Electric forklift finance
Clean, quiet and cheap to run, but on an electric truck the battery is half the asset and a funder will price it that way.
Whole-of-market — 60+ lenders searched, including
Can you finance an electric forklift?
Yes, and electric counterbalance trucks are well liked by funders because they mostly work indoors, wear slowly and hold their condition. They are written as hire purchase, lease or contract hire like any other truck. The complication is the battery. On a lead-acid machine a tired battery can halve what the truck is worth, so a funder looking at a used electric will want to know the battery age and whether the charger is part of the deal. Buy a cheap used electric with an unknown battery and you can end up financing a replacement within months.
Used kit: Yes — used electrics fund well, commonly up to around eight to ten years old, but the battery date stamp matters more to the valuation than the year of manufacture.
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What would an electric forklift cost per month?
Asset finance is quoted on a flat rate, so that is what the buttons show, with the equivalent APR beside it. Your exact rate depends on the asset, the term, the deposit and the lender.
Prime is an established, profitable business with clean credit. Specialist covers newer businesses and credit that needs explaining — the asset itself carries part of the risk, which is why finance is often available where an unsecured loan is not.
Representative example: on Hire Purchase, borrowing £25,000 over 48 months at a 5.15% flat rate (equivalent to 9.9% APR representative), you would repay around £628 a month; total amount repayable approximately £30,150, of which £5,150 is the cost of finance. This calculator is for illustration only — it is not a quote or an offer of finance, and the rate and repayments you are offered will depend on the asset, term, deposit and your circumstances. CW Asset Finance is a credit broker, not a lender, and will receive a commission from the lender that funds your agreement. All finance is subject to status, affordability and lender approval.
Rates shown are indicative flat rates with the equivalent APR alongside — the two are not the same number. Indicative only and does not constitute a quote or an offer of finance. Subject to status and lender approval.
How lenders treat it
Straightforward paper, with one wrinkle worth flagging to any client. Funders value an electric truck as a unit, but the market values it as truck plus battery plus charger, and those three things do not always arrive together. Where a battery is on a separate rental or power-by-the-hour arrangement with a third party, it cannot be funded as part of the machine and the funder needs telling, because the truck alone is worth considerably less on recovery. Lithium-ion trucks are increasingly common and are treated favourably given the longer cell life, though funders are still cautious about residuals on the newer entrants. Charging infrastructure fixed to the building is a separate conversation and generally does not ride on the truck agreement.
Makes and models we fund
Examples of the machines we are asked to fund. This is not an exhaustive list — if what you are buying is not here, it does not mean we cannot fund it. Your supplier quote is what the agreement is written against.
| Machine | What it is |
|---|---|
| Toyota Traigo 48 | Four wheel electric counterbalance truck |
| Toyota Traigo 80 | Heavier electric counterbalance truck |
| Jungheinrich EFG 320 | Three wheel electric forklift |
| Jungheinrich EFG 425 | Four wheel electric forklift |
| Still RX 20 | Compact electric counterbalance truck |
| Still RX 60 | Heavy duty electric forklift |
| Linde E25 | Electric counterbalance forklift for indoor use |
| Linde E16 | Compact three wheel electric truck |
| Crown FC 5200 | Electric counterbalance forklift for warehouse work |
| Hyster J2.5XN | Electric counterbalance truck for clean environments |
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Who buys one
Food, pharmaceutical and retail distribution operators who cannot run combustion engines indoors, and manufacturers switching a mixed fleet over as site air-quality or noise rules tighten. The common trigger is a landlord or customer audit, a move into temperature-controlled storage, or simply the point where a diesel truck’s fuel and servicing bill makes the electric alternative the cheaper machine to own over its working life.
Get a quoteor call 0333 772 4864
How it is treated for tax
Bought on hire purchase, business plant and machinery normally qualifies for capital allowances on the full cost even though you pay for it monthly, which is a large part of why hire purchase is the common structure. On a finance lease you generally set the rentals against profit instead. The rules change between budgets and your position depends on how you trade, so treat this as the direction of travel and get your accountant to confirm the detail before you commit.
Electric forklift finance questions
Can the battery and charger go on the same agreement as the truck?
Yes, where they are supplied together and appear on the same invoice, which is the cleanest way to do it. Funders prefer the complete package because that is what they would be selling if the agreement ever went wrong. A separately rented battery has to be disclosed rather than quietly assumed into the deal.
Are lithium-ion trucks treated differently from lead-acid?
Broadly they are funded the same way, and some funders view lithium more favourably because the cells outlast several lead-acid batteries and the truck stays usable for longer. The counterweight is a shorter resale track record on some brands, so a funder may lean more on the strength of your business than on the model.
We rent our unit. Does that affect funding an electric truck?
Not really, because the truck is mobile and leaves with you. That is the key difference between a forklift and the racking around it. You may be asked to confirm the site address for insurance and inspection purposes, but a landlord has no claim over a machine that is not attached to the building.
Does the charging point installation get funded too?
Usually not on the truck agreement. A hard-wired charging bay is an electrical installation inside someone else’s building, so it behaves like racking rather than like a truck. It can often be funded, but it tends to be underwritten against the business and is best bundled with the trucks rather than presented on its own.
How many electric trucks can we put on one facility?
There is no fixed cap. Fleets are commonly funded as a schedule of machines under one agreement, which keeps the paperwork manageable and lets trucks be added as you grow. What sets the ceiling is your trading history and the total exposure a funder is comfortable holding against your business.
Get a quoteor call 0333 772 4864
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Not an offer of finance. All finance is subject to status, affordability and lender approval.
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