer good electric large counter balance forklifts, the problem seems to be the battery charge. If a truck is used over two or three shifts the number of batteries needed bring extra costs
Here is an interesting article published by MEHDA. themhedajournal.org/2011/07/22/breaking-down-the-power-options/
I recall the big oil shortage of the early 70's & waiting in long lines and hopefully would be able to buy 10 gallon of gasoline. The promoters of electric powered vehicles lifts saw this as the demise of ICE powered products. Granted over time the the class I electric products saw a small and steady increase in the percent of all units sold. This growth came at the expense of the Class IV cushion tire products up to the 7- 8000 lb. lift capacity. But the Class V ICE pneumatic tire products % of all sold remain fairly stable.
While battery technology has "some what" changed over the years the lead acid battery still remains the primary seller for use in industrial fork lifts. New technology in batteries & charging system is being market & tested but the price tag still remains a significant obstacle.
Just my 2.5 cents worth & I have been out of the business since 2007 after 41 years.
as long as public vehicles run on ic engines so will mhe.
my opinion.
Alan, I feel your pain. I'm in the same boat. Somethings gotta give, no matter how hard they try they can't stop us from getting it fixed without there help. When will they realize and cater to us...
Manufacturers believe it or not small "competing" businesses do sell your equipment without your knowledge. I support toyota brand personally as they seem to require a laptop never. (Ic trucks) haven't needed a laptop for any ic toyota yet... even the 8s. also the trucks are engineered in such a way that repairing them is easier than say a c5000 or a c25cl. Maybe toyota thought of this already? If so good job and it's working.
Could not care less since leaving school in in 69 been reparing trucks eversince and still at it not been a bad living.Getting a bit stiff now but still enjoy it most days. A few years ago you could bypaas this put a bit of wire here and their and get away with it. Now you cant if you havent got the laptop and programe your knackerd. We get by but only just. Trust me it gets no easier with time. If only pepole relised how hard a job it is ALAN
Yes AGV will only get better/popular with more time/data. What about the battery type/size. When will these large forklift batteries be replaced with something much smaller/that charges faster/and lasts longer, i feel like it should have happened all ready...
By 2040 there will only be Electric AGV lol.. I think you will always see some LPG because so many people are using there lift under an hour a day and storing it outside... Thats just my opinion but I really do think that operators will basically be obsolete by 2040.
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