Should you choose Lithium-ion batteries or Lead-acid batteries to run your forklifts? This article will help you make an informed decision.
If you’re a business owner, or manager who depends on forklifts to operate their business, the type of industrial battery you choose will have a major impact on your company’s overall efficiency – and that’s true if you have just one electric lift vehicle or an entire fleet of forklifts in use. Depending on which type of electric forklift battery a business chooses, a lot of time and money could be saved over the long run.
This guide will walk you through the different kinds of forklift batteries, their key differences, forklift battery price ranges, and how these battery options will impact the overall efficiency of your business’ daily operations.
After determining which size forklift battery for sale is compatible with your vehicle(s), the next – and most important – consideration to take is which type of electric forklift battery technology to use: lithium vs lead acid forklift batteries.
Commercial forklifts are generally powered by either of these two main types of batteries:
While there are other power options for forklifts, such as propane or diesel or gas power, the vast majority of commercial forklifts use either lead-acid, lithium-ion technology.
The technology behind each of these industrial batteries differs greatly, and, therefore, has a different impact on forklift efficiency.
Lead-acid batteries are the old-school standard for powering forklifts. It is a bulky, liquid-filled unit with a removable top that generates electricity via a chemical reaction of lead plates and sulfuric acid. It’s technology that goes back to
Lithium-ion batteries are a newer technology, having been first used in a commercial product in the early 1990s, a Sony camcorder. Lithium-ion batteries have many different chemistries. One of the most popular chemistries for the material handling industry is Lithium Iron Phosphate(LFP). It is more compact and energy dense than lead-acid. The cells are sealed shut and require no water maintenance.
Our infographic outlines some of the major differences between a lithium-ion forklift battery and a lead-acid forklift battery.
Like any business expense, electric forklift batteries are a cost that needs to be dealt with regularly.
Which type of battery a company uses in its forklifts determines how often workers will have to replace the battery. Lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries have different lifespans:
These are averages and may vary based on how well the batteries are maintained.
A lithium ion forklift battery needs to be replaced less frequently, which is a major driver for business owners to prefer them to conventional lead-acid batteries – which need to be swapped out for new ones more often.
Click the link to learn more about How Many Years Does A Forklift Battery Last?
Both lithium-ion batteries and their lead-acid counterparts should be cared for properly if they are to perform up to their full potential. Their service life will diminish if proper electric forklift battery maintenance isn’t carried out as it should be.
In order to maximize service life and overall battery capacity, certain measures should be taken for users of both battery types. However, lead-acid batteries require more care and attention compared to lithium-ion.
Lead-acid forklift batteries require:
Lithium-ion batteries are much less needy when it comes to electric forklift battery maintenance, as they equalize automatically, function well in much higher temperatures (making temperature mostly a non-issue), and don’t require any fluid level management.
For comparison:
Andrew Wayts - SpartanNash Equipment Maintenance
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When it comes to electric lift vehicles, forklift battery specifications aren’t the same across the board. Forklift battery weight, size
Generally speaking, forklift battery sizes are chosen based on how large the vehicle is, with different types of electric lift vehicles typically getting one of these four voltage options:
A 24-volt forklift battery would be appropriate for some of the smallest types of electric lift vehicles, such as:
Meanwhile, 36-volt forklift batteries are designed for mid-sized electric vehicles, like:
The 48-volt forklift batteries are designed for large electric vehicles, like:
How an electric lift vehicle’s battery is recharged for continued commercial use has a major effect on how efficiently a business can operate, especially if there are any battery charging station requirements.
As you can imagine, lithium-ion batteries are the newer of the two types of battery technology, so their charging is faster and less complicated. Let’s take a look at how charging is different between these two forklift battery types:
“Opportunity charge” refers to the ability to charge on an as-needed basis, while the forklift has a little downtime (or whenever there’s an opportune moment).
Moreover, if either of these types of batteries isn’t charged correctly, they will deteriorate in quality as time goes by – with lead-acid units having much stricter guidelines when it comes to a healthy charging technique.
Forklift Battery Charging Station Requirements
The physical location of your forklift battery charger system is a much bigger consideration than many business owners realize.
Lead-acid units have specific forklift battery charging station requirements that lithium-ion units do not. After all, lithium-ion industrial batteries are plugged straight into a wall, and they don’t need to be removed from the vehicle to start recharging. There aren’t really any further actions that need to be taken in order to do a simple recharge.
With lead-acid forklift batteries, however, the units must be removed from the vehicle completely and placed onto a separate forklift battery charger – many of which have the ability to perform equalization. If there are many forklifts in operation, then there will need to be multiple chargers as well as a space for multiple units to cool down after fully recharging. This will involve employees having to regularly lift and support a full forklift battery weight on a regular basis.
Businesses that use lead-acid batteries need space to both charge and cool off multiple batteries simultaneously if they want their company to run smoothly, which often requires one or more separate rooms dedicated to just that. On top of that, lead-acid forklift batteries get very hot while charging, which necessitates a temperature-controlled space to maintain forklift battery charging station safety.
Lithium-ion industrial forklift batteries don’t need a separate space, don’t need to cool down, and don’t require a fully-charged spare at the ready when another one fully discharges – it can be recharged on the spot.
It’s not just the charging that requires close attention and regular checks – the fluid inside of lead-acid industrial batteries involve regular work.
Lithium-ion batteries are sealed shut, and the electricity-generating chemicals inside will stay inside, requiring no liquid-related effort by forklift operators.
Lead-acid batteries are quite the opposite, on the other hand, and require an entire forklift battery watering system that employees must learn to abide by if they want the battery to function well for its maximum possible service life.
The lead-acid forklift battery watering system involves:
There are battery water monitoring systems that can automatically let you know when water needs to be added, or it can be done by checking it yourself.
There are also battery watering systems that automatically add exactly the right amount of water, which can also be done manually.
With such powerful chemicals involved, safety is of the utmost importance when handling both of these forklift battery types – though one of them clearly offers a clear safety advantage for a typical workplace. Let’s examine lithium-ion vs lead-acid forklift batteries as it relates to safety in the workplace.
Lead-acid forklift battery safety risks:
Lithium-ion forklift batteries are sealed, so there is no potential for acid spills, corrosion, sulfation or any sort of contamination in the workplace. The chemical combination within these more-advanced batteries does pose a minuscule risk of expelling a corrosive gas when it comes in contact with water, but it’s quite rare.
On the surface, a lead-acid battery may seem like
However, when prudent managers and supervisors take a deeper look at the total cost of ownership between lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries, they see a far different picture.
Let's take a look at purchasing one (1) battery for a forklift and delve a little deeper into the actual numbers to see what the real cost of ownership is.
(These numbers are used as an estimate and should not be deemed as accurate. They are only for demonstration purposes. Every effort has been made to provide an accurate picture as possible.)
The following cost of ownership calculation is based on a 5-year period
If you only look at the initial forklift battery price purchase, you would see slight savings when purchasing a lead-acid forklift battery. When Operating and Energy Costs are factored in the total, overall savings are quite significant for the lithium-ion forklift battery.
A total savings of $22,527 can be realized, per battery, over a 5-year period. If your fleet consists of 10 forklifts, that's a savings of $225,270 over 5 years.
For many managers and supervisors who are concerned with productivity, the no-water maintenance factor of lithium-ion batteries makes a switch from lead-acid an easy decision.
When you add lithium-ion stable cell battery chemistry and an overall 40% total efficiency improvement, 30% for walkies and 50% for class 1 forklifts, the future of the material handling and ground support equipment industries is on a path to reduced costs and environmentally-friendly technologies.
By now you will have realized that lithium-ion batteries are the future of forklift and GSE equipment. The return on investment, increased productivity and fewer maintenance requirements make it the logical choice for hundreds of businesses.
“The prospect of improved performance, customer satisfaction and a lower cost of ownership from lithium storage packs
Bob Fisher
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