EnerSys ® (NYSE:ENS) has launched its new COMpact™ range of onboard chargers, which can be installed directly inside the battery compartment of a lift truck. The integrated chargers are configured to support most motive power battery technologies and enable electric material handling vehicles to recharge at the nearest AC socket. This eliminates the unprofitable time previously required to drive to charging stations in remote and inconvenient locations on-site.
“In today’s material handling industry, the need for more space to optimise operations, combined with the necessity of making trucks always available, is becoming increasingly challenging,” said Anssi Laitinen, Senior Marketing Director at EnerSys EMEA. “This in turn has created demand for more flexible, compact and integrated on-board power solutions that require virtually no maintenance and battery changes. To support this, we have developed a new range of advanced on-board chargers that enable operators to recharge their motive power batteries anywhere at any time, meaning a lift truck can effectively be turned into a ‘portable’ charging room!”
COMpact™ chargers are especially suited for Class III lift trucks, with the range encompassing two offerings. NexSys® COMpact™ charger is an optimised turnkey solution that combines the new charger with EnerSys’ proven TPPL (Thin Plate Pure Lead) battery technology.
When integrated with a TPPL battery, NexSys® COMpact™ charger enables a lift truck to be recharged wherever an AC socket is present by means of fast opportunity charging. TPPL technology allows a single battery to deliver up to 160 per cent of its nominal capacity and function in a partial state without the necessity to be completely recharged on a daily basis. It is also highly energy efficient, environmentally friendly (99 per cent recyclable) and has a low carbon footprint.
Meanwhile, for other electric material handling vehicles requiring an on-board battery, EnerSys has developed the Life COMpactTM charger. The Life COMpactTM charger is designed to fit most 24 V batteries used in Class III vehicles, without requiring any additional space in the battery compartment.
To ensure a safe, fast and reliable recharge each time, all COMpact™ chargers feature embedded iQ intelligence charging profiles to ensure the equipment runs at optimum capacity and experiences no downtime during operation. This enables the chargers to operate at a high efficiency of up to 94 per cent, which reduces both overall battery recharge costs and carbon footprint by consuming less electricity.
NexSys® COMpact™ and Life COMpact™ chargers are designed to save time, space and offer lift truck users substantially lower costs of ownership. They can potentially reduce the capital investment required for new energy infrastructure by eliminating the need for charging rooms and battery handling equipment, as well as reducing service costs and the need for manual interventions.