The Then, Now & Future of Truck Batteries

Lead acid batteries have been the preferred power source for forklifts. However with the introduction of lithium ion batteries the face of truck batteries is completely changing. Read the following article to know the then, now and future of truck batteries.

The first ever lithium ion batteries went to sale exactly 26 years ago, in Sony’s CCD-TTR1 Camcorder. The product was an instant hit: the batteries even more so, spreading to various devices such as computers, phones, cordless power tools and beyond. The more gadgets that the world became hooked to, the more the requirement for lithium-ion batteries increased (The Economist, THE GROWTH OF LITHIUM-ION BATTERY POWER, 2017).

Lithium-ion batteries have gained popularity even for electric vehicles. In 2016, the production for lithium-ion battery reached just over the capacity of 25GW. The face of truck batteries has also changed immensely. In 2015, the first lithium ion battery pack for industrial lift trucks was introduced in the market. It has evolved from heavily depending on lead acid technology to making use of lithium-ion batteries.Since this transition, truck batteries do not need to be serviced, chargers have taken the room and special load spaces. The new technology which is the lithium-ion battery can be fully charged very quickly in one to two hours. The batteries also deliver around 95% of the charged energy without compromising the performance, when the charge levels drop. They allow trucks to be charged anywhere in the company without having to drive to a separate changing area. Furthermore they do not give off any harmful gases during charging and are maintenance free.

These features could contribute towards great improvements in the business.However, in spite of all of this, the battery technology has emerged as the top technical challenge for the future of forklift truck operators, dealers and the wider industry. With only 60% of trucks being currently electric, the two-fold issue is; how to improve battery performance in the existing electric cohort and how to find battery solutions for those applications that currently don’t have a viable function. With the introduction of lithium truck battery which are smaller and more energy efficient as compared to traditional lead-acid. The future of truck batteries looks bright due to the total reduced cost of ownership by switching to lithium ion.As a result of innovative work by Asahi Kasei and development and marketing by the Sony Corporation, twenty five years ago, the lithium ion battery made its debut into the market place. The realization of importance of lithium ion batteries came about rapidly and has continued to display remarkable progress in capacity, energy, and power and cost reduction. One of the strong concerns for the industry was safety and the truck battery prices, but developments in separator technology have improved the outlook for safer batteries, making them the perfect overall affordable solution. With recent progress in new materials, the lithium ion battery will continue to improve in all of its properties with successful implementation of new battery concepts in active materials, inert materials and cell designs (George Blomgren, JES, THE DEVELOPMENT AND FUTURE OF LITHIUM ION BATTERIES, 2016).