Application

When it comes to settling on the right kind of forklift truck for you, whether hired or purchased, the first question you need to ask yourself is: what will it be used for? This will help you to weigh up the pros and cons of both an electric truck and IC engine in order to help you decide which will benefit you the most.

Factors such as whether your truck will need to do most of its work inside or outside, the flooring conditions on which it’ll work and how long it will need to run throughout the day are important to consider equally. Not to mention aisle width, racking and the maximum weight and height of the loads you plan to carry with your truck. This is why we’ve broken down the benefits and drawbacks of electric and IC engine trucks in order to help you choose which is right for you:

Electric Forklift Trucks

Pros:

• Quiet in operation
• Usually very compact, making them easy to manoeuvre
• Environmentally friendly
• Requires less maintenance than an IC engine due to having fewer moving parts
• Very adaptable in acceleration, drive, lift, tilt and auxiliary speeds in order to suit the application or driver
• Costs little to charge overnight

Cons:

• High energy output on ramp work and continuous high lifts
• Require nightly charging or charging when necessary
• Need a ventilated charging area
  

IC Engine Trucks

Pros:

• Suitable for work on uneven surfaces
• No charging necessary, making them readily available outside normal working hours
• Suitable for continuous outdoor use
• Depending on the model the initial cost is less than that of an electric truck

Cons:

• Higher maintenance cost
• Higher emissions
• Can be noisy in application
• Higher cost to run
• Less adaptable than electric trucks

With all of these in mind, we don’t want to brush over perhaps the most relevant factor that will go into choosing your forklift truck in today’s climate:

Fuel

One of the biggest challenges we’re currently facing across the UK is a shortage of fuel, and that its pricing will perhaps never go back down to what it once was. This of course is very concerning for not only households, but warehouses and businesses as well.

This is why it’s important to consider the amount of fuel you can budget for when it comes to choosing between an electric and IC engine truck–as the former is marginally less expensive to run due to not relying on fuel. Not only that, but they’re also better for the environment because of this and therefore will help to cut down your warehouse’s carbon footprint. These are important factors to consider when choosing the right forklift for you.

No matter what you choose, at Welfaux we have a wide variety of both electric and IC engine forklift trucks to rent or purchase in order to cater to the needs of your business. With an additional range of attachments, our stock is ideal for anyone looking to purchase or rent their next truck.