DC Velocity - June 2019

compound annual growth rate, according to a 2019 study by market research firm Grand View Research. Automobiles and other consumer electronics are expected to drive the bulk of that growth, but industrial and material handling applications will contribute as well, industry experts say.

“Just a couple of decades ago,
[lithium] was still unheard of in this
market,” explains Khabur. “Now,
the technology is evolving … And,
as with every new technology, there
are more and more competitors.”
“The newer technologies are cer-
tainly out there, with lithium being
the buzzword [today],” adds Brian Faust,
general manager for Reading, Pa.-based
battery, charger, and accessories man-
ufacturer Douglas Battery, which offers
traditional lead-acid batteries and is
also developing a sealed lead-acid prod-
uct, expected to be available next year.

Sealed lead-acid batteries offer similar benefits to lithium-ion solutions, including zero maintenance because they also don’t need to be watered. “Probably over the next two or three years we’ll see where [alternative power] settles down in our industry,” Faust says.

BENEFITS ABOUND, BUT QUESTIONS LINGER

Khabur and others agree that, today, lithium-ion batteries are best suited to operations where lift trucks are used for two or three shifts a day. Typical OneCharge customers have multiple pieces of equipment and are looking to get the most out of the vehicles during every shift, Khabur says.

“Our clients want to use the machinery with maximum efficiency,” he says, pointing to the convenience and produc-tivity-enhancing features of the technology as key selling points. Among other benefits, lithium-ion batteries charge faster and run longer than traditional solutions, eliminating the need to change a forklift battery at each shift, experts say. Their lifespan is also more than twice as long as their lead-acid counterparts’.

And as Vanasse pointed out, they don’t
require watering, which eliminates the
need for dedicated battery maintenance
OneCharge. “When there is
something new to talk about
… it brings a lot of excite-
ment and a new competitive
angle to a very traditional
industry.”
Founded in 2015,
OneCharge makes lithi-
um-ion batteries for materi-
al handling equipment and offers
more than 450 models for Class
I, II, and III forklifts. Khabur
compares the growing populari-
ty of lithium power for materi-
al handling applications with the
rise of electric cars and trucks:
As lithium-battery technology has
advanced and become broadly
accepted in the consumer market,
there’s been increasing interest in
applying it in the industrial sector,
he says. The interest is fueling mar-
ket growth: The overall lithium-ion
battery market is expected to reach
$93 billion by 2025, a 17-percent