A fuel cell forklift (also called a fuel cell lift truck) is a

fuel cell A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy of a fuel (often hydrogen fuel, hydrogen) and an oxidizing agent (often oxygen) into electricity through a pair of redox reactions. Fuel cells are different from most bat ...

powered industrial

forklift A forklift (also called industrial truck, lift truck, jitney, hi-lo, fork truck, fork hoist, and forklift truck) is a powered industrial truck used to lift and move materials over short distances. The forklift was developed in the early 20th c ...

used to lift and

transport Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...

materials.

History

* 1960

Allis-Chalmers Allis-Chalmers was a United States, U.S. manufacturer of machinery for various Industry (economics), industries. Its business lines included list of agricultural machinery, agricultural equipment, heavy equipment, construction equipment, electric ...

builds the first fuel cell

Market

In 2013 there were over 4,000 fuel cell forklifts used in

material handling Material handling involves short-distance movement within the confines of a building or between a building and a transportation vehicle. It uses a wide range of manual, semi-automated, and automated equipment and includes consideration of the pro ...

in the United States. As of 2024, approximately 50,000 hydrogen forklifts are in operation worldwide (the bulk of which are in the U.S.), as compared with 1.2 million battery electric forklifts that were purchased in 2021.

Uses

PEM fuel-cell-powered forklifts provide benefits over petroleum-powered forklifts as they produce no local emissions. While LP Gas (

propane Propane () is a three-carbon chain alkane with the molecular formula . It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure, but becomes liquid when compressed for transportation and storage. A by-product of natural gas processing and petroleum ref ...

) forklifts are more popular and often used indoors, they cannot accommodate certain food sector applications. Fuel cell power efficiency (40–50%)Eberle, Ulrich and Rittmar von Helmolt
"Sustainable transportation based on electric vehicle concepts: a brief overview"
Energy & Environmental Science,

Royal Society of Chemistry The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society and professional association in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemistry, chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the ...

, 14 May 2010, accessed 2 August 2011Garbak, John
"VIII.0 Technology Validation Sub-Program Overview"
. DOE Fuel Cell Technologies Program, FY 2010 Annual Progress Report, accessed 2 August 2011 is about half that of

lithium-ion batteries A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery that uses the reversible intercalation of Li+ ions into electronically conducting solids to store energy. Li-ion batteries are characterized by higher specific energy, energy ...

(80–90%),Valøen, Lars Ole and Shoesmith, Mark I. (2007)
The effect of PHEV and HEV duty cycles on battery and battery pack performance
(PDF). 2007 Plug-in Highway Electric Vehicle Conference: ''Proceedings''. Retrieved 11 June 2010. but they have a higher energy density which may allow forklifts to run longer. Fuel-cell-powered forklifts are often used in refrigerated warehouses as their performance is not as affected by temperature as some types of lithium batteries. Most fuel cells used for material handling purposes are powered by PEM fuel cells, although some DMFC forklifts are coming onto the market. In design the FC units are often made as drop-in replacements.

Research

*2013Toyota Industries (Toyota Shokki) showcased a new fuel cell powered forklift, co-developed with Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd. *2015HySA Systems (UWC) showcased a fuel cell powered forklift using a refueling station based on metal hydrides. The customer was Implats, a mining company in South Africa. This was the first project of this type on the African continent.

Standards

*SAE J 2601/3 - SAE J 2601/3 - Fueling Protocols for Gaseous Hydrogen Powered Industrial Forklifts

References

{{reflist Engineering vehicles Electric vehicles Trucks Material-handling equipment Fuel cell vehicles