EnerSys® Helps Big-Box Home Improvement Retailer Boost Sustainability
READING, Pennsylvania, April 5, 2022 – EnerSys® (NYSE:ENS), the global leader in stored energy solutions for industrial applications, is helping a big-box home improvement retailer reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and water consumption by switching its lift truck fleet power from flooded lead acid batteries to NexSys® PURE Thin Plate Pure Lead (TPPL) battery technology. This change-over is part of the retailer’s ambitious climate change goals – including a 40 percent reduction in its scope 1 and scope 2 emissions by 2030. Scope 1 emissions come directly from the retailer’s own facilities and vehicles, including its logistics network and Distribution Centers (DCs).
Assisting EnerSys® in the facilitation of this switch is Industrial Battery & Charger, Inc. (IBCI), a Charlotte, NC-based battery dealer-distributor helping the retailer outfit its lift trucks with 2,886 NexSys® PURE TPPL batteries. Over their lifetime, those 2,886 NexSys® PURE batteries will help the big-box home improvement retailer keep approximately 6,300 metric tons of CO2 out of the atmosphere – about the equivalent of taking 1,400 cars off the road. The solution can also help the retailer save nearly 2 million gallons of distilled water annually, a volume that would fill 3 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
“Meeting ambitious climate change commitments means implementing the technologies that can make it happen,” notes Rodney Broome, IBCI’s Vice President, National Accounts. “Proprietary TPPL technology from EnerSys is helping this retailer reduce energy and water use while cutting operating costs and CO2 emissions at the same time.”
Unlike flooded lead acid batteries, NexSys® PURE batteries never require watering or long equalize charges. In fact, they recharge so efficiently that they can be opportunity-charged during breaks or in-between shifts, eliminating the need to swap batteries in and out of the vehicle.
In terms of water savings, each NexSys® PURE battery eliminates the use of 13 gallons of distilled water every week. This eliminates the energy otherwise needed for water distillation and distribution. Even more savings are realized because each NexSys® PURE battery is 24% more energy efficient per charge than flooded lead acid batteries.
The move to NexSys® PURE batteries is also helping this big-box home improvement retailer cut its capital and operating expenditures across its 15 Regional Distribution Centers (RDCs). Thanks to their opportunity-charging capabilities and high energy throughput, NexSys® PURE batteries are helping the retailer shrink its battery inventory at each RDC from roughly 600 flooded batteries to 300 NexSys® PURE batteries.
That inventory reduction will ultimately enable an estimated savings of $2.3 million in battery purchase costs, but the savings in maintenance costs may prove far more substantial. One of the retailer’s RDC reports that eliminating battery watering, washing and changing has saved the facility $435,000 in yearly labor costs. Multiplied by the 15 RDCs, the potential savings is upwards of six million dollars per year.
“At EnerSys, we are dedicated to developing motive power solutions that drive sustainable business practices to help build a better future for everyone, everywhere,” said Harold Vanasse, Senior Director of Marketing, Motive Power Global at EnerSys®. “NexSys® PURE batteries are part of our premier, virtually maintenance-free NexSys® battery line and are designed to reach new heights of product affordability, safety, convenience and performance through the delivery of superior, eco-friendly power.”
At the time of this writing, EnerSys® and IBCI have helped this big-box home improvement retailer switch from flooded batteries to TPPL batteries at 11 of its 15 RDCs. Plans are in the works to adopt the TPPL technology at nine additional coastal holding facilities now under construction. Eventually, the company hopes to use NexSys® PURE batteries to power lift trucks in all its retail locations.
For more information about EnerSys and its full line of products, systems, and support, visit www.enersys.com.
ABOUT ENERSYS®
EnerSys, the global leader in stored energy solutions for industrial applications, manufactures and distributes energy systems solutions and motive power batteries, specialty batteries, battery chargers, power equipment, battery accessories and outdoor equipment enclosure solutions to customers worldwide. Energy Systems, which combine enclosures, power conversion, power distribution and energy storage, are used in the telecommunication, broadband and utility industries, uninterruptible power supplies, and numerous applications. Motive power batteries and chargers are utilized in electric forklift trucks and other industrial electric powered vehicles requiring stored energy solutions. Specialty batteries are used in aerospace and defense applications, large over-the-road trucks, premium automotive, medical and security systems applications. EnerSys also provides aftermarket and customer support services to its customers in over 100 countries through its sales and manufacturing locations around the world. With the NorthStar acquisition, EnerSys has solidified its position as the market leader for premium Thin Plate Pure Lead batteries which are sold across all three lines of business. More information regarding EnerSys can be found at www.enersys.com.
SUSTAINABILITY
Sustainability at EnerSys is about more than just the benefits and impacts of our products. Our commitment to sustainability encompasses many important environmental, social and governance issues. Sustainability is a fundamental part of how we manage our own operations. Minimizing our environmental footprint is a priority. Sustainability is our commitment to our employees, our customers and the communities we serve. Our products facilitate positive environmental, social and economic impacts around the world. To learn more visit: https://www.enersys.com/en/about-us/sustainability/.
Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
EnerSys is making this statement in order to satisfy the “Safe Harbor” provision contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any of the statements contained in this press release that are not statements of historical fact may include forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. A forward-looking statement predicts, projects, or uses future events as expectations or possibilities. Forward-looking statements may be based on expectations concerning future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties relating to operations and the economic environment, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our control. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those matters expressed in or implied by forward-looking statements, please see our risk factors as disclosed in the “Risk Factors” section of our annual report on Form 10-K for the most recently ended fiscal year. The statements in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, even if subsequently made available by EnerSys on its website or otherwise. EnerSys does not undertake any obligation to update or revise these statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this press release.
ABOUT INDUSTRIAL BATTERY & CHARGER, INC.
Over the past 42 years, IBCI has grown to the largest independent, family-owned distributor of industrial batteries and chargers in the United States. The founder of Industrial Battery & Charger, Inc., Terry K. Earnhardt, has over 50 years of experience in the industry, and still serves as CEO. His sons, Keith and Tim Earnhardt joined the company in 1992. They learned the business from the ground up and currently serve as Co-Chief Operating Officers. With 13 sales and service centers, IBCI is a dominant force in the motive and stationary battery and charger industry in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. IBCI employs over 150 associates, with over 60 certified service technicians, and daily deploys over 75 mobile service vehicles. IBCI services all brands of motive and stationary power equipment. IBCI is a distributor for Enersys®, BHS®, Battery Watering Technologies®, Green Cubes Technology and Green Energy Concepts, Inc.®.