According to researchers at Yale University, sponsors of an electric forklift development program, their new VL electric forklift truck is the most energy efficient and ergonomically advanced counterbalance series available in its weight capacity, which ranges from 2,200 to 3,500 kilograms. This vehicle features five wheelbase and capacity configurations and is designed for both indoor and outdoor use. This forklift truck works especially well in areas where space is at its best.

Other features included on this new VL series include easy access, a three-point entry, adequate floor space, right-hand access, large amount of head room, cushioned arm and palm rests, levers that can be controlled by the fingertips, a full suspension seat, and a heads up display. All of these features work to make the operator as comfortable as possible, and to reduce the occurrence of repetitive stress injuries and body vibrations.

This new forklift truck also enables the customer to decide which operating setting is most suitable for their business. This is called Yale’s e-balance technology. The customer can choose either the high productivity setting or the energy efficiency setting, depending upon their needs. While engaged in the high productivity setting, the forklift will provide maximum traction and hydraulic performance. When the vehicle is operating in the energy efficiency setting, it has been shown through the VDI 2198 standard test to consume 20 percent less energy than the same vehicle manufactured by leading competitors.

Another feature of the VL series forklift truck is the Yalestop Automatic Park Brake. This comes standard on all new electric counterbalance forklift trucks manufactured by Yale, and is automatically enabled when the vehicle is stopped or when the operator is not in place on the seat. This helps to improve the driver’s control over the truck on ramps and steep grades. It also works to increase the productivity of the vehicle when the driver is continuously getting on and off the vehicle. By implementing the use of the Yalestop Automatic Park Brake, the need for alarms or other buzzers used to alert the operator of the forklift truck that the handbrake has not been set is eliminated.

Forklifts have been one of the breakthrough inventions during the industrial revolution, the origin of forklifts can be spotted back to the period of world war one where the U.S was becoming a hub for materials handling operations. The forklift gained it significance because of its low cost advantage in terms of the labor required to move heavy cargo from one place to the other.

The basic purpose for forklift usage was to lift heavy cargo from one point and to supply it to a destination.  It was used as an attachment to the tractor to lift the bale on to the truck, this process proved to be beneficial, because of the ease in transportation; the same concept was conceived by industrialists to develop superior forklifts with larger loading capacities. As time progressed, with increasingly superior technology forklifts were used for various purposes like construction of buildings, flyovers and other complex structures in industries.

With technological advancement, we can find many types of forklifts which are meant for different purposes and capacities. Usually a forklift comes in various versions, we have diesel and as well as gas powered forklifts in order to lift the load using the fuel energy. The latest advancement however is by the invention of electric forklift which uses electricity in order to lift the load.
Electric forklifts are cost effective and are very eco friendly in nature because of minimal emission of green house gases as compared to the diesel and gas forklifts which emit more pollutants.

With continuous innovation in science and technology, new types of forklifts such as ones powered by hydrostatic drive which is a more advanced type of forklifts available at the moment which helps to bring down the cost incurred in maintenance of the forklifts, hydrostatic drive usually uses fluid system to control the moment of the forklift and thereby giving a cost effective solution for the end-user.