On the 24V Pedestrian Pallet Truck we offer a 20 A on-board charger option, which takes less than 3 hours to fully charge the 56 Ah battery. On 24V Low Level Order Picker and Tow Tractor models, we offer a range of chargers, matched to the battery capacity, offering 1 hour, 2 hour and 4 hour charging. On the 48V trucks, we offer a range of chargers, matched to the battery capacity, offering 1 hour, 2 hour and 4 hour charging.

We are seeing more customer interest and demand. We have taken an order for a fleet of 34 Low Level Order Pickers and we are quoting both 24 and 48 V trucks. There is growing interest in Li-ion, the sales are small currently but growing rapidly in Europe.

We are expecting demand to grow, hence our investment in the technology. At this stage we cannot disclose our commercial targets.

At present Li-ion solutions are particularly suited to multiple shift applications replacing secondary sets of batteries and reducing handling costs. A single Li-ion battery can extend its operating range with opportunity charging for which it is very well suited. A key element is using work-breaks, idle time, shiftchange-over time to charge the battery. These applications are where we predominantly see Li-ion. This represents 25-30% of applications. Li-ion is also of interest to environmentally sensitive environments, such as in the food production and pharmaceutical industries. As there are no emissions, the batteries are sealed and there is no risk of acid spillage.

The acquisition costs of Li-ion batteries have declined significantly in the last 5 years and are expected to continue falling. The higher initial cost, when compared to lead acid, can be offset in multiple shift applications because no replacement battery set is needed, no change-over equipment is required, and the expense of dedicated change-over and charging rooms that require ventilation can be avoided. Lower energy costs and lower maintenance costs are also to be considered.

Higher charging efficiency will yield some savings, as will higher efficiency during discharge. Savings up to 30% in the energy used by the charger can be expected compared with conventional lead-acid battery and charger. In operation, Li-ion batteries can be significantly more efficient in the delivery of energy to the truck due to the impact of the ‘Peukert effect’ on lead-acid batteries. This effect significantly reduces the efficiency of lead-acid batteries in applications where current draws by the truck are high, such as intensive applications with much traction hydraulic work. This makes Li-ion batteries particularly attractive in more intensive applications where their efficiency advantage over lead acid is greatest. Li-ion does best, where lead acid does worst!

We expect this to be very similar to that with lead acid. It should be slightly lower due to energy recovery in deceleration (plugging) but this effect will be very application dependent.

By no means. It is a proven technology that is cost effective, especially in light and medium predominantly single shift applications and will remain the dominant storage medium for the foreseeable future.

The life of a Li-ion battery depends on how it is discharged. As with lead-acid batteries temperature also has an impact on life, very high ambient temperatures being detrimental. A flooded lead-acid battery is typically discharged to a maximum of 80% and will yield 1200 cycles (discharge charge = 1 cycle). In a standard single shift this may last up to 5 years or slightly more.If we limit the depth of discharge (DOD) to 80% for the Li-ion battery, over 3750 cycles are possible. At 70% DOD, the cycle life increases more. We can say that a Li-ion battery has between 2-3 times the life of a flooded lead-acid battery.

Li-ion is a newer technology and there is still work to do to achieve the levels of recycling seen with lead-acid batteries. However, it should be considered that Li-ion batteries have a typical operational lifetime of two to three times that of lead acid. We do expect Li-ion batteries to have significant value in ‘second life’ as although capacity of the battery will diminish over first life, the remaining 60-70% capacity is usable over again in less intensively used trucks in second life. Eventual recycling does have a cost. Costs currently are in the range of a few hundred Euros, as very few are being recycled; expectations are that these costs will decrease somewhat over the next 5 years.

Safety is a consideration for all types of batteries and correct handling and care are essential. Li-ion batteries have a built-in electronic battery monitoring system (BMS) which is constantly monitoring voltages, temperature, over-discharge and overcharge. Our batteries are certified by our suppliers, and are compliant with industry standards. Also, with integrated Li-ion solutions the battery communicates with the truck via CANbus. This means we can reduce the performance, slow-down the truck, interrupt the lift function and stop the truck in a controlled manner when battery discharge becomes critical.

We source the battery for the 24V Pedestrian Pallet Truck from BMZ. For the larger 24V battery sizes as well as 48V and 80V batteries we are working with Midac.

The battery on the 24 V Pedestrian Pallet Truck is Nickel Manganese Cobalt. The other 24V batteries, 48V and 80V batteries are Lithium Iron Phosphate.

The chemistries are evolving and although new technologies are appearing, the issue of commercial viability is a key consideration. Today with our suppliers we are well positioned in the marketplace to adopt the technologies best suited to MHE applications.

For cold store environments we can supply a battery with a heater through SPED. Of course, batteries should always be charged outside the cold store cell at a temperature above 0°C.

As there are some significant changes required for integration with Li-ion batteries, we are initially supplying Li-ion ex-factory, however our software on the trucks allows them to run either on Li-ion or lead-acid batteries. Standard application codes for trucks going forward will be Li-ion capable. In the short term, however, we cannot retrofit Li-ion batteries into existing trucks.Can a Li-ion battery be used if the dealer has a second hand truck or if the truck is a stock truck?

There is no Aftermarket conversion available at this point.

The battery will hold its charge for several months, however transport of these batteries is often carried out at a reduced state of charge and we strongly recommend the dealer charge the batteries to full charge as soon as they arrive at the dealership. If batteries were to be held in long term storage for months or years some monitoring and occasional charging would be required.

Hyster® Li-ion trucks can be operated with standard lead-acid batteries with dealer applied software switches/CDF change. Li-ion battery chargers can be reverted to operation with lead-acid batteries with minor switching/software changes.

Battery life expectations are high. Battery life of Li-ion batteries is more predictable than that of lead-acid batteries (which are more sensitive to maintenance, opportunity charging etc.). Performance of the battery will change over the product life in a roughly linear manner, based on the power throughput – i.e. how much work does the truck perform, and on operating and charging temperature which must be maintained within operating limits. Lower operating temperatures and charging temperatures will maximize the battery life. We do therefore expect second life use and value in these batteries well beyond the 5 year warranty.

From October 2017, we will have a Lithium-ion Sales Tool available on the Dealer Extranet as well as digital and printable marketing material.

Yes, there is the Lithium-ion Battery Calculator tool for each truck equipped with Li-ion battery. The tool checks the suitability of the Li-ion battery and charger in the application and provides an estimation of the costs and Return on Investment (ROI) in years. There is also the Lithium-ion Application Tool for the Pedestrian Pallet Truck with BMZ Li-ion battery. These tools will be available from October 2017 on the Dealer Extranet.