Hyster yesterday announced that its onboard charging system for forklifts won a bronze award in Plant Engineering‘s Product of the Year list. In particular, the publication honored Hyster’s integrated lithium-ion battery power in the electrical, power, and lighting category.
The Cleveland-based company said its onboard charging system allows trucks to be charged using standard, commonly available electrical outlets, rather than requiring dedicated higher-capacity charging infrastructure.
“Onboard charging helps address a major challenge that has prevented some operations from taking advantage of lithium-ion power,” said Josh Eby, global product manager at Hyster. “The flexibility to simply plug into a common electrical outlet makes electric forklifts a stronger fit for a much broader range of applications, and this recognition by the readers of Plant Engineering further validates our approach to making electric forklifts more accessible.”
Founded in 1929, Hyster is a leading designer and manufacturer of forklifts and material handling systems. The unit of Hyster-Yale Materials Handling Inc. claimed that its equipment can meet the needs of everything from fast-paced industrial warehouses and manufacturing facilities to the most demanding, heavy-duty applications in ports and terminals.
More about the onboard charging system
Hyster said its onboard charging option is available on several of its lift trucks with lift capacities ranging from 4,000 to 8,000 lb. (1,814.3 to 3,628 kg). The system enables businesses to rent electric forklifts without having to alter their electrical infrastructure, and even enables recharging via generator when power is unreliable or unavailable.
This charging flexibility makes lithium-ion-powered forklifts a stronger fit for applications with intermittent charging availability, like agriculture and construction, the company claimed. It’s also well suited to off-hour applications that do not require fast charging, like retail and light manufacturing, Hyster said.
The onboard charging system includes a charging cable with a 240-volt 50-amp connection, adaptors for both 240-volt 30-amp and 120-volt 12-amp plugs, and a storage bin located out of the way to the left of the seat for all cables and adaptors.
Depending on the forklift model, operators could expect to get about one hour of medium-duty usage from as little as a 40-minute 6kW (240-volt) charge or a two-hour and 40-minute 1.4kW (120-volt) charge. The addition of the onboard charging option does not affect the ability for units to charge quickly via typical offboard chargers, Hyster said.
Hyster expands safety offerings
In April, Hyster announced two updates that enhance its safety offerings. First, it expanded its Hyster Reaction lineup of operator-assist technologies with its pedestrian-awareness camera. The company said the system can accurately identify pedestrians at ranges up to 16 ft. (4.8 m) through a 110-degree field of view. It provides automatic alerts to the lift truck operator when a pedestrian is detected.
Second, it announced that it will include the base level of its Hyster Tracker telemetry as a standard feature on electric and internal combustion engine, or ICE, counterbalanced lift trucks and select stand-up lift trucks. Hyster Tracker is the company’s wireless monitoring system.
The company is also including seven years of wireless communication fees at no additional charge.
Editor’s Note: Plant Engineering is a sibling site to Automated Warehouse.
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