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Oct 11, 2023

New electric tractor shares traditional roots

Published: December 22, 2022 Crops, Machinery Δ gform.initializeOnLoaded( function() {gformInitSpinner( 46, 'https://www.producer.com/wp-content/plugins/gravityforms/images/spinner.svg', true

Published: December 22, 2022

Crops, Machinery

Δ

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Electric drive systems offer simplicity, but using traditional engineering avoids need to conduct a complete redesign


The New Holland T4 electric power tractor is essentially a traditional tractor with its diesel engine replaced by batteries and an electric motor.

Instead of having an electric drive engine mounted on each drive wheel or track, New Holland’s all electric offering uses the same transmission and final drive system of a traditional tractor.

The simplicity offered by electric drive systems makes them attractive and cost effective, but a traditional tractor would need to be completely redesigned to use electric engines on each drive wheel.

Instead, CNH married its existing tractor form with Monarch Tractor’s tech stack that was made available slightly more than a year ago when the two companies reached a licensing agreement.

The agreement was designed to help CNH develop a low horsepower electric platform.

Christian Huber, vice-president Global Case IH Tractors, said the T4 electric power tractor is built on existing and proven engineering that farmers are used to.

“We really focused on replacing the combustion engine to make it CO2 neutral and give some benefits of the electric power. It has a very solid standard driveline, which we have today in our other tractors. It’s a 12-by-12 gearbox that’s very simple. You have your three ranges, four gears,” Huber said.

Operators of the 120 h.p. electric tractors will notice a quieter cab and quicker response compared to a diesel tractor.

However, Huber said user experience is similar to traditional tractors.

The T4 electric power tractor comes with a standard hydraulic pump, auxiliary lines, hydraulic steering and four-wheel drive powered through standard differentials and axles.

The power take off and auxiliary hydraulic lines can be used without having to fire up a diesel engine.

Huber said this first-generation electric tractor is a step toward electrification and that future models will stay further from the traditional tractor form as further functions are electrified.

The prototype tractor that was presented at the CNH tech day in Phoenix, Arizona, was branded New Holland, but the commercial model will extend to Case IH.

The tractor has limited autonomous and automated features that are enabled by sensors, cameras and control units installed on the tractor’s cab, including a 360-degree perception system that detects and avoids obstacles.

Farmers can remotely activate the tractor via a smartphone app, and offboard digital services let farmers run the tractor from anywhere while monitoring its performance and battery level.

Charging the tractor’s battery takes an hour with a fast-charging system and its electrical outlets can be used to power tools and welders.

The run time of the 75-kilowatt battery depends on the job the tractor is performing, and further testing must be conducted to see how it holds up in cold temperatures.

“If you ran the tractor at the full load, you would be done after two hours,” Huber said.

The tractor was designed for farms that run their tractor around 300 hours a year or about five hours a day while performing lower h.p. operations.

Huber said it is suited to mixed farm, livestock, municipality, orchard, and specialty applications.

With current battery technology, it’s difficult to pack in enough batteries on a tractor frame to handle demanding jobs.

For battery power “to work in the tractor range, like a 200-kW tractor or even more, you would need to have a battery pack 3 1/2 tons, and it would have about two sq. meters,” Huber said.

“The challenges to get as many battery packs in as possible in an economical way, packaged into a tractor and still have visibility of the tires and all around the tractor area to make your work successful and not having too much weight on it.”

The T4 Electric Power tractor peaks at 120 h.p., has a max torque of 440 newton-metre, and a max speed of 40 km-h.

Commercial production is expected to begin at the end of 2023 with a broader product offering shortly after that.

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