Investing in new equipment, without fully understanding the financial implications, could cost money, claims Derek Anderson, Managing Director PowerCell. Nowhere is this truer than with electric power.
“An industrial battery is a significant investment, it can represent between 15 and 20 per cent of the value of a new forklift truck; the second largest element in the package, behind the truck itself,” said Anderson. “Each battery you buy should contain your fuel for at least the next five years… but the cheaper, more aggressively priced truck packages often include the lowest cost battery and charger options.
“Typically, an inferior quality battery contains lower quality lead, and, on occasion, less of it. This lead tends to degrade faster, yield less charge and deliver a lower number of overall cycles. These low-cost batteries also don’t respond well to accidental under or over charging, and, as the battery’s charge capacity drops, its utilisation plummets and it begins to fail.”
Chargers are another critical aspect of forklift expenditure, but, according to Anderson, the importance of achieving an optimum pairing with the battery is often overlooked to achieve the lowest initial purchase price possible… and this could cost end-users.
“Getting this right from the outset will guarantee your operations benefit from significantly lower whole-life costs and raised efficiencies, said Anderson. “When it comes to chargers, it’s all about the quality of the charge itself. The best models on the market deliver improved energy efficiency, deeper charges, longer run times and more energy for every penny.
“As well as dramatically reducing energy consumption, these new chargers reduce costs per cycle, optimise shift lengths, cut CO2 emissions and can increase battery service life by up to 25 per cent.”