A Guide to Lithium-Ion vs. Lead-Acid Forklift Batteries

If you want to learn more, please visit our website lithium ion forklift.

Forklifts are ideal for multiple jobs, especially when moving heavy loads more efficiently and quickly across your work environment. A forklift battery is what supplies the necessary power for these machines to allow them to meet the needs of your applications.

Two primary battery types are used in forklifts &#; lithium-ion and lead-acid. Each battery has distinct benefits for different applications. Learn more about the difference between lithium-ion forklift batteries versus lead-acid batteries. 

What Is a Lithium-Ion Forklift Battery?

Lithium-ion batteries for forklifts are rechargeable graphite and lithium batteries with low discharge rates and high energy density. A forklift lithium-ion battery is more lightweight than lead-acid batteries, though they still require machinery to move. Since these batteries weigh less, you may need to add a metal plate to prevent your forklift from tipping over when carrying heavy loads.

Lithium-ion forklift batteries may have a higher purchasing price than lead-acid batteries but can have lower maintenance costs, which can offset the initial purchasing price. These batteries can also be charged faster, so you can charge them during breaks. 

What Is a Lead-Acid Battery?

Lead-acid batteries are rechargeable and have a higher power-to-weight ratio. These forklift batteries are often sought after for their lower price. Lead-acid batteries for forklifts are typically the standard in many industries due to their capabilities and low cost. When you buy an electric forklift, they often come with lead-acid batteries. 

Despite the low purchase price, lead-acid batteries have several long-term expenses, including weekly maintenance and a dedicated space for charging when you use them for multi-shift operations. These batteries also need regular cleaning and watering, requiring a specialized watering system, trained personnel, and safety equipment.

Lead-acid batteries weigh more than lithium-ion batteries, which is essential in some applications. Forklifts can carry particularly heavy objects and sometimes need something to balance the weight. These batteries can prevent forklifts from tipping over when carrying heavy loads.

Lithium-Ion vs. Lead-Acid Forklift Battery Benefits

Each battery has unique advantages that make them better suited to some applications than others. Below, you&#;ll learn about the different benefits of each battery type and a few of their potential drawbacks:

Benefits of Lithium-Ion Batteries

Lithium-ion batteries aren&#;t the standard for forklifts, but more industries are switching to these batteries for a good reason. Some of the benefits of these options include:

• Reduced maintenance: Lithium-ion batteries have a higher purchasing price, but they require less maintenance than lead-acid batteries, which can help save on cost.
• Quick charging capabilities: Lithium-ion batteries can charge faster than lead-acid batteries. You can even charge these batteries during breaks rather than having to wait for them to reach a full charge. 
• Longer life span: Lithium-ion batteries have a longer operational life than lead-acid batteries, making them a more worthwhile investment for some industries. 
• High performance: These batteries have consistently high performance and voltage, which helps maintain consistent power for the forklift.

Lithium-ion batteries also have some factors to consider before committing to them as your final choice. For example, these batteries have higher upfront costs and less weight to use as a counterbalance for heavy forklift loads, often requiring a metal plate.

Benefits of Lead-Acid Batteries

Lead-acid batteries come with most forklifts, making them the standard for many applications. These batteries have some unique benefits, including:

• Cost: Lead-acid batteries have a more affordable purchasing price compared to lithium-ion batteries, which can be more cost-effective for some businesses.
• High energy density: Lead-acid batteries have a high energy density, making storing large quantities of energy in small spaces easier.
• Durability: Lead-acid batteries are designed to be more robust, making them capable of withstanding hard working conditions and environments. These batteries can withstand shocks, vibrations, and extreme temperatures.
• Recyclability: Lead batteries are 100% recyclable, which makes them a great way for businesses to improve their sustainability practices. 

While lead-acid batteries have some considerable benefits, there are also some drawbacks to consider when deciding between the two. Lead-acid batteries have extensive maintenance requirements, heavier weight, longer recharge times, and limited life spans.

Lithium-Ion Forklift Batteries vs. Lead-Acid: Which is Best for You?

The best type of battery for your forklift will depend on your applications. Lithium-ion batteries require less maintenance and have a faster charge rate, longer life span, and more significant return on investment, while lead-acid batteries are more affordable, especially if you only need to use them occasionally.

Lithium-ion forklift batteries may be better if running multiple shift applications with several forklifts. Lead-acid batteries may be more cost-effective if you only occasionally use a few forklifts rather than as part of your everyday operations. 

Factors to consider that can help you make a decision include:

• Length of service life: Lithium-ion batteries have a longer life span, meaning they won&#;t need to be replaced as regularly as lead-acid batteries. However, if you don&#;t use your forklifts often, a lead-acid battery can meet the need of your applications. 
• Maintenance and labor requirements: Lead-acid batteries have more lengthy maintenance requirements and long charge times. You&#;ll need to have trained personnel to ensure you can get the most out of the life span of your lead-acid batteries. If you have fewer untrained personnel and don&#;t have the proper equipment to perform weekly maintenance on your lead-acid batteries, you may be better off choosing a lithium-ion battery.  
• Existing forklift equipment type: Look at your forklift model and specifications, such as the battery compartment size and voltage. Your existing equipment will determine what type of battery is best suited to your applications. 
• Battery compatibility with your forklift applications: Look at your forklift&#;s hours of operation, travel distance, load weights, and typical lifting heights. Understanding the applications of your forklift can help you choose a battery that meets your needs and performance goals. 
• Environmental temperatures: When lead-acid batteries charge, they can become hot, meaning you should only charge them in temperature-controlled spaces.

Contact Thompson Lift Truck for Quality Lithium-Ion Forklift Batteries

If you want to use lithium-ion batteries for your forklifts, Thompson Lift Truck can help. Our high-quality lithium-ion batteries are the best option for industries looking to get the most performance out of their batteries. Our batteries are proven to perform in the toughest conditions and have a more robust life span and efficiency. 

Thompson Lift Truck is a supplier of lithium-ion forklift batteries for businesses in Georgia and Alabama. Our expert team can help you find the best battery for your forklift and applications. Request a quote today to get started!

16 February

Lead-Acid batteries have been around for about 140 years but now they have got strong competition from modern Li-ion technology. Both traditional lead-acid and lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are used to power forklift trucks in materials handling operations. Nowadays, our Cat® electric forklifts and warehouse equipment come also with Li-ion batteries.

But what are the advantages of lithium-ion batteries? Do their benefits push efficiency and productivity to even higher levels than our electric forklifts achieve already? Here&#;s a look at what these batteries have to offer.

The company is the world’s best lithium ion iron phosphate battery supplier. We are your one-stop shop for all needs. Our staff are highly-specialized and will help you find the product you need.

LITHIUM BATTERIES

&#;Lithium batteries&#; is a common name for the cell type used in many of the things that surround us such as mobile devices, electric cars and forklift trucks. They are everywhere. Since the requirements are very different depending on application, there are also many types of lithium-ion batteries. Things like performance, durability, life cycle time and cost depend on which cell chemistry and cell type is used. Prices for the various cell types are very different and normally you can expect to get what you pay for.

Cat lift trucks use High Performance Prismatic NMC cells, known as Li-Pro, enabling trucks to be used in most applications, including demanding heavy duty and shift operations. Li-Pro offers outstanding performance and reliability over a very long time, providing cost savings and fast return on investment, ROI.

Cat forklift trucks offer specially developed Li-ion batteries to provide maximum safety and integration, while maintaining the proven high quality and reliability of Cat lift trucks. The battery cells are controlled by a surveillance and monitoring system called Battery Management System, or BMS, which controls everything that is going on. The BMS measures the health, temperature, charging, discharging activities of cells and logs all data.

The BMS communicates with the truck via CAN (Controller Area Network) and sends information about the battery status, such as discharge level, which is visible on the standard truck display. In case of any problems, error codes will be displayed and in a worst-case scenario, the battery will automatically shut down the truck in a safe way. Even the charger is communicating with the BMS via CAN, achieving the best and fastest charging possible, depending on the battery status. Cat® Lift Trucks offer a wide range of fully integrated, tested, and approved lithium batteries to provide maximum safety, performance and reliability. &#;

EASE OF USE

A major advantage of lithium-ion batteries is that they are designed specifically with ease of use in mind, not least ease of charging. They can simply be plugged in whenever possible, even if it is only for a few minutes. Opportunity charging provides the ability to plug the charger directly into a Li-ion battery so it can be charged at any time of the day. With the correct specification of Li-ion forklift battery and charger combination to the application, charging during normal breaks in a shift are enough to manage constant 24/7 operation. The  lithium batteries on the Cat forklifts can be fully charged in an hour (1C charging) and in addition, due to the CAN integration with the charger, any available Li-ion charger can be used, as long as the voltage is the same or higher than the battery voltage. The charger will automatically adapt to the battery and provide correct voltage and current. Very smart.

BATTERY LIFE

Li-Pro forklift batteries offered by Cat Lift Trucks have a very long life-span. Since Li-ion batteries are a modern technology, they are not sensitive to charging as they like being charged. These high performance Li-Pro batteries have a life span of about capacity cycles. This is a different way of measuring compared to the about charging cycles for traditional lead-acid batteries. In most applications you will need three to four lead-acid batteries providing the same lifetime as one Li-ion battery. Additionally, unlike Li-ion, the service life of traditional batteries can be impacted on by their use and maintenance &#; miss filling with water, not being properly cleaned and charging or equalizing a lead-acid battery will reduce its life-span drastically. If this becomes a big problem, then Li-ion batteries are the solution.

WARRANTY

Because of the very high quality and performance of the Li-Pro batteries in the Cat forklifts, they come with a very generous and extensive 5-year warranty, making sure the battery delivers what is promised.

BATTERY RUN TIME

Another advantage of lithium-ion batteries is that they offer a constant high-power supply which does not decline as the battery discharges. The truck will run with the same performance regardless of what the State of Charge (SOC) level is. During everyday materials handling activities, electric forklifts powered by lithium-ion batteries will typically need charging for about one hour per shift to run in constant operation. Charging can be done at any point in time and when convenient. The intelligent built-in BMS will warn the driver when the charge level is low. Lead-acid batteries normally need 7-10 hours charging with no interruption depending on the charger and for shift operation a battery change system is the only possible solution, which requires investment, space and is laboursome with frequent battery changes. When adding up this cost over time, Li-ion batteries from Cat Lift Trucks are a very good investment.

MAINTENANCE

Practically maintenance-free, this is another big advantage of lithium-ion batteries, reducing labour costs and improving productivity. It&#;s not just the charging routines that make a difference, there are also a number of other tasks to be considered with lead-acid batteries like watering (topping up the battery&#;s fluid levels with distilled water to avoid damage to the battery, keeping them clean to limit current leakage between cells, rinsing poles from oxidation etc.)

This weekly and rather unpleasant work is required to keep the battery healthy. Lead-acid batteries are very labour intensive and if not properly maintained, lifetime is drastically reduced. This is not the case with Li-ion forklift batteries, which do not require any daily maintenance, other than checking the cables and connectors and wiping the dust. There are no fluids to add. The advanced built-in BMS in lithium-ion batteries automatically performs cell balancing when they are charged to 100%. This is not noticeable in normal applications as full balancing is done whenever there is enough time for it to be completed. &#;

ENERGY EFFICIENCY

Saving both time and money, lithium-ion batteries are much more energy efficient. They pack tremendous energy into a small space and deliver sustained performance over long run-times. Lead-acid batteries are bulky, although they are great at supplying current for electric forklift trucks carrying out their duties. Lead-acid energy costs are higher, as they need regular overcharging in the gassing phase to stay healthy. With no gassing process, very low thermal losses and intelligent charging technology, the amount of draw from the grid is up to 30% less with lithium-ion batteries, while storing the same amount of useful energy in the battery. This energy efficiency is not only saving money, but also our environment.

SPACE SAVING

Lead-acid batteries produce explosive H2 gas when being charged, which needs to be evacuated. This means they need a specific charging room with air evacuation also including safety features such as eye wash, gloves, eye protection and of course a fire extinguisher. Charging lead acid batteries is rather costly, evacuating already heated air and the cost of square meters, which could be used for other purposes, may influence which battery type you choose.

COSTS AND TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP (TCO)

Currently, lead-acid batteries need to be considered as a commodity as their life time is usually much shorter than the trucks. For Li-Pro Li-ion batteries it´s a different story. Their total cost of ownership is lower due to their much longer life span and other factors such as: less money spent on energy for charging; less labour (workers do not need to swap out or change batteries); less time and labour spent on maintenance (such as watering lead acid batteries) and overall, less energy wasted because, as we already mentioned, Li-ion batteries consume up to 30 % less energy from the grid. Return of Investment, ROI, is usually very fast, typically 2-4 years depending on application. Clean batteries and an improved working environment come as a bonus.

GRID SUPPLY AND LOAD MANAGEMENT

Because lithium-ion batteries usually require large chargers to accommodate fast charging, power supply may be challenging. For this reason, a Load Management system is available. When charging multiple trucks at the same time, current draw might exceed available power from the grid. To avoid that, Load Management automatically controls the chargers, providing most energy to the battery with lowest state of charge. This will not only enable continuous forklift operation, but also it keeps grid costs to a minimum.

SAFETY AND WORKER SATISFACTION

Li-ion forklift batteries require less handling and so could be a safer option as they are very stable. The cells are completely sealed so there is no corrosion, sulfation, acid spills or contamination to worry about &#; which is much better for the environment as well. The battery is smart, meaning it´s constantly controlled by the BMS to secure safe operation and will shut the truck down if any problems occur.

Therefore, it is easy to see that there are many advantages of using lithium-ion batteries in electric forklift trucks. However, when considering Li-ion batteries, it is also worth noting the few disadvantages. High performance Li-Pro batteries are a bigger initial investment than traditional batteries, however, with a proper ROI calculation at hand, the Total Cost of Operation (TCO) is, in most cases, proven to be lower.

The main challenges we are faced with is providing enough power supply to feed Li-ion batteries because the chargers are bigger. To reduce driving distances and time consumption, chargers are preferably positioned close to where operators take their breaks.

Finally, the majority of lead-acid batteries are recycled and have value when they reach end of life. lithium-ion batteries are more difficult and costly to recycle, However, the long lifetime of lithium-ion batteries and the possibility to use them in stationary applications when they are no longer suitable for forklift applications means environmental impact is low.

All lithium-ion batteries supplied with Cat forklifts and warehouse equipment are conveniently reused and recycled after forklift applications at no extra cost.

Ultimately, deciding on the right type of battery to use in your electric forklift trucks is up to you and will depend upon many factors such as your set up and the materials handling tasks you need your forklifts to perform.

For more information on battery types and what&#;s available, visit our information on electric forklift trucks or our blog section which has other articles on this topic.

To find out more information on all our forklift trucks, click here. Alternatively, see them in action in our videos section.

If you are looking for more details, kindly visit lithium storage battery for solar energy storage systems.