China's forklift industry

The forklift industry in China has deeply integrated with the new energy industry, forming a dual track technology path dominated by lithium batteries and supplemented by hydrogen fuel cells. By 2025, the penetration rate of electric forklifts will exceed 74.4%, with sales reaching 1.08 million units, accounting for nearly three-quarters of total sales. Internal combustion forklifts will accelerate their exit from core scenarios. CATL, together with companies such as Hangcha and BYD, has jointly developed a high-energy density lithium battery system and launched a 5-minute fast charging, 3-minute battery swapping, and sodium battery forklift to solve the bottleneck of range and low temperature. BYD is the world's first mass-produced sodium battery balanced weight forklift, which can operate stably from -40 ℃ to 60 ℃. Hydrogen fuel cell forklifts have been applied on a large scale in extreme environments such as cold chain logistics and cold storage. Hangcha and Anhui Heli have delivered them in bulk, building an ecological loop of 'hydrogen production storage refueling application'. The national Technical Specification for Forklift Disabling and Scrapping (GB/T 44679-2024) forced the elimination of high emission equipment, superimposed extra long-term special treasury bond and local subsidies, and promoted enterprises to trade in the old for the new. The deep collaboration between new energy forklifts, AI, 5G, and the Internet of Things enables unmanned forklifts to achieve millimeter level positioning and multi vehicle collaborative scheduling in smart warehousing, improving operational efficiency by more than 40% and promoting the transition of logistics systems from 'handling tools' to 'intelligent computing terminals'.