Focus On: Toyota Core Electric Forklift
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Welcome to July and the back half of the year! Today on "Focus On" we'll be giving you some of the details on the Toyota Core Electric series of forklifts. While they resemble a traditional forklift in a lot of ways, as always Toyota has paid attention to the details to give us a machine that that sets new standards. You can read more from Toyota here, but if you keep reading we'll keep it to a varnish free version of things. The Toyota Core Electric is a family of 10 trucks built on the same basic chassis. Variations in mast, battery compartment, and counterweight size make them distinct from each other and give us the following models and base capacities:
8FBC15U (3000lb, 1340kg)
8FBC18U (3500lb, 1570kg)
8FBCU20 (4000lb, 1810kg)
8FBCU20-COMP (4000lb, 1810kg) (compact model shaves 2" off the length)
8FBCHU25 (5000lb, 2270kg) (H means a high capacity battery compartment)
8FBCU25 (5000lb, 2270kg)
8FBCU25-COMP (5000lb, 2270kg) (compact again)
8FBCU28 (5500lb, 2490kg)
8FBCU30 (6000lb, 2720kg)
8FBCU32 (6500lb, 2950kg)
Toyota Core Electric Dimensions
A mast for almost everyone
Toyota is never a slouch when it comes to giving you options, especially for masts. Starting with the "Wide Visible" V mast, and on through the "Full Free-Lift 2-Stage" FV, "Full Free-Lift 3-Stage" FSV, and "Full Free-Lift 4-Stage" QFV masts, the Core Electric trucks range from 80" (2.0m) to 278" (7m) max lift heights. "Wide Visible" V masts lift from 80" (2m) to 159" (4m), and it might surprise you that the smallest lift height isn't on the smallest truck! The shortest mast actually becomes available on the 8FBCU20 (4000lb (1810kg) base capacity), the third smallest of the 10 truck line. On the smaller 8FBC15U (3000lb (11340kg) base capacity) and 8FBC18U (3500lb (1570kg) base capacity) trucks the shortest mast will still lift 131" (3.3m). Stepping up a little takes us to the "Full Free-Lift 2-Stage" FV lifting from 119.5" (3m) to 139.5" (3.5m). Again the smallest two trucks are limited to the 131" (3.3m) mast. Stepping up again brings the "Full Free-Lift 3-Stage" FSV mast, lifting from 159" (4m) to 237.5". Once again the smallest two trucks are limited in their options (physics is a thing after all). Those trucks have a 170.5" (4.3m) to 217.5" (5.5m) lift height. This mast also has the largest collapsed height, maxing out at 110.5" (2.8m) on the 8FBCU28 and larger. Our last mast size is the towering "Full Free-Lift 4-Stage" QFV masts. These don't come as an option for the two little trucks at all, becoming available on the 8FBCU20 and carrying on for all the larger models. These masts let you lift that last little bit, ranging from 241.5" (6.1m) to 278" (7.0m). A very important note about mast size is that if you want a big mast it will limit a couple of things: Firstly: The tallest masts derate your max load. For safety purposes Toyota stamps the max allowed loads by spec on its dataplates. For example: a 8FBCU32 with a 6500lb (2950kg) base capacity will lift that full capacity up to 159" with an FSV mast. With the tallest QFV mast however, lifting 278" (7m) that capacity goes down to 2100lb (950kg) base capacity. Living safely within the forklift stability triangle keeps engineers up at night. Secondly: in many cases the largest masts are limited to the "Wide Tread" build option; you actually can't get the QFV unless you've got the wide stance option. Designed to keep your forklift more steady, changes in the design of the rims for the drive tires add precious inches to the width of the truck. Wider fenders to protect these redesigned tire mounts mean that the "hard" parts of the truck stick out that much further increasing measurements like right angle stack distance. All of this talk about stability is really important because of that worst case scenario: something falling. A load falling from that 278" (7m) height accelerates to a little over 26mph (42kmh) in the time it takes to hit the ground. To put that in perspective, that's the same amount of impact force Wile E Coyote would have from running off a cliff 1200ft (380m) tall, giving him almost 10 seconds to hold up signs like "Gravity Lessons" and "How about ending this cartoon before I hit?" *
Core Electric mast in action
Versatile safety features
Because safety is important (see the above example) and only gets more important in confined spaces, Toyota made sure to pack the Core Electric forklifts with as many safety features as is safe! The Toyota SAS (System of Active Stability) and Active Mast Control are just the beginning of the safety features for this family of trucks. The two smallest trucks also incorporate Turn Speed Control like the Toyota 3-wheel Electric, but beyond that all 10 truck styles also include operator presence sensing, keyed lowering interlock, maximum speed and acceleration limits, and one-way automatic load leveling. As a smaller truck built for warehousing operations, lighting is a big concern too, as running in and out of trailers calls for clear visability at all times. The Core Electric comes standard with headlights to keep things clear, and on demand power steering keeps your operators from tiring themselves out fighting with steering.There's upgrades, right?
Of course there are upgrades! To be a little different we're going to start from the middle and move out. Power is good: All these trucks come in two flavors; 36V and 48V. We almost always recommend the 48V because for the price difference the extra life in the battery is absolutely worth it except in the most light use situations. Just ask our CSS team members about what might be best for your business. We already mentioned the wide variety of available masts, but there are a few excellent options related to the upright. If you've got a dusty or dirty environment tilt cylinder boots can help protect your hydraulics, and options like an integral sideshifter will give you more options when it comes to handling loads. Lights, lights, lights galore! Everything from straight LED upgrades to a raft of rear light options can round out the hazard and working illumination for your trucks. Reverse activated work lights can even cut down on unnecessary light on the truck. Even traditional and LED strobes in multiple colors are ready to make sure your truck stays visible to those working around it. Lastly the body of the forklift gets many, many areas where you can add some love and functionality. From the handy string cutter to help try and protect against sucking twine into the gearbox (not a cheap thing to fix), to mini-lever controls, to battery rollers and slide-out options, all these (and many more) are the little quality of life improvements that can either help your operators perform better for longer, or help you and your local Toyota dealer take care of your trucks more easily.
Core Electric EE Version
I like my aisles narrow
Toyota also has something a little different built for the Core Electric trucks. Taking a conventional four wheel forklift and adding narrow aisle stacking capability usually winds up with either a really special machine (with all the hard to get parts involved) or some kind of special attachment you have to put on afterwards. Toyota decided to split the difference and produce a truck from factory with a specialty mast and attachment. Built by Cascade the mast and turret attachment turn the Core Electric forklift into a turreted narrow-aisle truck. As a wholly owned independent subsidiary of Toyota, Cascade already operates hand-in-glove with Toyota on many projects, so adapting the Core Electric represented only small changes to the truck. Because this upgrade meant only minor changes to the truck, the same Toyota dependability and parts availability remains true throughout the components. AC motors, SAS safety systems, and the rest of Toyota's promise of quality all shine through, while Cascade also maintains industry leading parts availability and quality.So that's our piece on the Toyota Core Electric series of forklifts. With the Toyota promise of quality at work in your business you'll see the benefits every day. To see what they say about these trucks you can, as always, Click Here to check out their website.
For a more personalized idea of what the Toyota Core Electric could do for you, you can Get In Contact with one of our CSS Team Members to learn more about this machine and about your options for putting battery power to work for you.
*A bit of leeway was taken with the math for the example with Wile E Coyote. Atmospheric friction was ignored because terminal velocity under Earth Standard Temperature and Pressure would only allow Wile to reach half the needed velocity to reach the same ~65000J of impact force the given load would have, assuming Wile weighs the same as an average coyote.
*A bit of leeway was taken with the math for the example with Wile E Coyote. Atmospheric friction was ignored because terminal velocity under Earth Standard Temperature and Pressure would only allow Wile to reach half the needed velocity to reach the same ~65000J of impact force the given load would have, assuming Wile weighs the same as an average coyote.
