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: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 11 2016, @01:07PM
And I'm sure we can all agree to continue pretending that burning hydrocarbons doesn't produce particulate pollution that causes smog, acid rain, and contribute to the early death of hundreds of thousands of people worldwide each year.
This is much less of an issue with artificially produced hydrocarbons, than ones refined from oil pumped out of the ground.
I don't think they are a solution to our problems, but don't rule them out for spurious reasons. Artificially produced hydrocarbons may be the best fit for some use cases.