The distinct growl of a diesel engine and its industrial fragrance pairs perfectly with cool morning air, wide-open fields and black coffee. For many, there’s nothing else quite like it.
But what if, instead, you could hear birdsong over the quiet hum of an electric motor? While electric vehicles can’t accomplish high-horsepower farm jobs, plenty of other tasks on the farm can go electric, according to ag tech experts.
“You’re definitely going to see electric vehicles on the farm,” said Brett McMickell, Kubota North America’s chief technology officer. “That’s going to be the case. It’s just a matter of making sure they’re in operations where they make sense.”
Those operations could include forklifts, small tractors, mowers and utility vehicles.
“The electric option makes sense in that 130-or-less-horsepower range, which is equivalent to around 100 kilowatts of electric or battery power,” said Greg Christenson, go-to-market manager for high-value crops at John Deere.
Pluses of going electric
Electric equipment brings a few practical advantages. For one, there’s no diesel smell lingering in barns or around livestock, which can improve air quality for both people and animals. And because electric machines operate much like a car, training new operators is easier.
More practically, electric motors don’t need to throttle up to provide torque to the wheels. Their maximum power output is immediate, which can be helpful when moving things around in tight spaces or climbing steep inclines.
“They have higher torque on demand,” said Rawley Hicks, global director of product management for future technologies at Agco. “It takes time to move the power from a diesel engine to the height of the torque curve. It doesn’t mean you’ll have more torque, but it’s better utilization of torque.
“There are times when you’re pulling up a hill or working with a ground-engaging implement when you want that power right away. If you think about an old gear-driven machine, you want to stay in as low a gear as possible to get power to the ground, but you also want momentum.”
There are also financial savings to be had. Christensen said electric machines reduce maintenance costs by cutting down on fluids — and not just fuel.
“You can eliminate most fluids, including filters, making electric vehicles an incredible option for reduced maintenance and lower costs to operate,” he said.
Lower costs translate to the price tag, too. Smaller vehicles are more affordable. And that affordability enables scalability.
“As a farmer adds acreage, they can scale vehicles in a salable way,” McMickell said. “I don’t think we’ll be growing much in size beyond the tractors we have today. I think there’s an optimal size, and it’s task-driven.”
Battery improvements
Electric machines are a sum of their parts, with each unique component having gone through a technological journey of its own over past decades. Batteries, for example, which are a core part of every electric vehicle, have advanced rapidly in recent years. This innovation correlates to the explosion of EV adoption throughout all sectors, not just agriculture.
“Out West, some are farming in what’s basically a desert where it can get to 100 and 115 degrees F,” Christensen said. “Batteries don’t like extreme heat and cold. We’re working on technology that can keep that battery in a consistent temperature range. That’s going to extend not only the charge, but battery life as well.”
McMickell compared the evolution of battery technology to that of electric power tools.
“I remember my first battery-powered electric drill. I could probably drill three screws, and it would be dead,” he said. Now, “you can drill all day. Innovation in battery-operated handhelds has changed the industry completely.”
McMickell predicts the same battery-powered overhaul will happen in agriculture. Electric vehicles will become more efficient as batteries become more durable, long-lasting, reliable and powerful.
Paired with other technologies
As advancements in technologies like batteries continue to push EVs ahead, McMickell said they won’t just be a good option for environmentally conscious operations. Going electric will make financial sense, especially when paired with other technologies like automation.
When combined, they’ll “break down tasks to address more than just sustainability. [The pairing] will address profitability, sustainability, and the ability to do more with less,” he said.
Putting electric motors into automated vehicles makes sense because horsepower requirements are lower without someone behind the wheel. Driverless vehicles aren’t constrained by operator fatigue, so they don’t need to finish tasks within working windows. As long as there’s battery life, they can crawl on continuously at slow speeds, thereby utilizing minimal horsepower.
Adding electric motors to combustion-powered vehicles will also have benefits. Brands of all colors are researching all power solutions, including hybrid electric options. That’s because adding supplemental battery-electric power to high-horsepower machines makes them more efficient.
By siphoning off parasitic elements to the battery, such as implement control, “you may be able to continue to keep power to the ground while not robbing for something like an air conditioner,” Hicks said. “If you have a machine that has 150 hp today, you might have 10 hp that’s needed by hydraulic pumps, implements and alternators. Tomorrow, you might be able to store enough power in a battery to offset that need.”
Ultimately, Christensen said farmer adoption will dictate farm machine electrification. And that adoption will be based entirely on return on investment.
“The role of electric tractors in agriculture is going to be determined by farmers and what they’re trying to get done,” he said. “The price point should come down as we get closer to a full market launch. But either way, if the solution does not have an ROI for farmers, and doesn’t make dollars and cents for them, they’re not going to buy it. So, once we get to that marketable solution, it has to have a return on investment.”