John Deere reveals battery-powered tractor Battery is capable of generating 402hp

[SASKFARMER3]

John Deere revealed a battery-powered tractor.

And it’s not the type driven around by young children. Rather, it is a full-size tractor, ready to work on the farm.

Deere calls the idea SESAM (Sustainable Energy Supply for Agricultural Machinery). It’s the first tractor fully powered by a lithium-ion battery, the same type of battery that powers many smartphones.

"As an industry, we have come a long way managing and reducing our overall GHG emissions," Leah Olson, president, Agricultural Manufacturers of Canada, told Farms.com in an email. "We continue to look for ways to further reduce our environmental footprint but always consider the impact such changes will have on the farmer and his or her productivity and efficiency levels."
Using the John Deere 6R tractor, the diesel engine is swapped out for a 130 kilowatt-hour battery pack. The battery powers two electric motors, capable of generating a total of 402 hp.

The tractor can dedicate drive to the motors, the PTO, or split the power between the two motors.

“(The tractor) has the features and functionality of a "conventional" tractor while offering the benefits of electric power,” Deere said in the tractor’s debut video, adding the machine is carbon neutral and doesn’t produce emissions.

On a full charge, the tractor can operate for about four hours. But the battery needs about three hours to charge.

Well would you look at that. I guess I was wrong pigs can fly.

But how do we charge these tractors and how well will it work today in -30 with wind chill. Plus it is dead calm out this morning and no sun till 9 and its gone at 4:30.

Got to get a few bugs out still but maybe in my life time we will run electric tractors.

Cost out of this world.

See this is what the Liberals and Greens don't get. Use our diesel and gas and oil up before the next wave of technology is here. Yes work towards green but make money like a bandit on the oil and gas in the ground. Then because your a rich nation switch after its developed to the new tec.

Kind of better way to get things done since we have the oil and gas that the world still needs.

https://youtu.be/Q8t81yYWZmM

[bucket]

Work for 4 hours ....recharge for three....maybe deere won't put numbers on it .....just call it a libtard tractor. .....

And the cost? Capital and productivity?


Do you buy one and get one free for keeping on the charger?


Locomotives are diesel powered electric powerhouses.....probably cleaner than 30 years ago.....why not use the railways properly and less trucking?


McKenna and Trudeau are too young to realize Canada had a rail network second to none and it was destroyed by the same ilk.

[theplowboy]

I saw this news story as well.

You are right, likely not that practical in large scale row crop operations where we need to run long and hard.

I have worked with an electric forklift in a warehouse and it gets the job done without carbon monoxide inside a building.

Battery technology and solar is making significant tech improvements but I think we will still need gas and oil for a long time, plus as you said it is cheaper.

I did see a Tesla in the city a few months ago, it looks beautiful and people who drive them seem to love them on short trips. I don't see an electric pick up working for me anytime soon.

[wmoebis]

Is 4 hrs under full load in field conditions?

[bucket]

If electric powered vehicles and workhorses come to fruition....what kind of power grid will we need....

It seems to me the world would slow down .....some would have to stop ....and recharge longer than a fuel refill.

[Braveheart]

How much land needed and what kind of hazardous disposal for all those no longer working batteries?

Anyone ever see pictures of a Lithium mine? Talk about environmental disaster.

Imagine the the fire if those JDs light up like a Samsung phone.

[bucket]

Good point braveheart. ...pretty much most of my current equipment line can be melted and recycled....environmentally friendly....

[oneoff]

My Gawd: this is the perfect example of going right over people heads

The two motors are capable of producing 402 HP. Hell if you stick on a third motor thats a 603 HP tractor.

But the little detail of a 130 KW battery concerns me.

You see there are some laws of physics and the math that gets in the way. There is a conversion factor; that even at 100% efficiency you can't improve on. So the real story is about the Li Ion battery that would produce 174.33274 HP; probably only when brand new. It has x amount of recharge cycles before it goes dead and is next to worthless. I'll bet that there is a big, big core charge and even Walmart won't give you a battery without that pound of flesh. ..... I'll also bet it ain't free and neither is the replacement


But it sure would get you a place in the Guiness book of records as the biggest flashlight in the world.

Lets at least tell all the story and not be talking about what is under the hood; and not be disappointed after being sold something that under performs and isn't even designed to work as expected.

[agstar77]

Fuel cell running electric much better option. Already in production for long haul trucks, NIKOLA. Batteries not a good idea. Diesel dead in 20 years.

[Braveheart]

I think a nuclear reactor would be better than an electric tractor. A reactor tractor. Make mine a quadtrack.

[fjlip]

Work for 4 hours ....recharge for three....maybe deere won't put numbers on it .....just call it a libtard tractor. .....

And the cost? Capital and productivity?


Do you buy one and get one free for keeping on the charger?


Locomotives are diesel powered electric powerhouses.....probably cleaner than 30 years ago.....why not use the railways properly and less trucking?


McKenna and Trudeau are too young to realize Canada had a rail network second to none and it was destroyed by the same ilk.

And an elevator system that was smashed and burned.

Lithium batteries in our video camera will not hold charge long, only two years old....not the answer.

[Bootances]

Electric cars and not cleaner as most of the power in the world is generated from coal and maybe natural gas. It only improved air quality in the cities.

Out in the bush an electric tractor is both impractical and foolish. The amount of fuel agriculture uses is minute compared to all the commuters.

Samsung exploding battery on the scale of of a 400 HP tractor. NO THANKS!

[ado089]

Pulled out the iPhone to take a picture yesterday, went from 20% to dead by the time I got the camera app open. Sounds practical to me. Unless there is some highly disruptive technology that comes along in electricity storage the electric motor is a useless technology for off grid commercial applications.

[iceman]

I think a nuclear reactor would be better than an electric tractor. A reactor tractor. Make mine a quadtrack.

I want see a picture of that stuck in a mud hole


Iceman out

[Partners]

Will be as popular as the battery powered cars..
Probably millions spent on testing..