Electric Forklifts

The Propane Years

Our facility operated twelve Crown C-5 propane forklifts from 2011 to 2019. Maintenance costs averaged $4,200 per unit annually. The propane itself ran about $1.15 per gallon back then. We had a dedicated refueling station outside the loading dock, and drivers would lose maybe six to eight minutes per shift on tank swaps.

The exhaust was the real problem. We installed additional ventilation in 2016 after three employees filed complaints about headaches. That retrofit cost us $34,000. OSHA never cited us, but the writing was on the wall.

The 2019 Transition

We started with four Toyota 8FBE15U units. I picked Toyota because our regional dealer, Ohio Lift Systems, had a service contract that made sense for our volume. The base price was $31,400 per unit. Batteries added another $8,600 each. We went with 48V lead-acid at the time. That decision came back to bite us.

The first six months were rough. Our operators kept running the batteries down past 20%, which the manual specifically warns against. We burned through two battery packs before I started posting the charge level guidelines next to each unit. The signs are still there. They're laminated now because the original paper ones got destroyed within a week.

Battery Chemistry: What We Learned

Lead-acid requires a dedicated charging room with ventilation. We converted a storage area near the break room. The hydrogen off-gassing during charging is not something you can ignore. Our facility manager, Dave, was paranoid about it. He made us install gas detectors that cost $890 each. We have four of them in that room.

In 2022, we replaced two units with lithium-ion models. The price difference was significant. A comparable Toyota 8FBE15U with lithium runs about $47,000 versus $40,000 for lead-acid configuration. The operational savings took about fourteen months to offset that gap in our usage pattern.

Lithium charges faster. A lead-acid pack needs eight hours for a full charge plus an eight-hour cool-down period. Lithium hits 80% in under an hour. We can opportunity charge during lunch breaks. This eliminated our need for spare battery packs on the lithium units.

Charging Infrastructure

We installed six charging stations in 2019. The electrician quoted us $2,400 per station for the 480V three-phase hookups. Our building was constructed in 1987 and the electrical panel needed an upgrade. That added $11,000 to the project. Nobody warned us about this part during the sales process.

The chargers themselves were Delta-Q units. They've been reliable. One failed in January 2023 and the replacement arrived in four days. Cost was $1,850 including installation.

For the lithium units, we use the integrated onboard chargers. They plug into standard 240V outlets. The infrastructure requirements are simpler but the charge rate is slower than a dedicated high-voltage station.

Operational Differences

Electric forklifts accelerate differently than propane. The torque delivery is immediate. Two of our senior operators, both with fifteen-plus years on propane units, needed about two weeks to adjust their throttle control. One of them, Mark, still prefers the propane "feel" and complains about it regularly.

The regenerative braking took getting used to. When you release the accelerator, the unit slows more aggressively than a propane forklift coasting. This is how the battery recovers energy. Our newer operators who trained on electric from the start don't notice it. The experienced guys found it jarring initially.

Noise levels dropped substantially. We measured 78 dB average with the propane fleet. The electrics register around 65 dB during operation. Warehouse communication improved. We used to rely entirely on hand signals in certain areas. Now verbal communication is possible in most zones.

Maintenance Realities

The sales pitch on electric forklifts always emphasizes lower maintenance. This is partially true. We eliminated oil changes, spark plug replacements, and fuel system maintenance. Our propane units needed transmission fluid service every 1,000 hours. The electrics have no transmission fluid.

Brake maintenance increased. The regenerative braking system means the mechanical brakes see less use, but when they do need service, the repair is more complex. Our Toyota dealer charges $680 for a brake job on the 8FBE15U versus $420 on the old propane Crown units.

The drive motors have been trouble-free across our fleet. Eight years, zero motor failures. The controllers are another story. We've replaced three motor controllers at roughly $2,200 each. The failures happened at 11,000 hours, 14,500 hours, and 9,800 hours respectively. No pattern I can identify.

Cold Weather Performance

Our facility is climate-controlled but the loading docks are not. Temperatures at the dock doors drop below freezing for about four months annually. Lead-acid batteries lose capacity in cold conditions. We measured roughly 18% range reduction when dock temperatures hit 25°F.

Lithium-ion handles cold better. The same conditions showed maybe 8% reduction on our lithium units. The battery management system on the Toyota lithium packs includes a heating function that activates automatically below 32°F. This draws power but keeps the cells in optimal range.

The Numbers After Five Years

I ran the calculations last March. Total cost of ownership for our electric fleet versus the projected costs if we had stayed with propane:

Electricity costs us about $1.20 per operating hour per unit. Propane was running $2.85 per hour when we switched. Current propane prices would put that at $3.40 per hour.

Maintenance spending dropped from $4,200 per unit annually to $2,100 on the lead-acid electrics. The lithium units are running $1,400 annually but they're newer, so that number might climb.

Current Fleet Composition

We now operate eight electric units and zero propane. The breakdown: six Toyota 8FBE15U with lead-acid, two Toyota 8FBE18U with lithium-ion. The 18U is a slightly larger frame that handles our heavier pallets in the bulk storage area.

I'm planning to convert the remaining lead-acid units to lithium as the battery packs reach end of life. The upfront cost is painful but the operational advantages are real. Our next replacement is scheduled for October. The quote from Ohio Lift Systems came in at $52,400 for a new 8FBE15U with lithium, or $9,200 for a lead-acid battery replacement in the existing unit. I haven't decided yet.

What I Would Do Differently

The 2019 transition happened too fast. We should have started with two units, run them for six months, and identified the infrastructure requirements before committing to a full fleet conversion. The electrical panel upgrade blindsided us.

• Start small: Begin with two units and run them for six months before full fleet conversion
• Infrastructure first: Identify all electrical requirements upfront—panel upgrades can be expensive surprises
• More training: Toyota's four-hour orientation was inadequate; we developed a twelve-hour program spread across three days
• Choose lithium: The lead-acid savings on purchase price disappeared into battery replacements and maintenance labor

Training was inadequate. Toyota provided a four-hour orientation. Our operators needed more time with the regenerative braking and battery management. We developed our own training program after the first year. It runs twelve hours now, spread across three days.

I would have specified lithium-ion from the start. The lead-acid savings on purchase price disappeared into battery replacements and maintenance labor. The total cost difference over five years is negligible, and lithium is operationally superior.

Vendor Relationships

Ohio Lift Systems has been our primary dealer throughout this process. Their service response time averages eighteen hours for non-emergency calls. Emergency response is four hours. We've had three emergency calls in five years. All were electrical system failures that immobilized units in active aisles.

Parts availability has been acceptable. Most common wear items ship next-day from Toyota's regional warehouse in Indianapolis. Specialty items like motor controllers take three to five business days. We keep one spare controller in inventory now after the third failure left a unit down for a week.

The sales team at Ohio Lift pushes hard for service contracts. We opted for time-and-materials billing instead. Our annual service spending has been lower than the contract would have cost in four of five years. The exception was 2023 when we had two controller failures in the same quarter.

Industry Observations

The warehouse across the road from us runs a Hyster fleet. Their maintenance manager and I talk occasionally. He's seeing similar results on their electric transition, which they started in 2021. His lithium-ion experience has been better than ours. He thinks Toyota's battery management system is more conservative than Hyster's, which might explain some performance differences we've noticed.

The big operations, the Amazon-scale facilities, have moved almost entirely to electric from what I can see. Site visits to two regional fulfillment centers in 2024 showed zero internal combustion units. They're running robotic pallet movers alongside traditional forklifts. That technology isn't practical for our volume yet. Maybe in five years.

Smaller shops in our area are holding onto propane. The upfront cost of electric conversion is prohibitive for a company running two or three units. The economics work differently at that scale. One owner I know calculated a twelve-year payback period for his operation. He'll keep running propane until the regulations force a change.