The cost-effectiveness of electric forklifts and LPG forklifts depends on various factors, including purchase cost, operating cost, maintenance cost, and usage scenarios. Here is a detailed comparison between the two:
Purchase Cost: Generally speaking, the purchase cost of electric forklifts is higher, while that of LPG forklifts is relatively lower. This is because the core components such as batteries of electric forklifts have high technical content, leading to their higher initial price.
Energy Consumption Cost: Electric forklifts have lower energy consumption costs. Taking a 6-hour workday as an example, a lithium battery forklift consumes about 24 kWh of electricity. With the electricity fee calculated at 1 yuan per kWh, the daily electricity cost is 24 yuan. In contrast, an LPG forklift consumes about 21.6 liters of gas per day. With the LPG price calculated at 8 yuan per liter, the daily cost is 172.8 yuan. In the long run, electric forklifts have obvious advantages in terms of energy consumption costs.
Maintenance Cost: LPG forklifts have relatively complex mechanical components such as engines, resulting in higher maintenance costs. Although LPG produces very little carbon deposit during combustion and has good lubrication, which can more than double the service life of the engine and save 50%-80% of engine maintenance costs, they still need regular replacement of engine oil, three filters, etc. Electric forklifts have fewer moving parts. For example, the core components of Heli K2 series lithium battery forklifts, which adopt the chassis of internal combustion forklifts, have high component generalization, making maintenance more convenient. Moreover, they have a low failure rate, and their maintenance cost is usually only about one-third of that of LPG forklifts.
Service Life: Electric forklifts have a relatively longer service life. Under normal maintenance and use, their batteries and other key components can be used for a long time. Although components such as the engine of LPG forklifts can also have a long service life, the overall service life may be slightly shorter than that of electric forklifts due to factors such as wear caused by the combustion process.
Usage Scenarios: Electric forklifts are suitable for indoor operations with high environmental requirements and good working conditions, such as warehouses and workshops in industries like electronics and food. However, electric forklifts have problems such as limited working hours due to battery life and long charging time, which can be solved by equipping multiple battery packs. LPG forklifts are suitable for multi-shift working scenarios. They can continue to work by replacing LPG cylinders and have better power performance, with acceleration and starting performance superior to electric forklifts. They have more advantages in places with high power requirements and poor road conditions.
Overall, electric forklifts have higher cost-effectiveness in scenarios with high environmental requirements, good working conditions, relatively fixed working hours, and convenient charging facilities. While LPG forklifts may have higher cost-effectiveness in multi-shift places with high power requirements and complex road conditions.
