Month: February 2021

Jeffrey VanZwol is interviewed in an article in Materials Handling Wholesaler magazine. The full article can be read below or accessed here.

Though the material handling industry continues to see lithium-ion batteries as a greener solution to their lead-acid predecessors, switching to this battery technology can also add a little greener to your bottom line in the form of dollars.

Unfortunately, it can sometimes be difficult to grasp how a technology that requires a larger upfront investment can actually result in cost savings over time.

“There’s a lot of interest and misunderstanding when it comes to lithium-ion technology,” says Frank Russo, vice president sales, marketing, dealer development at HC Forklift America. “Customers are seeking facts. There’s also cynicism in new alternative fuels because of the past offerings that never lived up to their hep. Lithium-ion batteries bring new life to our industry as they really reduce operating costs with maintenance-free batteries.”

And therein lies the crux of it: don’t judge a lithium-ion battery by its acquisition cost. Calculating the true cost requires a much more complex algorithm.

The Lithium-Ion Equation

According to Damon Hosmer, project manager – energy solutions with the Raymond Corp., this is a calculation more material handlers are doing.

“The market adaption during the past seven to eight months has been unprecedented,” he says, noting that his company is getting daily inquiries from countries internationally. “It’s the new normal with the e-comm boom.”

Hosmer says that the cost of lithium-ion batteries really includes a variety of areas beyond upfront cost, though that remains a driving factor.

“It’s really twice the cost or twice the life,” he says, noting that Raymond Corp focuses on the chemistry of its batteries to ensure top performance, which remains one of three key factors for customers trying to decide if an investment in lithium-ion batteries is in their future.

“The first is battery life and performance,” he says. “Companies are looking at maximizing their facilities – they’re getting taller – and they are really starting to look at life and performance along with the cost of the battery.”

“The efficiencies of lithium that we emphasize are roughly 20 percent more up-time for your truck with faster charging and eliminating battery swaps,” says Jeffrey VanZwol, chief marketing officer for Green Cubes Technology. “Lithium-ion batteries reduce electrical costs due to a better charger efficiency, say 97 percent vs. roughly 75-80 percent for lead-acid. That is at least a 15 percent reduction in your electrical expenses allocated to battery charging.

Secondly, Hosmer says safety has actually become a factor, particularly with the changes that have occurred with COVID-19. Procurement across the board now includes risk mitigation, and companies are looking for solutions that reduce operator risk to harmful situations as well as human error.

“Finally, we take our customers through a cost justification exercise so they can really see their return on investment over time,” he says. “When we are able to fire up a real valuation, they can see that lithium-ion batteries can provide a significant amount of value over time.”

VanZwol agrees.

“We start off with a power study to make sure the customer will benefit from lithium-ion batteries in their selected application, as lithium-ion is not a panacea solution for all applications,” he says. “The output of that power study is fed into our ROI calculator, where we compute and explain the CAPEX/OPEX efficiencies that they will experience.”

VanZwol adds that over a three-year period, the CAPEX outlay for lead-acid and lithium-ion is the same, except that you will need to make a larger CAPEX investment upfront with lithium-ion. In return for that up-front investment, VanZwol says lithium-ion really knocks down the OPEX expenses, such as truck downtime for battery swaps, electrical power costs, and motor maintenance expenses, along with supporting a green or zero-emission initiative.

The suspicion remains about the technology

It’s important to focus on solid numbers and projections, as suspicions remain about the technology.

Russo says that customer concerns are primarily focused on two areas.

“Concerns are mostly related to recycling the battery after its life span,” he says. “There’s also pessimism as it relates to working in various ambient temperatures, along with working in extreme temperatures,” he says, noting that lithium batteries supplied by Hangcha have temperature-controlled battery compartments to deal with extreme temperatures.

As the technology behind lithium-ion batteries continues to advance and evolve, many of these older concerns are being addressed. Additionally, manufacturers are more attuned to the concerns raised by the marketplace and are working to address them.

“The pace of adoption has been steady, but it still is early days from my perspective,” says VanZwol. “The adoption is more rapid, and the ROI is higher, in certain segments like cold storage or multi-shift operations.

He says that many of the early adopters have taken advantage of “very clear and unambiguous benefits.”

“As these early adopters start to evangelize and become reference sites for other industries, like non-refrigerated or single-shift operations, then I expect to see faster adoption across all markets.”

New innovation fuels the marketplace

The return customers are seeing when calculating the potential ROI on lithium-iron batteries will only continue to improve. Many manufacturers and suppliers are focused on not only improving quality but also performance.

Hosmer reports that on Dec. 1, 2020, Raymond Corp. started the distribution of its new Energy Essentials line, a fast-charging power solution housed in a denser footprint, which provides customers with a comprehensive solution supporting the company’s entire line of forklifts.

“It’s also the first UL-listed lift-truck battery available,” he notes.

Green Cubes Technology continues to expand its cloud-software application, which gives customers better control and remote management capabilities.

“We provide the data and analytics to ensure our customers have the usage information on their batteries, which enables them to verify they have their expected ROI.

In the 1Q 2021, HC Forklift America will release nine new lithium-ion models.

“With this release, we’ll have a complete line of lithium-ion product to cover classes I, II, and II up with the capacity to 10,000 pounds,” says Russo.

To listen to Chief Marketing Officer for Green Cubes Technology, Jeff VanZwol and Damon Hosmer who is the Product Manager for Energy Solutions at The Raymond Corporation about Lithium-ion batteries, Click here with moderator Kevin Lawton at The New Warehouse.

About the Author:

Laurie Arendt is an award-winning business writer based in Wisconsin. Her writing regularly appears in national trade publications in a variety of industries. To contact Laurie, email editorial@MHWmag.com.

Green Cubes Technology contributed an article forkliftaction.com. The full article can be read below, or accessed here.

The article presents opportunity charging as a practice applicable to both lead acid and lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries for motive power systems, especially for materials handling equipment.

Opportunity charging is a practice applicable to both lead acid and lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries for motive power systems and especially useful for materials handling equipment. These practices can be applied to all classes of handling equipment – from small pallet jacks to four-wheel forklifts and large turret trucks.

Charging lead acid batteries
Different lead acid battery types are available for motive power including the Thin Pure Plate Lead (TPPL), Absorbed Glass Matt (AGM) and the widely used, most common Flooded Lead Acid (FLA). For optimal cycle and calendar life of FLA batteries, manufacturers recommend that the daily cycle for batteries consist of:
1) using and discharging the batteries, typically over an eight-hour shift;
2) 8-10 hours of conventional charging at a C/5 rate (i.e. ~20 Amps per every 100 Amp-Hours);
3) resting for an eight-hour cool-down period.

Additionally, it is critical to equalise the battery on a weekly basis: charging the battery to 100% state of charge and reducing the build-up of sulphates. This conventional charge/discharge regimen is reinforced by FLA battery manufacturers through their warranties; thus each battery experiences one full charge and discharge cycle per day. Note that FLA batteries can be opportunity charged (typically 25 Amps per 100 Amp-Hour or C/4 rate) and fast charged (typically up to 50 Amps per 100 Amp-Hour or C/2 rate), but these unconventional FLA charge regimens shorten or violate the manufacturer warranties.

If an enterprise follows guidelines from the manufacturer, then they can expect to receive 500-1,000 cycles from their FLA batteries before they start to experience permanent capacity fade. The implication of this recommended charge regimen is that equipment used on a single shift may need one or two batteries for each vehicle. If the enterprise operates a multi-shift operation, then more than one battery is definitely required per vehicle. So, at a minimum, multi-shift operations dictate a battery swap when the shift changes.

Charging Li-ion batteries
Li-ion batteries are preferably charged using a constant current/constant voltage (CC/CV) charge regimen, but most materials handling equipment batteries are designed to accept both CC/CV and FLA charge regimens. One common characteristic of all Li-ion batteries is that, regardless of the state of charge of the battery when connected to the charger, the battery will efficiently accept the power and increase its state of charge. Whether the battery has been connected to the charger for 15 minutes or two hours, that battery can be immediately discharged and used by the equipment as there is no need to cool or rest a Li-ion battery after charging.

The Li-ion cell chemistry has numerous chemical variants. Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) chemistry is the predominant chemistry used to power materials handling equipment. LFP chemistry is differentiated from its Li-ion cousins on several dimensions, including:
1) exceptionally long cycle life (2,000 – 4,000 cycles to reach 80% of the original capacity);
2) high power capabilities for both charge and discharge;
3) lower energy/density than other Li-ion variants.

The long cycle life means an LFP battery can be installed and remain in the equipment until it is retired (i.e. no battery swaps for the equipment life). More importantly, since LFP chemistry can accommodate high power delivered to and from the battery, a depleted LFP battery can accept a full charge in one hour. This charge does not need to be delivered in one charging session. Rather, it can be delivered throughout the shift when the operator has down-time (for example, a break or lunch). Since LFP batteries can accept partial charges between use and a depleted battery can be charged within one hour, Li-ion is the optimal chemistry for opportunity charging.

Beyond opportunity charging, some secondary benefits of adopting Li-ion batteries to power your fleet include the release of warehouse floor space, the elimination of battery handling and changing equipment, and the reduction of personnel affiliated with the charging process. Additionally, operators can eliminate the cross-area travel time from their normal work areas to the battery room to change out batteries. Finally, the potentially hazardous task of swapping heavy batteries is not necessary, thus minimising employee injuries.

Best practices to exploit opportunity charging
Listed below are the guidelines that Green Cubes Technology has developed to assist our customers in maximising their return on investment in Li-ion batteries and charging infrastructure. Opportunity charging has a multiplier effect on the positive return for adopting Li-ion batteries.

1. Understand the existing operational workflow of the operators/equipment/batteries to assess the available time per shift to connect to a charger. This can be established through a power study where the operator/equipment/battery activity is monitored for up to four weeks, and worst-case usage models should not be ignored. Based on the data, one can determine whether there are adequate opportunities for ad hoc (eg. coffee break) or scheduled (eg. lunch) charging throughout the shift. If there is no down-time for the equipment throughout the shift, then the batteries will need to be charged for an hour before the shift. Or, the operator’s existing work flow can be modified so that there is some down-time made available for opportunity charging the equipment.
2. Single-shift vs. multi-shift operations can determine the value of opportunity charging for an enterprise. If the enterprise operates a single-shift operation, a fully charged Li-ion (or FLA) battery should power that vehicle through the shift. However, when a second (or third) shift is needed, then opportunity charging can be used to recharge that integrated battery in increments and ensure that the equipment is powered through all the shifts.
3. Rather than charging FLA batteries in a centralised battery maintenance room, the enterprise can distribute the Li-ion charging stations near break rooms and heavy work areas. This will encourage and enable operators to charge their equipment when the operators have down-time or are not using their equipment. Decentralised charging stations eliminate the operators’ travel time from their work area to the battery maintenance room as well.
4. Assess existing FLA chargers to determine if they are compatible with the Li-ion batteries. There are some charging parameters, such as voltage limits, that need to be aligned between the battery and charger. But most FLA chargers are typically compatible with Li-Ion batteries, enabling the use of the existing charging infrastructure for opportunity charging.
5. Assess the power output of the existing FLA and Li-ion charging infrastructure. As mentioned earlier, the conventional FLA battery charge regimen is a C/5 rate over an eight-hour period. With opportunity charging, the Li-ion battery should be charged throughout the shift at a 1 C rate for a total accumulated time of one hour. The implication is the power rating on the charger must be much higher when opportunity charging. As an example, a 48 Volt 500 Amp-Hour FLA battery could be charged with a 5 kW charger over an eight hour period, while a similarly-sized Li-ion battery would require a 25 kW charger for a one hour period.
6. Consider a multi-voltage battery if opportunity charging is desired but there is not adequate down-time within a shift. A multi-voltage battery has a power switching fabric within the battery electronics. The charger’s charge voltage is set at twice the equipment’s operating voltage, and the battery electronics then steps down the received power to the equipment’s operating voltage. The charger delivers twice the amount of power when charging at twice the voltage, therefore the charge time is reduced by 50%. Multi-voltage battery options are available in 24 v (24/48), 36 v (36/72) and 48 v (48/96) battery configurations.
7. Consider the equipment/charger ratio. The best case for operators is a 1:1 ratio, so all operators can take their lunch together and each piece of equipment can be charged during this down-time. If the enterprise can stagger coffee/lunch breaks or run the fleet between 50-100% utilisation, then they can reduce this ratio down to 2:1 and still ensure that all equipment has unfettered access to the local charger.
8. Assess your operators’ behaviour after you have introduced opportunity charging. Some Li-ion batteries have embedded Internet of Things (IoT) computing, WiFi transceivers and cloud-based applications so the enterprise can remotely monitor their operators’ adoption and effectiveness with opportunity charging. One simple measure is monitoring the state of charge of each piece of equipment/battery throughout the day. Any operators/equipment consistently operating in the 5-20% state of charge range may need some retraining on opportunity charging.

Summary
Li-ion batteries, combined with opportunity charging, enable an enterprise to operate their fleet without productivity loss affiliated with charging or swapping batteries. Opportunity charging can increase the velocity of your business and improve the utilisation of your MH equipment fleet. Secondary benefits include the reuse of warehouse floor space allocated to battery rooms, the elimination of FLA battery handling and changing equipment, and the equipment’s travel time to the battery room to swap batteries.