California could soon become the first state to mandate the use of electric and reduced-emissions lift trucks. The California Air Resource Board (CARB), which monitors air quality, plans to adopt such a measure by 2004. The board is proposing a six-year implementation period beginning in 2006.

The current version of the plan actually is a melding of two proposals, LSI-2 and LSI-3, says Gennet Paauwe of the CARB's office of communication. One measure would require retrofitting engines on some 2001–2003 models as well as on all pre-2001 models. Those modifications would reduce emissions by adding a three-way catalyst and, on some models, closed-loop control of the fuel system. The other proposal requires a zero-emission standard for all new and rented lift trucks of up to 8,000 pounds capacity. The only way to achieve that strict standard, say industry experts, is with an electric motor.

Reaction from lift-truck manufacturers and industry analysts has been mixed. "This is going to force something that I've been in favor of for a long time—electric trucks indoors," says M. Geoffrey Sisko, senior vice president of Gross and Associates, a consulting firm in Woodbridge, N.J. "Some people still use internal combustion trucks indoors. I'm surprised that OSHA (the Occupational Safety and Health Administration) hasn't jumped into it and gotten concerned about carbon monoxide, soot, and other by-products," he adds.

George Maes, chief technical officer for lift-truck manufacturer Nissan Forklift in Marengo, Ill., says that the CARB is making a mistake in targeting the under-8,000-pound machines—what he calls the "workhorses of the industry."

"To target the primary trucks for all applications for electric is not a good solution to the problem," he says. "Electric trucks have a lot of costs associated with them." For one thing, he says, users have to prepare a battery-change room in line with OSHA requirements. Furthermore, electric trucks can disrupt warehouse operations because electric batteries don't run for a full eight-hour shift. Standards for internal combustion (IC) engines, by contrast, require that one tank of gas run eight hours, he points out.

Users say there are other shortcomings inherent in electric trucks compared to their IC counterparts. It's widely recognized, for instance, that electric-powered trucks simply don't pack the same power as gasoline-fueled models. "Particularly with respect to functions requiring high torque, the electric trucks developed to date are not able to perform all the tasks that internal combustion trucks can," says Kevin Trenga of lift-truck manufacturer The Raymond Corp. in Greene, N.Y. For that reason, Trenga says, he suspects electric truck manufacturers may be required to investigate technology that gives their products operating characteristics that are similar to those of internal combustion trucks.

Sisko disagrees, noting that for most distribution operations, electric trucks can handle most loads. "The majority of trucks, including reach trucks and counterbalance and utility trucks, are rated up to about 4,500 pounds," he says. "And most applications for distribution and manufacturing are probably under 6,000 pounds. You can't get 12,000-pound [electric] trucks, but how many people are moving interior loads that heavy? You have to look at what it's being used for."

Paauwe notes that the CARB's proposal does take operators' varying needs into account. The rule, she says, states that the requirement would be limited to fork lifts used in applications where zero-emission vehicles "have been deemed to be suitable alternatives to internal combustion engines." Furthermore, the agency recognizes that electric fork lifts may not be suitable for all applications, such as outdoor work or long hours of use. "In such cases," the board said in a statement, "staff will evaluate the feasibility of near-zero emissions standards instead."

A big concern for forklift makers, says Nissan's Maes, is that the CARB has not given the industry any specifics regarding emissions reduction. "On the retrofit [proposal], they haven't given us any targets, such as emission standards," he says. "They just said, 'retrofit,' but to what level, we don't know."