Do you know how long a lithium-ion forklift battery can last?
Rising fuel prices and environmental concerns are prompting many forklift owners to switch to electric trucks. While battery power can save a lot of money (especially in the current financial climate), those dollars can quickly disappear due to poor battery care.
A typical forklift lithium battery is worth up to 40% of a new truck’s value and will give you approximately 10,000 hours of operating time. It’s your fuel for the next five years or more…as long as you maintain it according to the manufacturer’s maintenance guidelines.
Beyond that, if you’re considering using a lithium-ion battery in your forklift, you might be wondering how long it will last. Please keep reading to learn more! Helps you avoid common pitfalls and keep your battery (and truck) in tip-top shape.
Comparison: Lithium-Ion Batteries and Traditional Lead-Acid Batteries
In recent years, lithium-ion batteries have attracted attention due to their promising technical specifications. Granted, some of the hype may be overblown — these batteries aren’t necessarily greener than other types, they’re just as recyclable, or even more so — but the differences are real and worth looking into.
Lithium-ion batteries can provide your forklift fleet with:
Long service life: Lithium-ion battery capable of operating more than 3,500 life cycles
Extremely Fast Charging Capability: Companies looking to move away from battery swap models and battery compartments will appreciate lithium-ion charge times
Low maintenance requirements: Lithium-ion batteries require less manual maintenance than traditional technologies
Energy Efficiency and Flexibility: If your business is looking for a technology that consumes less energy, lithium-ion batteries are a leading choice
The specifications for traditional lead-acid batteries show how these batteries differ, making them suitable for certain situations:
Medium Life Cycle and Circular Economy: Lead-acid battery assets typically have a useful life of 1,500 cycles. Although this time is shorter than lithium-ion batteries, lead-acid batteries are fully recyclable
Opportunistic Charging or Swap Capability: Organizations can either adopt a battery room charging model or investigate opportunistic charging, where the battery is energized during rest periods without swapping
Maintenance Required: It is normal for a technician to perform maintenance on lead-acid batteries compared to newer technology options
Familiarity and reliability: Since lead-acid batteries are the industry standard, there is no need for your team to learn new best practices to operate them
As with any operational decision that affects your logistics performance, your choice of battery solution should not be based solely on a side-by-side technology comparison. Instead, you should consider the characteristics of your battery options based on your material handling needs and unique circumstances.
While battery life does depend on the application, including the type of load the forklift is moving and actual daily operating hours, you can be confident that a BSLBATT lithium-ion battery will outlast a lead-acid battery by far in the same application.
Lead-acid batteries have a maximum life of 1,500 cycles, and BSLBATT lithium-ion batteries have a guaranteed cycle life of 3,500 cycles. This is already 2.5 lifespan!
We expect BSLBATT batteries to go beyond frequent recharging! We expect battery life to be 10,000–12,000 hours after the 3500 cycle threshold.
The opportunistic charge mode that drains the life of a lead-acid battery will actually extend the life of a lithium-ion battery.
Lithium-ion batteries not only last longer, but also have better productivity than lead-acid batteries. Even near critical discharge levels, the lithium-ion battery will not exhibit a significant drop in voltage, and the truck will lift its maximum weight as quickly as it did when it was just charged.
So you can be confident that investing in lithium-ion batteries means longer life for your truck batteries and forklifts.
Li-ion forklift battery
Recently, BSLBATT received a $1.65 million order for forklift lithium batteries from a leading forklift dealer company, and by switching to lithium-ion batteries, they could save over $950,000 per year. Wondering if such huge cost savings can be realized for your business? Try this simple experiment:
Ask forklift operators to track how much time they spend charging, replacing and maintaining forklift batteries each week. Multiply the total time by the labor cost per hour.
Next, add up how much you’ve spent on batteries over the past 10 years. Lithium-ion batteries have a service life of 5–7 years (average). So even though they cost more upfront, you won’t be buying them very often.
Add up your labor and battery costs and compare to what you would spend on a Li-ion battery (feel free to contact us for pricing). In the long run, you may find that those “cheap” lead-acid batteries cost significantly more.
You don’t need to add labor costs to lithium-ion forklift batteries because once they’re installed on the truck, it’s almost there. Lithium-ion batteries are virtually maintenance-free.
Advantages of lithium-ion forklift batteries:
Lithium-ion batteries can be recharged opportunistically while resting without damaging the battery. Additionally, lithium-ion batteries charge three times faster than lead-acid batteries. Bonus: You don’t have to wait for the Li-Ion battery to cool down.
Other benefits include:
● 30–50% less energy required to charge batteries
● Maintains a stable charge even when the battery discharges
● Lifespan of 5–7 years (2–3 times longer than lead-acid batteries)
● Virtually maintenance-free (no watering required)
● zero emission
BSLBATT: Unique Lithium Battery Solutions for Your Company
It’s easy to convert your existing electric forklift to a lithium-ion battery. Retrofitting is as simple as installing a new battery and adding a charging meter. Converting to a Li-ion battery is very easy. Through this transformation, we have helped dozens of forklift dealers reduce their operating costs.
VoltagesType of Forklift24-Volt / 36-Volt batteriesRider ForkliftsStackersPallet JacksOrder PickersNarrow Aisle ForkliftElectric Tow Tractors48-Volt / 80 Volt BatteriesReach TrucksElectric Platform Trucks / Belt Loaders / Luggage TugsCounterbalanced Electric Forklifts120 Volt Batteries and aboveShunt TrucksYard VehiclesHeavy-Duty Forklifts
The table below outlines which battery voltage is right for which equipment type, but be sure to check with our battery experts to find out which battery size is right for your forklift. Our experienced and friendly forklift experts can help you choose the right forklift battery for your operation. Just call +86 (752–2819–469) or contact us online at inquiry@bsl-battery.com.
