The single biggest operational advantage of lithium-ion is opportunity charging. Here is what it means in practice.
The lead-acid routine
Charge 8 hours, cool 8 hours, work 8 hours. Multi-shift operations therefore need a spare battery per truck, a battery-changing station and a ventilated charging room — plus the labour to swap.
The lithium-ion routine
Plug the truck in whenever it stops — tea break, lunch, shift change. Fifteen minutes adds meaningful range and there is no memory effect or damage from partial charges. One battery per truck runs 24 hours.
What you save
- Second battery and changing equipment
- Charging room space and ventilation
- Battery-change labour and downtime
- Water top-up and equalisation maintenance
Set-up tips
- Place chargers where trucks naturally pause — near docks, canteens and shift-change points
- Size chargers to the truck's recommended rate for fastest safe charging
- Train operators to plug in at every stop
Our EP make lithium-ion pallet trucks, stackers and forklifts are designed for opportunity charging out of the box.