Electric Order Picker: What to Look For

Written by: Brad Sylvester

Electric industrial vehicles such as the electric order picker have battery charging requirements that must be considered before you make a purchase. Part of the consideration is for facilities and equipment while the other things to keep in mind are procedures and training. A poorly-maintained battery is not only a safety hazard, but can have a shortened lifespan resulting in frequent and expensive replacements.

Charging stations for an electric order picker

Each electric order picker should come with its own charging station. Charging stations will generally consist of the charger itself and a winch mechanism to remove and replace the battery with a spare. The availability of spare batteries to be swapped out is especially important to prevent downtime if multiple employees will be using the vehicle in shifts.

The electric order picker can take considerable floor space, especially when you consider that the machine itself will need room to be parked there when not in use. Most large electric vehicle batteries are acid-based. As such, they can emit hydrogen gas when charging. Hydrogen gas is very flammable and you need to be careful working with it to prevent it from accumulating in the charging area.

Open sources of ignition should also be kept away from the charging station. Fans or strong ventilation may be required if the charging station is in a smaller space such as an alcove where airflow may be restricted. It's also wise to keep water on hand as certain batteries need to be topped off with water as part of daily maintenance. Carefully read and follow the maintenance and charging procedures that come with the battery and vehicle that you purchase.

Caring for the battery

Batteries have different charging requirements depending on the type of battery and charger. Generally, an electric order picker battery will need to be fully discharged before being recharged. Most battery chargers will have a discharge function that handles this before switching over to actively charging the battery. However, this may be a manual process for some.

Make sure that the battery charging recommendations for the equipment you purchase are followed precisely. Specific individuals should be made responsible for maintaining the batteries of the hydraulic lift platform so that there is no confusion about who is handling it on any given day. Failure to charge a battery overnight may mean the electric order picker is out of service for an entire day which can be costly to your business.

As a final suggestion, make sure to post battery maintenance checklists and logs in clear view of the charging station so the status of each battery can be verified at a glance.

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