Wayne Barnes, Engineering Manager, of Newly Wed Foods is seen here shaking hands with NDLT’s Sales Manager, Craig Tustin, whilst taking delivery of a brand new Hyundai model 20BE-X Li-ion battery powered forklift for their production facility in Corby, Northamptonshire.   The competition was quite stiff and extensive trials were conducted to ensure that the operators were happy to move to a new brand of truck and that the machine weoffered was the correct forklift for the job – acquiring capital equipment is a long term commitment so all parties need to be confident in the truck and the new technology. Previous electric trucks have used lead-acid batteries and the move to Lithium brought in a new dynamic – mostly the “new idea” of opportunity charging whenever the truck isn’t used for a while (breaks, lunchtime, shift changes) so one truck can now operate multiple shifts and no maintenance or topping up of the battery cells.

Li-ion trucks are replacing engine powered forklifts in an eclectic mix of industries, if you would like to explore whether making the change to electric power is suitable for you,  just get in touch.