Companies are getting wise to the merits of using hydrogen forklifts and palette trucks for cleaning up the indoor air quality of large warehouse facilities. And, hydrogen forklifts are not something I’ve been shy in talking about. I’ve made 15 posts about hydrogen forklifts in the last 10 months.
I’ve also talked about FedEx testing hydrogen powered trucks. As one of the largest delivery companies worldwide FedEx has been at the forefront of fleet testing all sorts of alternative fueled vehicles including those powered by hydrogen.
Now, since this is true, it only makes sense that a large company such as FedEx that has already spent years testing hydrogen trucks and other delivery vehicles would also see the merits of converting from battery-powered forklifts to using hydrogen forklifts as well.
According to FedEx project manager John King, hydrogen power beats battery power because, “With batteries, it was an eight-hour charge followed by an eight-hour cooling-off period and then you’d have eight to 10 hours of run time.” He went on to say that it takes less than a minute to fill the fuel cell-powered forklift with enough hydrogen to run for a full day.
This goes to show that those who have already tested hydrogen fueled vehicles already know their merits and see the advantage not only of zero emissions, but the advantages over all battery vehicles as well.
The year 2010 has been the year of the hydrogen forklift. Looking ahead it is curious to see what the next couple of years will bring.