Raymond and Ballard team up to design fuel-cell powered lift trucks

With battery-replacement fuel cells a commercial reality, Raymond tackles the next challenge: integrating fuel cells into lift trucks at the factory.

By Corinne Kator, Associate Editor -- Modern Materials Handling, 5/1/2008

Last week, electric lift truck maker Raymond Corp. announced an agreement with Ballard Power Systems to begin developing a lift truck built specifically for fuel cell power.

“The idea is to research what an integrated fuel cell truck might look like, and the goal is to do a prototype,” says Steve Medwin, manager of advanced research at Raymond.

But don’t expect the prototype to be developed overnight.

“I see this as the beginning of a long relationship [with Ballard],” Medwin says. Because lift trucks have been designed around lead acid batteries for nearly 70 years, he says, “we really need to roll up our sleeves and go back to the beginning.” With that big of a challenge ahead, a working prototype may take several years to develop.

Medwin says he’s excited to begin this challenging project, and he’s excited to be working with Ballard Power, a leader in the fuel cell market. Fuel cell stacks from Ballard are used today in a variety of markets, including materials handling, backup power and transportation.

In 2007, Raymond began a three-year research program to evaluate the performance of fuel cell power packs designed to replace lead acid batteries. It was this work with “battery emulation products,” says Medwin, that led Raymond to want to begin the work of designing a fuel-cell powered lift truck from scratch.