John Deere has released a video of an all-electric concept tractor in the lead-up to the SIMA Agribusiness show in France, pointing the way toward a zero-local-emissions tractor product in the future.
In some ways, tractors seem like an ideal candidate for electrification. Electric motors are great for generating the kinds of huge torque figures tractors require, and tractors are generally fairly short range vehicles that live in the same shed every night, making for convenient recharging. They're also very low-maintenance in comparison with diesel gear.
That's the thinking behind John Deere's SESAM (Sustainable Energy Supply for Agricultural Machinery) tractor, a gutted out JD 6R with a huge battery bank up front and dual electric motors developing up to 130 kilowatts (174 horsepower) of continuous power.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 10 2016, @07:27PM
Cows can eat grass on/from land that's useless for anything else.
Right. Here's news for you. Lots of cow diet is non-grass these days, at least in places like US. Where do you think all that corn is going? Hint: it goes to ethanol plants and then the protein residue goes to cattle (non-fermented corn is even worse). That's how you get the nasty strains of E.coli. too.