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Longer lasting Belts, New Split Spools -- no regrind:Layout 1 8/26/2009 4: 37 AM Page 1
company is “working to verify that the
suppliers and their products meet safety
standards and testing protocols” for equipment sold here.
GAINING CONVERTS
Navigant Research’s 2013 report forecasts
that revenues from the sale of new elec-
tric-power technologies for forklifts in
North America, including certain types
of fuel cells, fast chargers, and li-ion bat-
teries, will grow to $556 million in 2020
from $121 million in 2013. Lithium-ion
is expected to make up just a sliver of that
total market, perhaps 4 percent. Still, evi-
dence abounds that equipment makers and
their customers see a future in this technol-
ogy. Here are a few examples:
b Yale Materials Handling Corp. now
offers a walkie pallet truck with the first
commercially available li-ion battery pack
recognized by Underwriters Laboratory
(UL) in the forklift industry. The lighter,
smaller battery allows for a shorter, more
maneuverable truck and is backed by a
five-year warranty.
b Flux Power introduced a beta version of
its 500Ahe LiFT Pack battery for end-rid-
er pallet jacks at the 2015 ProMat show.
The company says Toyota and Crown
Equipment have approved its battery packs
for use in certain pallet jack models and
that it has lined up battery distributors
and forklift dealers to sell its products. The
publicly traded company reports growing
quarterly sales but is still in the red.
b Earlier this year, the snack maker
Mondelez bought li-ion batteries and bat-
tery management systems from Electrovaya
for its Toronto DC, and the Norwegian
wholesaler Europris reported that in a six-
month trial, batteries from GNB Industrial
Power “significantly” lowered its forklift
fleet operating costs.
b A growing number of vendors, includ-
ing Storage Battery Systems (SBS) and GS
Yuasa, have added li-ion batteries for AGVs
to their product lineups.
b Applied Energy Solutions reports
that several major retailers are testing its
Superion lithium-ion battery and charger
pack, which has won two MHI innovation
awards.
When asked where the market for lith-
ium-ion batteries will be five years from
now, the experts we consulted for
this article were cautious in their
assessments.
Purdy believes considerably more
research and testing will be required
to ensure that the batteries—both
current and future designs—are
properly matched to specific lift
truck applications. But if prices
come down, he expects that with-
in five years, sales will be “at least
equal to fuel cells.”
Tomaszewski, meanwhile, says
EnerSys sees possibilities in lithi-
um-ion, but right now the company
is using it in nonmotive applica-
tions only. “Until the cost comes
down, we will consider it to be an
emerging technology,” he says.
In Carlin’s opinion, the fact that
forklift manufacturers are hiring
employees specifically to support
lithium-ion and other new tech-
nologies suggests that they believe
acceptance will grow. “I would
expect that over the next five years,
testing will continue, and as people
become more confident in the over-
all benefits of the newer technolo-
gies, lithium-ion will be embraced
as a major alternative to lead-acid,”
he says.
Steve Dues of Crown agrees that
alternative power sources will gain
market share as they prove they
can solve customers’ problems at a
competitive cost. But don’t count
lead-acid batteries out just yet, he
says. The hybridization of lead-acid
with other technologies like super
capacitors, together with improved
battery management solutions,
could deliver meaningful power
and efficiency gains. Lithium-ion
may be getting some well-deserved
attention, but solutions involving
traditional lead-acid batteries, he
predicts, “are what will be applicable to the significant majority of the
forklift market.”
