If you have ever worked in a distribution warehouse or manufacturing facility, you have likely had more than one run-in with a lead acid battery. Long the go-to choice for material handling equipment, ranging from pallet jacks to forklifts and reach trucks, lead acid batteries have dominated the battery market. However, lithium-ion battery technologies are finally starting to make significant inroads.
The market is primarily driven by the growing need for material handling equipment in warehouses and the industrial sectors. The global industrial battery market is expected to grow steadily during the forecast period. Industrial applications such as forklifts and stackers are driving the global industrial lead-acid batteries market. Manufacturing and process industries have grown drastically in the past few years, and this will drive the global material handling equipment market and the demand for industrial batteries.
Lithium-ion batteries are desirable for the material handling industry for two main reasons: They offer high-density storage — about three times the energy of a comparable lead-acid battery — and they are lightweight. This makes them perfect for handheld devices like scanners. They also charge quickly, don’t let off gas in the charging process, and don’t require cool-down intervals.
Cost has been one of the greatest barriers to adoption in the material handling market. In some cases, the lithium-ion batteries are priced three to four times the cost of lead-acid. However, prices have dropped to two to three times the cost of lead and some industry leaders, such as Eric Yi, president and chief executive officer of Wisdom Industrial Power Co., Ltd, maker of the 24-, 36-, 48- and 80-volt BSL batteries, say that price drop will be enough to convince companies that operate their facilities 16 to 24 hours a day.
Vivian Chen says a company case study, supported by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and involving a cold storage facility in upstate New York, showed a 17 percent increase in the number of pallets moved per hour due to the implementation of lithium-ion batteries. The study also showed the ROI for a truck powered by a single lithium-ion battery is less than two years in two- to three-shift applications.
There is also increased efficiency linked with abandoning lead-acid batteries as they cost time and money in maintenance protocols. They also require warehouse space for maintenance and charging. Lithium-ion batteries can be charged anywhere and will never need a special maintenance room for storage.
Lithium-ion battery producers are already seeing increased interest in their product. BSL Batteries, located in Huizhou, China,, California, reported that last year it received a total of $900,000 last year in orders for its lithium-ion batteries for Class 3 walkie pallet jacks. The company says that the increased production levels is due to growing interest in the technology.
BSL Batteries recently signed an agreement with a Fortune 500 e-commerce company to supply lithium-ion batteries to its material handling fleet. Haley Ning said that interest in the company’s battery technologies has increased substantially since the company first decided to target the material handling market in 2012. BSLBATT LIthium supplies its batteries across a wide variety of industries, with a significant portion of its customer base currently active in the food distribution market. No lead-acid maintenance. True fast charging. Fully customizable. Learn more now.
“Those operators typically operate those vehicles 24/7, 365 days a year. So, they have the highest priority customers, especially in the pandemic, where food distribution is so key to keep moving,” said Vivian Chen. “This market is starting to move now. With our customer base, after these guys have operated our batteries for a couple of months, most of them have come back with a statement that they would never buy a lead acid battery again.”
Her also added that companies that run their material handling equipment for two to three shifts a day receive clear operational efficiency benefits from using his company’s lithium-ion batteries.
Ensuring the lithium-ion batteries are safe to operate has been a key focus for BSLBATT LIthium.
These batteries are not just designed for new material handling equipment. They have been designed for retrofitting existing fleets.
“We’ve designed them to match the weight and size of lead acid batteries. You need some software updates on the trucks and some communication updates, but the batteries, for the most part, are compatible with any forklift,” said Vivian Chen.
The up-front purchasing costs are typically three to four times higher than a lead battery, but the return on investment makes them worth the additional cost, Vivian Chen argues.
“If you’re replacing three lead acid batteries with one lithium-ion battery, then with the energy savings, maintenance savings and longer life span, you’re looking at an ROI in three to four months for heavy users. If you’re a lighter user, then within a year or two,” her said.
