What is an electric forklift and how to choose a high-quality one
There are numerous electric forklift brands and models available on the market. Furthermore, the products themselves are technologically advanced and highly specialized. Therefore, choosing a model and supplier is a common challenge for many businesses. This article focuses on model selection, performance evaluation criteria, and forklift price comparisons.
What is a forklift?
A forklift is an industrial handling vehicle, referring to various wheeled transport vehicles used for loading, unloading, stacking, and short-distance transportation of palletized goods. ISO/TC110 defines this as an industrial vehicle. They are commonly used for transporting large objects in warehouses and are typically powered by either a fuel engine or a battery.
There are seven main types of forklifts: counterbalance forklift, pallet truck jack, reach truck, rough terrain forklift, sideloader, and electric forklift.
What is an electric forklift? And its advantages:
An electric forklift uses electricity to drive a motor, which in turn drives a hydraulic system to achieve its load capacity.
Electric forklifts are powered by electricity and, compared to internal combustion forklifts, offer advantages such as zero pollution, ease of operation, and high energy efficiency. With economic development and increasing demands for environmental protection and energy conservation, electric forklifts have experienced rapid growth, with market sales increasing annually. This is particularly true in industries such as ports, warehouses, tobacco, food, textiles, and warehousing, where electric forklifts are gradually replacing internal combustion forklifts and are now a staple of the forklift market. Furthermore, electric forklifts are playing an increasingly important role in locations where flammable and explosive materials are present, such as coal mines and oil refineries.
Electric Forklift Components
Body: The forklift body comprises the forks, housing, and the entire forklift frame. Another crucial component of a counterbalanced electric forklift is the rear counterweight. Rear counterweights can be made of cast iron, cement, or a composite material. A body constructed of high-quality steel offers excellent performance.
Hydraulic System: 1. Masts are available in C-section steel and H-section steel, with H-section steel offering greater load-bearing capacity. 2. Chains are available in 5-link and 7-link configurations, with 7-link chains offering greater load-bearing capacity. 3. Hydraulic oil pump: A good brand hydraulic oil pump reduces oil leakage and improves the forklift’s load capacity. 4. Hydraulic oil tank: A large-capacity, high-quality tank provides more hydraulic oil, increasing the forklift’s load capacity. 5. Hydraulic piping: High-quality hydraulic piping is less susceptible to damage and aging.
Controller: Electric forklifts have two controllers: the travel motor controller and the lift motor controller. Good brand controllers provide more sensitive control of the forklift and are waterproof to prevent garbled signals.
Batteries: Lead-acid and phosphoric acid batteries. Good batteries can last for over a decade.
Forklift consumable parts: Forklift oil seals, hydraulic oil filters, turn signals, and other consumable parts. Good compatibility of consumable parts is a key consideration for consumers, allowing them to easily purchase the appropriate parts for repairs.
Technical Parameters
The following are some parameters and requirements for forklifts.
Safety: The forklift should have overload protection, anti-rollback features, and reverse alarms.
Forklift comfort: Seats, cabs, and air conditioning are all important features. A comfortable ride enhances the driver’s experience. Minimum Turning Radius: When a forklift is unloaded and traveling at low speed with the steering wheel fully engaged, the minimum distances from the outermost and innermost sides of the vehicle body to the center of the turn are referred to as the minimum outer turning radius (Rminouter) and the minimum inner turning radius (rmininer), respectively. The smaller the minimum outer turning radius, the less ground area the forklift requires to turn, and the better its maneuverability.
Minimum Right-Angle Aisle Width: The minimum right-angle aisle width refers to the minimum width of the aisle at right angles for the forklift to travel back and forth. It is expressed in mm. Generally, the smaller the minimum right-angle aisle width, the better its performance.
Minimum Stacking Aisle Width: The minimum stacking aisle width is the minimum width of the aisle during normal operation.
Minimum Ground Clearance: The minimum ground clearance is the distance from the lowest fixed point on the vehicle body, excluding the wheels, to the ground. It indicates the forklift’s ability to navigate raised obstacles without collision. The greater the minimum ground clearance, the better the forklift’s maneuverability.
The following table can serve as a reference for selecting a high-quality electric forklift:
Forklift Configuration & Performance Overview
| Item | Performance / Specification |
| Chassis | Constructed from high-quality steel with excellent paint finish and protective coating. |
| Hydraulic System | H-type high-strength steel mast, high-quality cylinders, and 7 reinforced chains. |
| Controller | Brand-name controller for reliable performance. |
| Battery | Premium battery capable of over 3,000 charge-discharge cycles. |
| Wearing Parts | High compatibility for wear-prone parts like oil seals and filters. |
| Safety | Equipped with overload protection and roll-away protection systems. |
| Operator Comfort | Shock-absorbing adjustable seat. Options for air conditioning and cabin available. |
| Turning Radius / Stacking Aisle | Smaller parameters indicate higher agility and efficiency in narrow spaces. |
Evaluating Forklift Performance
During comprehensive evaluations, many companies often fail to make a sound judgment on product quality due to a lack of professional knowledge and technology about forklifts. Generally speaking, the superior performance of a high-quality electric forklift is often reflected in high efficiency, low cost, high reliability, good ergonomic design, and convenient service.
High-quality forklifts: The purchase cost is spread over the life of the forklift. Therefore, a higher-priced forklift will have a lower purchase cost due to its longer lifespan. For example, if a 5,000-pound electric forklift costs $5,000 and has a lifespan of 10 years, the annual cost is $500.
Actual maintenance costs are not only related to the cost of repair parts, but also to the failure rate or duration of failure. Therefore, a high-quality forklift has a lower maintenance cost due to its lower failure rate.
If you are unsure how to choose a forklift, please contact us. We are a professional forklift manufacturer with over a decade of experience in forklift production and can provide you with high-quality forklifts.
Our electric forklifts offer the following advantages:
- One-piece forged forks with customizable fork lengths from 1070mm to 2450mm.
- A thickened steel rear axle and a transverse drive unit facilitate a low center of gravity design.
- Brushless AC motor: High power, high torque, low noise, and long service life.
- Energy recuperation: 30% energy recovery during braking.
- Anti-slip step: Lower and wider steps, with a handle on the front post for easy access.
- Safety features: Automatic parking and ramp protection.
- A thickened 7-link chain and upgraded mast steel for increased safety.
- Fully hydraulic power steering.
- Rear wheel rotation, ergonomic seat, reverse buzzer, work lights, rearview mirror, high-brightness LED, etc.
- The whole vehicle adopts LED lighting system, which is more energy-saving, has a long service life and is easy to maintain.
- The integrated driving platform and dashboard design are more in line with ergonomic principles, which can reduce the driver’s fatigue.
- The wide-view mast greatly improves the driver’s front view. All the hood side panels are stamped from sheet metal, which are durable, neat and beautiful, with a large opening angle and easy maintenance.
- The 3-stage mast thickened oil cylinder ensures smoother operation and smoother lifting; the enlarged separate hydraulic tank ensures stable output of hydraulic oil. We can also provide three-wheeled electric forklifts, which have the advantage of a small turning radius and are a small forklift.
