Customer

One of the leading grocery retailers in Russia that manages stores of several formats: economy class, supermarkets and hypermarkets.

The company-customer warehouse with the area of 90.000 m2 is located in the Moscow region and is maintained by 230 units of vehicles:

• 172 units of small vehicles that use 24V batteries (electric trucks, picking carts)
• 64 units of heavy vehicles that use 48V batteries (reach trucks, lift trucks)

Current warehouse loading - 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so vehicles were equipped with two sets of lead-acid batteries for the uninterrupted operation.

EnSol solution

• Evaluation of the economic efficiency of lithium-ion technology introduction.
• Selection of the optimal battery capacity and battery charger power based on the average and maximum loading for each type of vehicle.
• Vehicle reequipment with the lithium-ion batteries.

Results of the carried out testing and introduction

If one considers only the initial costs for the vehicle equipment with batteries the lead-acid batteries seem to be more profitable when purchasing it. However, at more integrated consideration of the cost of the floor equipment ownership for a 4-year period it is clear that the operating costs for lead-acid batteries are about 93% of the purchase value.

With the introduction of lithium-ion technology the battery maintenance costs are significantly lower that gives the customer possibility to save 42.6 million rubles for 4 years.

The carried out testing in the customer warehouse confirmed not only the economic feasibility of the lithium-ion batteries use but also the convenience of its operation:

• EnSol battery charging time up to 80% is 2 hours
• One battery set per vehicle is sufficient for the existing load
• The charging process is simple, and does not require special knowledge and skills
• Vehicles are in constant readiness; the charge does not drop below 30%
• No vehicle downtime due to the intermediate recharging