A fleet manager wants to replace lead-acid batteries on a warehouse truck fleet with lithium. Finance asks for a payback calculation built on the company’s own numbers, not on supplier brochures.
Use your own data in a simple model: compare total cost per truck over the same period for both options, then divide the extra upfront cost of lithium by the yearly saving. Collect the inputs first (purchase price, expected life, energy use, labour for watering and battery changes, spare batteries and charging infrastructure, downtime), run base, low and high cases, and show finance which inputs move the result most. Do not use savings figures you cannot trace to your own records.
The structure of the model
- Upfront difference. Lithium pack price, charger changes, installation, minus the lead-acid replacement you would otherwise buy, and minus any spare batteries or charging-room works you would no longer need.
- Yearly running cost. Electricity per shift (measured kWh at the charger, not nameplate), battery watering and cleaning labour, battery-change labour and time, and truck downtime during changes.
- Life and replacement. Expected years or cycles for each option, and the date each needs replacing. Redway’s forklift specification tables show a 5-year design life and more than 4000 cycles (80% depth of discharge); use your supplier’s written terms, not these figures, as your base case.
- Result. Simple payback = extra upfront cost / yearly saving. Where finance expects it, also show net present value at the company’s discount rate over the life of the pack.
Making it defensible
Run three cases and list the assumptions beside each. Check the inputs that dominate: electricity price, shifts per day, and how many spare lead-acid batteries a lithium fleet would remove. Redway’s cost and TCO guide lists cost lines, and its lithium versus lead-acid page compares the technologies. No saving figure is quoted here, because savings depend on your fleet.
Presenting the result
Give finance a one-page summary with three numbers per case: extra upfront cost, yearly saving and payback period, plus a list of the assumptions behind each. Show what would have to be true for the project to fail, such as a lower number of shifts or a shorter pack life. Decision makers trust a model more when it shows its own weak points.
Risk limits
A payback model is only as good as its inputs. Do not count a saving twice (for example removing spare batteries and also removing the changing labour that those spares caused), and do not assume a life that the written terms do not support. Pilot one or two trucks and compare measured data with the model before converting the fleet. This article is general guidance, not financial advice.
Additional perspectives
Show the model with base, low and high cases and a one-line note on each input’s source. Ask for sign-off on the discount rate and the evaluation period before you present results, so the discussion is about the inputs and not the method.
Redway Tech Editorial Team – Finance perspective
Log a month of real data before the model: shifts per truck, battery changes per day, minutes lost per change, and charger kWh per truck. Measured values are harder to dispute than estimates, and they show which trucks convert fastest.
Redway Tech Editorial Team – Fleet operations perspective
Ask each supplier for the warranty and technical-support terms in writing, because your life assumption depends on them. Redway’s forklift specification tables show 5 years as the design life, and the after-sales technical support period is 3 years; model on what the contract states.
Redway Tech Editorial Team – Procurement perspective
Specifications are taken from Redway product pages as of October 2026. Where a figure isn’t published, this article says so. Confirm current specifications for your model with Redway before ordering. This article is general guidance, not a site-specific engineering assessment.
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