Whether planning new warehouse construction, an expansion, or simply beefing up current operations, there’s no getting around the many challenges inherent in powering a fleet of manual forklifts, autonomous guided vehicles (AGVs), autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), or a mix.

The key is to avoid vehicle downtime caused by charging bottlenecks. That’s why leading warehouse operators are increasingly treating charging infrastructure as a core operational asset rather than an afterthought.

The goal is simple: move power from the grid or other energy source to vehicle batteries. Here the challenges include securing enough available power and deploying enough chargers with the right capacity and capabilities to support both current operations and future fleet expansion. Of course, these factors vary widely from warehouse to warehouse.

Every system has a throughput limitation or bottleneck at one stage or another. Some are easier to fix than others. Adding an additional vehicle is often a straightforward capital investment … unless charging infrastructure was not designed to scale.

Battery chargers are among the hardest and costliest systems to retrofit after a fleet becomes operational because they often require dedicated airflow and mounting considerations, electrical upgrades, and additional infrastructure planning. Battery or forklift capacity issues can typically be addressed later with less disruption.

Clearly, warehouse managers should provision for future battery chargers as early as possible in new warehouse construction. The question then becomes: how do you determine how many chargers are needed, which technologies make sense, and where should they be deployed?

Crunching the Numbers to Support Demand

Warehouses typically generate a power study to determine the required number of batteries and chargers. The challenge is that power studies rely heavily on operational data from existing fleets, which offers limited value when planning a greenfield facility. A newly constructed warehouse must forecast its needs using historical benchmarks, throughput estimates, and expected automation growth.

A warehouse capable of charging 10 vehicles may be able to scale to 12 or even 15 vehicles without significant workflow disruption, particularly if the fleet uses opportunity charging.

However, that same warehouse will almost certainly need to expand its charging infrastructure before scaling to 20 vehicles. Without proper planning, additional vehicles can create downtime as fleets spend more time charging, waiting for charger availability, or competing for access during peak operational periods.

This is why scalable charging architecture has become a priority in modern intralogistics environments. Operators are increasingly looking for modular charging systems that can grow alongside automation investments without requiring major infrastructure redesigns.

Select the Battery Mix that Fits Your Operation

When designing a warehouse, it is important to consider wired versus wireless charging. Both are valid solutions depending on operational requirements. Battery chemistry—lead-acid versus lithium-ion—also plays a major role in determining the right charging strategy.

Wired charging is a mature and widely adopted technology that offers relatively low installation cost and high electrical efficiency. However, wired chargers can experience wear over time due to mechanical contact degradation, dirt buildup, and connector maintenance requirements. Wired systems support a variety of charging strategies, including opportunity charging, and pair well with battery swaps across virtually any shift schedule.

Wireless charging is rapidly emerging as a compelling alternative. While installation costs may be higher initially, wireless systems eliminate mechanical connector wear and reduce maintenance associated with plugs and contacts. Wireless charging is particularly attractive for automation-heavy facilities where opportunity charging can be embedded directly into workflows.

Visioning the trend, Delta’s MOOV^air wireless charging systems are designed to support continuous industrial operation while simplifying fleet charging workflows. The MOOV^air 10 and MOOV^air 30 inductive chargers deliver a constant 10 kW and 30 kW output power respectively, enabling high-throughput charging for demanding automated environments. A single transmitter can charge multiple vehicles operating at different battery voltages, giving operators greater flexibility when managing mixed fleets.

Unlike traditional plug-in systems, MOOV^air chargers eliminate mechanical charging contacts entirely — no plugs, no worn connectors, and no contact contamination issues. This significantly reduces maintenance requirements while improving long-term charging reliability in high-utilization facilities.

The smaller MOOV^air 01 and MOOV^air 03 systems are optimized for AGVs and AMRs that rely heavily on in-process and opportunity charging. Their fanless design and IP65-rated protection make them well suited for warehouses, manufacturing facilities, cleanrooms, and even agricultural applications where dust, moisture, and vibration can impact conventional charging hardware.

For larger industrial vehicles such as forklifts, the maintenance-free MOOV^air platform is available with IP69-rated protection, supporting reliable operation even in demanding logistics and production environments requiring continuous uptime.

In the past, the drawback of wireless charging is the relatively poor power efficiency. However, modern wireless charging systems are rapidly approaching efficiencies comparable to conductive charging technologies. Delta’s MOOV^air systems achieve charging efficiencies above 90%, making them comparable to many contact-based charging technologies while still delivering the operational advantages of contactless power transfer.

Lithium-ion batteries can be a game changer for opportunity charging strategies. Even short charging intervals can significantly extend operational runtime. If vehicles rely heavily on opportunity charging, wireless systems can enable the use of smaller, lighter, and less expensive batteries, reducing overall capital expenditure while minimizing or even eliminating battery swaps.

For a one-shift warehouse using lead-acid batteries, it is normal to plan one charger per vehicle. However, facilities using lithium-ion batteries may require fewer chargers if opportunity charging is integrated effectively into workflows.

Of course, charger power capacity also matters. An undersized charger may not adequately recharge batteries within available operational windows. Fast chargers enable more effective use of short charging opportunities during breaks or idle periods.

To support these varied operational needs, Delta’s MOOV portfolio offers charging solutions ranging from 1 to 30 kW, including both conductive and wireless inductive technologies. This flexibility allows operators to deploy centralized fast-charging stations or distributed opportunity charging across automated facilities depending on throughput requirements and fleet composition.

Make a Flexible, Mixed-Fleet Charging Strategy 

Running AGVs, AMRs, and manned forklifts under the same roof—often across different manufacturers and battery chemistries—quickly exposes the limitations of a one-size-fits-all charging strategy.

Mixed chemistries create mixed operational challenges. Lead-acid batteries periodically require equalization cycles that can remove vehicles from service for extended periods. Lithium-ion packs avoid that issue but require tighter thermal management and consistent charging behavior.

Operators also learn quickly that redundancy alone does not guarantee resilience. Spare chargers can help absorb demand spikes, but long-term performance depends on deliberate load balancing, proactive charger health monitoring, and infrastructure scalability.

At scale, none of this is manageable without visibility. The fleets consistently achieving 24/7 uptime targets increasingly rely on fleet management software not only to dispatch vehicles, but also to identify charging anomalies before they become operational disruptions.

Interoperability is becoming increasingly important as automated fleets grow more diverse. MOOV^air charging pads are optimized for specific battery voltage ranges, allowing vehicles to charge more efficiently while simplifying integration across different fleet types. This means operators can support multiple vehicle platforms and battery configurations without deploying entirely separate charging ecosystems.

Wireless charging alignment has traditionally been viewed as a challenge in dynamic industrial environments. However, modern inductive systems are designed to tolerate significant vehicle misalignment, allowing reliable charging even when AGVs or forklifts do not stop in precisely the same position every cycle. This improves charging consistency without requiring highly complex vehicle positioning systems.

The MOOV^air platform also supports powerline communication (PPL), enabling data communication directly through the wireless charging interface. This allows the charger and vehicle to exchange operational information in real time without requiring additional communication hardware, simplifying system integration while supporting smarter charging management and fleet coordination.

For conductive charging applications, Delta’s MOOVbase charging systems are designed for high-throughput AGV, AMR, and forklift operations where 24/7 uptime is critical. The platform has completed more than one billion charging cycles in automated logistics environments, demonstrating long-term reliability under continuous industrial use.

The modular MOOVbase architecture allows operators to scale charging performance simply by adding or swapping power modules, enabling charging capacity to expand from 3 kW up to 32 kW without replacing the entire charging system. This gives warehouses greater flexibility to adapt charging infrastructure as fleet sizes and operational requirements evolve.

The system supports both single-vehicle and multi-vehicle charging setups, allowing chargers to be shared across fleets for improved space and cost efficiency — even when vehicles operate at different battery voltages. Ethernet connectivity enables integration with fleet management systems for real-time monitoring, remote diagnostics, data logging, and charger control. All the features help maximize battery life, fleet uptime, and operational continuity in demanding automated warehouse environments.

Conclusion: Plan Ahead and Build In Flexibility

As warehouse automation matures, the best-performing fleets will rely on charging infrastructure designed to grow with them—not retrofitted around them later. Moving from a single-shift operation with a handful of forklifts to dozens of AGVs and AMRs operating around the clock becomes a stress test for every charging decision made at the outset.

As technology evolves quickly, wireless charging is narrowing the efficiency gap, lithium-ion batteries and opportunity charging are reshaping fleet economics, and fleet management software is improving visibility across increasingly complex operations. 

This growing focus on uptime and operational continuity is reflected in the rapid adoption of industrial charging infrastructure worldwide. Delta recently surpassed the milestone of one million industrial vehicles charged globally, underscoring the increasing role of scalable charging systems in automated logistics operations. This milestone reflects the trust global logistics operators and vehicle manufacturers place in Delta’s charging technology to support mission-critical logistics operations.

As modern intralogistics operations are under constant pressure to improve throughput, energy efficiency, and sustainability, Delta will continue to offer innovative, reliable charging infrastructure that has become a foundational enabler of automation itself.