The new range of Hawker XFC batteries with 2V cells from EnerSys provides materials handling equipment manufacturers and operators with greater flexibility to specify plug-and-play power sources that can be charged for as long and as often as required to support total operational autonomy. The batteries combine advanced performance and high efficiency with low overall cost of ownership and are suitable for a range of materials handling applications including counterbalance trucks, reach trucks, pallet trucks, order pickers and AGVs. Minimum gassing ensures they can be used in retail areas, public spaces and sensitive manufacturing locations. The battery is totally maintenance free and no water topping-up is necessary.

The Hawker XFC range radically changes discharge/recharge operating procedures compared with conventional lead-acid batteries. The batteries can be used when in a partial state of charge and deliver superior and stable performance even at high discharge rates. The charging profile of the XFC technology allows a rapid recharge in less than four hours from 60 per cent depth of discharge and opportunity charging as often as needed without damaging the batteries. This means that XFC batteries can be specified for power-on-demand applications where charging can be done whenever the operator requires, whatever time is available. In this way they enable complete flexibility in the deployment and utilisation of handling equipment to support multi-shift operations. By comparison, conventional batteries only provide optimum performance when discharged to a specific level before being fully recharged for 8-12 hours which means extra batteries are required to support continuous operations or else equipment is unavailable.

The introduction of the batteries with 2V cells builds on the success of the original Hawker XFC range with 12V blocs introduced by EnerSys in 2007. The new cells are designed to match the industry standards shape and size for materials handling equipment applications which means that original equipment manufacturers and operators have more choice and greater freedom to specify batteries that meet their performance requirements. Hawker XFC overcomes the fitment issues of other alternate technology solutions.

The 2V cells incorporate similar Thin Plate Pure Lead technology to the original XFC units but have even higher energy density coupled with the fast charge capability. The plates are much thinner than the lead-antimony grids used in traditional motive power batteries which means they can hold up to 30 per cent more charge deliver up to 20 per cent more power. The positive and negative plates are low impedance which means high current flow is available in discharge and recharge modes to support demanding applications with rapid recharging.

The electrolyte is absorbed in a superior quality microporous glass mat separator with high absorption and stability to provide consistent performance for up to 1200 cycles at 60 per cent depth of discharge. The battery is totally maintenance free and no water topping-up is necessary. Minimum gassing ensures the batteries are ideal for de-centralised charging applications in retail, public spaces and even in sensitive manufacturing environments.

The Hawker XFC range is optimised for use with the Hawker Life IQ and LifeSpeed IQ high frequency chargers and ideally used in conjunction with the Hawker Wi-IQ2 monitoring device which precisely manages the charging profile to suit the state of charge and operating conditions of the battery as well as storing a complete data record of the battery's service life. This combination promotes energy efficiency by ensuring the correct amount of recharging power is supplied to the battery at all times and provides users with a complete audit trail of energy utilisation. Less mains power is required overall and there is reduced risk of the overcharging that can lead to degraded battery performance and premature failures. Users can shift the emphasis of their operations from managing recharging processes to power consumption based on energy throughputs.

Batteries built with the Hawker XFC 2V cell boxes are highly resistant to shock and vibration. They are designed for a high energy throughput of up to 160 per cent of C5 every 24 hours.

By enabling greater operational flexibility and opportunity charging the batteries support new ways of specifying and deploying power infrastructure. Charging batteries in-situ whenever the truck is not being used reduces the need for charge and change facilities which leads to lower costs and smaller space requirements. Chargers can be placed at the most convenient location for opportunity charging rather than in a centralised battery facility. This can reduce the time spent travelling to and from charging points for improved productivity and efficiency.