20 Advancements in Industrial Automation
Weighing the Pros and Cons of Lithium-Ion Battery Packs
Lead-acid batteries are rechargeable batteries with lower power-to-weight ratio and usually a lower cost.
They require significantly more maintenance—due to their battery chemistry and the limited number of
cycles in a battery's life—to ensure operators maximize battery usage. This creates unnecessary downtime
that disrupts productivity and raises labor costs.
On the other hand, lithium-ion batteries are rechargeable and have a very high energy density and low
discharge rate. The technology is easily maintained via the BMS, which automates the process. This offers
operators a huge advantage—in addition to saving them from the potentially dangerous practice of
equalizing charges in lead-acid batteries.
These capabilities—especially when combined with the improved performance that lithium-ion batteries
deliver—can make lithium-ion technology an extremely attractive investment, depending on your forklift
usage.
The benefits of lithium-ion technology
are driven by:
• Its longer lifetime (charging cycles)
• The fact that due to its longer lifetime, it can be charged more often (opportunistic charging), which
allows manufacturers to build in smaller batteries (lower energy capacity)
• Its higher energy density, which allows for smaller and lighter batteries
But lithium-ion technology can
have a downside:
• Lithium-ion battery cells are more expensive.
• Lithium-ion needs a very complex BMS that can be expensive as well.
