BY VICTORIA KICKHAM, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
BATTERIES
Material Handling
INTEREST IN LITHIUM-ION (L-I) BATTERIES FOR
material handling applications has been growing over the
last 10 years, but adoption of the technology in North
America has been slow, to say the least.
That may be about to change in 2018.
There was no shortage of l-i battery and forklift products
introduced to the market last year, and the trend promises
to continue as prices come down and warehouse and distribution center managers turn a willing ear to companies
touting the advantages of lithium-ion technology. Such
trends put the battery market—which has seen few technology revolutions in the last 100 years—on the verge of a
major change, with some industry experts predicting that
l-i will take a good portion of the lift truck market, and in
particular, away from traditional lead-acid batteries, in the
not-too-distant future.
“Cell prices [for lithium-ion] are dropping and are tar-
geted to be around $100 per kilowatt hour in two to four
years, and at that point, it will be less of a sticker shock to
stop short of putting a number to the share of market l-i
may capture in the short term.
