7 ms·

Tractors are bursty. They are heavily used at planting and harvesting. Farmers can't spend long periods of time recharging in the middle of planting season.

Tractors are bursty. They are heavily used at planting and harvesting. Farmers can't spend long periods of time recharging in the middle of planting season. And it would be too expensive to buy 12 hours of battery capacity for a couple times a year. Gas still wins with a short refuel time.

supportlocal4h 6y ago
Actually, batteries win on refuel time. Swapping batteries is much faster than filling a tank. Gas wins on meantime between refuels and in other categories. Farmers can and happily will spend super long periods of time recharging if they can operate during the recharge. My own initial experiences have been mixed. Overall advantage still goes to gas. But I think we're very close to getting this battery thing figured out. Just a few years away. When we look back it will seem like it happened overnight.
- gambiting 6y ago
  >>Actually, batteries win on refuel time. Swapping batteries is much faster than filling a tank By that logic, you could say that there is absolutely no difference, because if you can imagine a car where the battery can be swapped, you should be able to imagine a car where the entire fuel tank is swapped. A tractor arrives at a station, and instead of filling up 500 litres of diesel, the entire tank is simply replaced with a full one. It wins again since fuel tanks are cheap - they are just metal and plastic after all, you can have several just sitting there, full or empty. The fact that no one has done it yet suggests that this really isn't an issue - commercial diesel filling stations usually run at much higher pressure than your regular pumps, a truck/tractor tank fills in minutes because of a much higher flow rate.
  - bananabreakfast 6y ago
    That is very silly and disingenuous argument to make and a total straw man. Swapping gas tanks provides no advantage and you conveniently ignore the whole point of the batteries which is that you don't need any fuel infrastructure to fill your tanks!
    - Vvector 6y ago
      > you don't need any fuel infrastructure to fill your tanks! A fuel infrastructure costs magnitudes less than just one battery pack. You just need a large tank and pump.
- tengbretson 6y ago
  > Actually, batteries win on refuel time. Swapping batteries is much faster than filling a tank. Swapping batteries implies either having multiple batteries, which adds to you costs significantly, or it implies adding yet another proprietary service company putting the screws to you in your supply chain.
  - supportlocal4h 6y ago
    As I wrote, I still give gas the overall edge right now. But not by a wide margin, and that margin is dwindling. For instance, don't forget the fuel suppliers, tank inspectors, etc, in the supply chain on the other side. I was just commenting on the point of refuel time.
- xyzzyz 6y ago
  Swapping 2000 lbs+ of batteries is faster than filling tank? When is the last time you hauled thousands of pounds? It ain’t fast, let me tell you that.
  - supportlocal4h 6y ago
    Perhaps you've never seen a 1500 lbs steer get its hooves trimmed. Or a 1 ton bail get loaded and unloaded in seconds. Or somebody change the tire on a tractor. Farmers have machines and equipment for almost everything. Swapping out a flat pack? POC
brutt 6y ago
By limiting charging to 80%, battery will degrade less. Even farmers need to eat and pee. Battery can be charged to 80% in 20 minutes. Also, it's possible to use extended swapable batteries for such cases.

supportlocal4h 6y ago

Actually, batteries win on refuel time. Swapping batteries is much faster than filling a tank. Gas wins on meantime between refuels and in other categories. Farmers can and happily will spend super long periods of time recharging if they can operate during the recharge. My own initial experiences have been mixed. Overall advantage still goes to gas. But I think we're very close to getting this battery thing figured out. Just a few years away. When we look back it will seem like it happened overnight.

gambiting 6y ago
>>Actually, batteries win on refuel time. Swapping batteries is much faster than filling a tank By that logic, you could say that there is absolutely no difference, because if you can imagine a car where the battery can be swapped, you should be able to imagine a car where the entire fuel tank is swapped. A tractor arrives at a station, and instead of filling up 500 litres of diesel, the entire tank is simply replaced with a full one. It wins again since fuel tanks are cheap - they are just metal and plastic after all, you can have several just sitting there, full or empty. The fact that no one has done it yet suggests that this really isn't an issue - commercial diesel filling stations usually run at much higher pressure than your regular pumps, a truck/tractor tank fills in minutes because of a much higher flow rate.
- bananabreakfast 6y ago
  That is very silly and disingenuous argument to make and a total straw man. Swapping gas tanks provides no advantage and you conveniently ignore the whole point of the batteries which is that you don't need any fuel infrastructure to fill your tanks!
  - Vvector 6y ago
    > you don't need any fuel infrastructure to fill your tanks! A fuel infrastructure costs magnitudes less than just one battery pack. You just need a large tank and pump.
tengbretson 6y ago
> Actually, batteries win on refuel time. Swapping batteries is much faster than filling a tank. Swapping batteries implies either having multiple batteries, which adds to you costs significantly, or it implies adding yet another proprietary service company putting the screws to you in your supply chain.
- supportlocal4h 6y ago
  As I wrote, I still give gas the overall edge right now. But not by a wide margin, and that margin is dwindling. For instance, don't forget the fuel suppliers, tank inspectors, etc, in the supply chain on the other side. I was just commenting on the point of refuel time.
xyzzyz 6y ago
Swapping 2000 lbs+ of batteries is faster than filling tank? When is the last time you hauled thousands of pounds? It ain’t fast, let me tell you that.
- supportlocal4h 6y ago
  Perhaps you've never seen a 1500 lbs steer get its hooves trimmed. Or a 1 ton bail get loaded and unloaded in seconds. Or somebody change the tire on a tractor. Farmers have machines and equipment for almost everything. Swapping out a flat pack? POC

brutt 6y ago

By limiting charging to 80%, battery will degrade less. Even farmers need to eat and pee. Battery can be charged to 80% in 20 minutes. Also, it's possible to use extended swapable batteries for such cases.