Carrot and stick incentives to buy lift trucks
All the major electric lift truck providers are talking about 80-volt these days. They see this technology as the key to helping them offer more powerful products that will, in some applications, replace internal combustion engine (ICE) trucks and result in cleaner work environments. You can look forward to a bunch of new product introductions in 2010.Is this news enough of an incentive to get your buy-in? Probably not right away. That’s why product and energy providers are teaming up to learn how to sell you on it.
The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) has a Non-Road Electric Transportation program that does technology demonstrations, develops case studies and distributes information to communicate the benefits of this kind of technology to utilities and their customers. This program is vital, EPRI says, because many utilities and their customers remain unaware of the potential of such technologies.
“Electricity is a cheaper transportation fuel than petroleum,” says Andra Rogers,
EPRI project manager for non-road electric transportation. “The electrification of non-road transportation systems that move materials, cargo and people can help electric utilities increase revenues and manage load. They also help end-use customers reduce pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions, save money on fuel, and in many cases improve operational efficiency and productivity.”
One of the lift truck OEMs I interviewed for an upcoming article on the hot new lift truck technologies in 2010 told me that more and more lift truck dealers are starting to partner with their local energy companies to meet with their customers and make the case for the new generation of electric lift trucks. They’re not only talking about switching from gas to electric, but from old style lead acid batteries to new style batteries and to high-frequency charging. They’re laying out all the data they have, including what the customer would save in energy costs in the coming year.
Scott Johnson, director of dealer services for Clark Material Handling Co., told me that some of his customers recognize they HAVE to replace their old lift trucks. What’s more important is their entire organization knows it, and consequently, the purchasing cycle for lift trucks is shortening. Incentives are helping cut internal red tape, too.
“We do a lot of business with the U.S. Government and it has been using some of the stimulus money to replenish its lift truck fleet,” Johnson says. “That has been brisk business.”
I was also talking to Marty Boyd, national product planning and marketing manager for Toyota Material Handling USA (TMHU) about incentives, and one program that affects ICE proponents took up most of our discussion: the “Low Emissions Propane Forklift Initiative Program” developed by the Railroad Commission of Texas. It’s part of the Texas Emissions Reduction Plan (TERP), which offers incentives to buyers who wish to replace older pre-2008 propane-, gasoline- or diesel-powered forklifts with new propane forklifts that meet or exceed EPA’s 2008 emission standard.
Bottom line: the lower the emission the new propane lift truck produces, the bigger the incentive amount. The Railroad Commission says that on average, its grants have resulted in more than $9,000 per application.
“Toyota customers in Texas have really benefited from this program since Toyota’s 2007 introduction of the 8-Series model,” Boyd told me. “The Toyota 8-Series model is certified to produce 70% less smog forming emissions than the current EPA emission standard and the more stringent 2010 California Air Resources Board (CARB) emission levels.”
In California, fleet averaging measures are being used more as a mandate than an incentive. Actually, your incentive is to avoid a citation from CARB. These measures set limits on the amount of smog-forming emissions a fleet can produce.
So, whether you need electric or IC, it looks like it’s getting easier to make the case for a new lift truck or two. Based on your own experience in the purchasing process, tell me if you agree or disagree.
Tom Andel
