space and reduces labor requirements.
The technology also helps reduce energy
use because lithium-ion units use less
electricity for charging, Khabur explains.
On the downside, lithium-ion batteries
still cost about three times as much as
traditional lead-acid units, although the
purchase price has come down in recent
years. Khabur says that barrier will shrink
as the technology evolves.
“Each year, we are [developing] new
and more effective batteries,” he says,
adding that OneCharge sold 1,200 batteries in 2018 and hopes to double that
in 2019.
Although the benefits and the newness
of the technology will continue to garner
attention for the products, questions linger over how quickly they’ll move into
widespread use. Experts point out that
although both lithium-ion and sealed
lead-acid batteries are maintenance-free
in comparison to lead-acid batteries,
they don’t eliminate all the maintenance
associated with battery-powered material handling equipment. Lithium-ion
batteries still require periodic inspection
of cables, terminals, and the like, and
forklifts themselves still require routine
maintenance.
Battery end-of-life is also a sticking
point. Virtually all lead-acid batteries are
recycled by the manufacturer, a service
included in the cost of the battery, according to Faust and others. In the United
States, 99 percent of all lead-acid batteries are recycled, the highest percentage
of any U.S. product, says John Connell,
vice president of battery manufacturer
Crown Battery’s SLI Product Group. He
adds that lead-acid battery makers largely
rely on recycled lead to produce new
batteries.
That’s not the case with lithium-ion
batteries, which are more complex and
costly to recycle. Currently, lithium
batteries are collected and recycled at a
rate of less than 5 percent, according to
the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE),
which launched a program to boost the
recycling rate earlier this year. In February,
the DOE announced the opening of a
battery-recycling center at Argonne
National Laboratory in Chicago aimed at
reclaiming and recycling critical materials
The triple scale design enables significantly shorter product
gaps with transport speeds of up to 3. 4 m/s (670 ft/min) and
a 50 ms measuring time. EMFR technology and Active Vibration
Compensation delivers superior weighing accuracy.
SHORTER PRODUCT GAPS
SIX SCALES COMBINED IN
ONE WEIGHING UNIT
Catchweigher
HC-FL-T
wipotec-ocs.com
www.dcvelocity.com JUNE 2019 DC VELOCITY 43
from lithium batteries, with the
goal of recovering 90 percent of
key materials. In the meantime,
the material handling industry
is also researching the best end-
of-life solutions, which include
reuse and repurposing lithium-ion
batteries for other energy needs,
according to Khabur, who adds
that OneCharge has a few batteries
in the field that are nearing the end
of their five-year warranty and may
last well beyond it.
“If taken good care of and
charged often, [these batteries]
will last longer,” he says. “And
they can be repurposed. There may
be many other uses. There is still
much research and development
[under way].”
IT’S ALL ABOUT PRODUCTIVITY
Regardless of how it all plays out,
most experts agree that in the eyes
of the end-user, the technology
inside the forklift doesn’t real-
ly matter, as long as the product
delivers the power to do the job
efficiently and effectively.
“End-users couldn’t care less
about what kind of battery is in
their truck,” Khabur says. “It’s not
a crucial detail for their business.
What matters when they are look-
ing for a solution [is that] it delivers
the promised benefits and does not
require everyday maintenance.”
Faust adds that when it comes to
batteries, end-users are most con-
cerned about uptime—and cost.
“[Customers] want their batter-
ies to run longer and require less
maintenance because that increases
productivity. But not everybody
wants to pay for it,” he explains,
circling back to the higher initial
costs of lithium-ion units and the
resulting need to choose the solu-
tion that makes the most sense for
the specific application.
