Cover Story Lisa Curtis
Lithium-ion threatens Lead-Acid batteries dominance in material handling For decades, lead-acid batteries were one of the only games in town as a source of power for material handling equipment such as forklifts and pallet jacks. But rapid advances in technology are fueling a broader playing field, with options that now include lithium-ion batteries, thin plate pure lead batteries, repurposed lithium-ion products, and an additive that can double the life of lead-acid batteries. Warehouse managers, meanwhile, simply want a power source that is affordable, maintenancefree and requires zero downtime. To be sure, lead acid is still the dominant battery in use in material handling equipment, primarily because of its affordability. It’s also easier just to keep the status quo, said Maxim Khabur, marketing director at One Charge of Garden Grove, Calif. “The change requires energy and a capacity to embrace risk, so once the first-comers seize the most benefits, the rest have to follow after they realize they are losing on cost and effectiveness of operations,” Khabur said. “The change in charging pattern calls for new small chargers to be installed around the facility instead of getting them all into a ventilated charging room (not needed anymore), and however small the change is, it presents an argument for “not changing anything.” But lithium-ion has been grabbing an everincreasing share of the material handling market in recent years, between 5% and 10% according to most estimates. Khabur said the benefits are numerous: • Higher uptimes. There is no need to swap the batteries mid-shift and they can charge quickly, under two hours, lasting through multiple shifts. • Two to three times the cycle life of lead-acid batteries. • Zero daily maintenance. There is no need to open batteries and top up electrolytes and no need to equalize the cell's charge, which is done automatically with an onboard battery management system in a lithium-ion battery.
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www.MHWmag.com
February 2022
• Up to 30%, lower electricity use, and lower daily energy costs compared to propane and diesel. • Cleaner power, with no pollutants, no exhaust, no acid fumes or spills • Far lower labor and maintenance costs “Switching even one single lift truck from propane, diesel, or lead-acid battery to lithium will reduce the total cost of ownership in about four years,” Khabur said. “And a lithium battery will typically work far beyond that. But since the upfront cost of a single lithium battery is significantly higher than lead-acid, bigger fleets and more intense operations with multiple shifts per se see the highest output. Kokomo, Ind.-based Green Cubes Technology has been manufacturing lithium batteries for more than three decades, originally for medical equipment, said Robin Schneider, Director of Marketing. Its lithium motive applications have been around for about 10 years, galvanized by the advent of electric vehicles. Schneider said they have been seeing 100% growth in the market annually for the past five years. According to Schneider, there are two kinds of lithium-ion chemistries available: iron phosphate batteries (LFP): and cobalt-based lithium-ion batteries (NMC). The material handling industry has been favoring iron phosphate because it can be charged with a lead charger, deliver high-power, fast charge, and has a cycle life of 3,000 cycles or more. Schneider said one of the earlier adopters of lithium-ion batteries in material handling are in cold storage applications, warehouses that store food and beverages. “Lead-acid doesn’t operate well in really cold environments, like freezers. There’s a lot of capacity loss and damage to the battery that happens,” Schneider said. “And also, they can’t be charged at cold temperatures, so you have to take the material handling equipment out of the freezer or inside if it’s an outside application in a cold area, and let the battery temperature equilibrate and then charge it.” Making the problem worse, is the condensation buildup that occurs when taking the battery in and out of the freezer. Green Cubes’ lithium-ion
