Modern businesses are increasingly opting for electrically powered industrial trucks. But where to put the charging stations, the batteries and the chargers?
The answer to this question, more and more frequently, is: trak | systemizer powercube.
A new trend is discernible in intralogistics: say goodbye to the combustion engine and hello to electric motors is the mantra of an increasing number of businesses. There are many reasons for this:
new industrial trucks, such as forklifts, have become ever more powerful. Thanks to their greater lifting capacity they are now making inroads into areas that used to be the preserve of machines
powered by combustion engines.
In addition there is the fact that they operate quietly, which is kind to the environment as well as the health of workers who would otherwise be exposed to noise every day. Especially in enclosed areas these versions have proved very successful since they do not release any toxic substances. The more stringent legislation covering CO2 emissions have also made the decision in favour of electric power easier for many.
Indeed, we all know that fossil fuels are becoming scarcer in the long term and therefore also more costly. No wonder that throughout Western Europe electric forklifts have been winning out against the competition equipped combustion engines.
Not least there are the advantageous maintenance costs – in addition to the most persuasive ecological and financial arguments – that make electrically powered industrial trucks so attractive.
Only one question remains: where to house the charging station together with batteries and chargers once the classic diesel station located outdoors has served its purpose. Particularly since we all know that there is often a shortage of space in the production plant itself.
The solution to this challenge is supplied by HOPPECKE and called the trak | systemizer powercube, a charging station in container format. This innovation means that the charging station can simply
be moved from inside the hall to outside.
An Austrian company operating in the building industry and with 7,000 employees at 160 locations throughout the world was also happy to opt for our newly developed product. Financial and economic reasons were the deciding factors in favour of converting the forklift fleet from diesel to electric power. Initially the batteries were kept in a tent outside the factory buildings, as there was plenty of open space available. But while this worked well in summer, it turned out to be a problem in winter: battery capacity suffered considerably due to the sub-zero temperatures.
Furthermore it was also impossible to store the battery water outside under such conditions.
These were two challenges that the trak | systemizer powercube was able to deal with successfully. The batteries could still be kept in a protected area outside, without taking up valuable space inside or necessitating the building of a new unit. The trak | systemizer powercube was designed for the required batteries (80 V, 930 Ah) and an automatic water treatment plant including a water tank was installed. But there is even more to shout about: the charging container comes with a heating and ventilation system as well as lighting as standard.
The customer really appreciated the additional flexibility delivered by this product. One aspect that made this particularly interesting for the customer is that it is a mobile solution, which means that the container can be moved quickly and easily if necessary.
The project was easy to implement and installation went smoothly, to the satisfaction of all concerned.
All that the customer had to do was provide a connection to the electricity supply. The HOPPECKE team looked after the rest: planning, implementation and installation from a single source.
As a result everything was in the right place when we finished and our customer was extremely pleased.
