Battery charge management module launches

The module is part of Linde Material Handling’s fleet management solution, and combines software and hardware. It is said to be suitable even with small fleets and will be launched in time for the LogiMAT trade show. 

“Peak demands in energy are among the main causes of skyrocketing costs when it comes to operating electric industrial trucks,” says Stefan Roth, product manager energy systems at Linde Material Handling. 

“If too many employees connect their electric vehicles to the chargers at the same time, for example during breaks or after the end of the work shift, the power demand increases rapidly. In the case of lithium-ion batteries, this is compounded by the fact that fast charging is associated with significantly higher power demand than with the lead-acid variant.”

With larger fleets it can be difficult to decide when to charge which vehicles in order to ensure their availability or to move charging to daytimes when electricity rates are cheaper. “All these requirements can be handled quickly and easily when using our digital charge management system, connect:charger,” explains Roth. 

The Linde system links up to 50 chargers in a network with a central hardware unit, which automatically controls the power demand according to predefined rules. Additionally, a dashboard allows forklift drivers and fleet operators to retrieve all the relevant information. For example, they can see when a particular industrial truck is ready for use again.

For more information, visit www.linde-mh.com