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I have a hard time seeing this get much traction. The use case for tractors is that you don’t need them all the time, but often when you do need them you need t

I have a hard time seeing this get much traction. The use case for tractors is that you don’t need them all the time, but often when you do need them you need to use them almost continuously. Having to stop for a three-hour charge is almost a non-starter. This is a bigger issue for larger tractors — when you are harvesting, you just can’t stop. You have to go nearly around the clock until you’re done. You don’t normally use a utility tractor with a front end loader attachment for that. But even for utility tractors, stopping in the middle of a job is an enormous downside. If you are baling hay or drilling fenceposts or loading hay bales, yuo are at the vagaries of the weather and the available daylight. Being able to quickly refuel is a big deal.

coryrc 6y ago
I love electric vehicles, but this duty cycle, like ocean-crossing airplanes, is better met by synthetic fuels. (EDIT: unless you plug it into the grid! but if all the farmers did it there's probably not enough capacity) However, replacing with a fleet of smaller, more generic robots might be there way to go.
- toomuchtodo 6y ago
  Biodiesel is a perfect fit for farm equipment until battery density and charging infra in the field catches up. Filter out those particulates though! Just as bad from biodiesel as it is from fossil diesel.
cmrdporcupine 6y ago
Honestly, I disagree. This isn't a large farm tractor, it's a compact utility tractor. They're more for small farm / rural residential / hobby farm users, not the scenarios you're talking about. Compact utility tractors like this are really only used for a couple hours. I use mine once or twice a week -- clear the driveway of snow, rototill the garden, spray the vineyard, box scrape the parking pad, haul some dirt with the loader, mow the back field. None of this is more than a couple hours of continuous use. And if you consider that there's lots of times you're just sitting there idling while shoveling dirt into the loader, an electric tractor wouldn't even be using energy just sitting there waiting for your load. And bonus: not making noise. I've been waiting for this for a long time, but the price just isn't there yet. Also, people bailing hay aren't using compact utility tractors like this. They're using bigger tractors. You couldn't even lift a full round bale with this loader.
- engineer_22 6y ago
  First line of article says "If you were a farmer..." So I understand why parent focuses on farm utility. I agree with parent, productivity is the most important metric for farm equipment. Crops will not wait for you to charge your tractor. But I also agree with you that this is a toy, not a serious piece of equipment.
  - cmrdporcupine 6y ago
    You don't seem to understand the categories of tractors in the market. Utility / compact utility tractors are used on farms, but are not the same as a 'farm tractor'. Not used usually for harvesting, bailing, heavy tillage, etc. More for all the other crapload of chores one does. Mowing, some tillage, box scraping, post holes, etc. And, no, this is no toy. It's more powerful than many compact utility tractors, including mine and has the same type of frame as most of them. Run length wouldn't be an issue for most uses of this class of tractor. Only task I do where I can see it being an issue is if I had to mow for more than a couple hours, or running the wood chipper, where I typically have the tractor parked running the chipper for hours while I feed it.
- GlenTheMachine 6y ago
  I am in fact a small farmer and I have and use a compact utility tractor. Sometimes I use it for an hour or two. Sometimes I’m on it all day long. I lift full 500 lb round bales with my Ford 1320. Very carefully.
  - vvanders 6y ago
    I've used a Ford 1500 to move ~500lb round bales and it was on the edge of being safe. Even with a ~800lb implement on the back you're really pushing the capability of that machine. I don't know if I'd touch round bales with a 1320, I'd just roll them by hand(which I've done when the tractor is in the shop). Now that we've got something appropriately sized(~5k lbs machine) it's a heck of a lot safer to work with bales that size.
    - 6y ago
wongarsu 6y ago
The mountable extra battery pack might help somewhat. You can rotate through a number of battery packs as you use one and charge the others back home. You still need someone to shuttle them to and from your tractor.
bryanlarsen 6y ago
Utility tractors aren't often used continuously, power requirements are very bursty. I've had 16 hour days drilling fenceposts, but the tractor itself would only have travelled a few miles. With a diesel tractor you have to leave it running (not idling) to have power at the PTO to run the auger. With an electric tractor it wouldn't use any appreciable power when the auger isn't running so I would bet you could get a full 16 hours of usage out of it between charges.
m463 6y ago
You could just tow a generator during harvest. It sort of fits the mindset too. Just like a tractor, a generator has lots of uses.

coryrc 6y ago

I love electric vehicles, but this duty cycle, like ocean-crossing airplanes, is better met by synthetic fuels. (EDIT: unless you plug it into the grid! but if all the farmers did it there's probably not enough capacity) However, replacing with a fleet of smaller, more generic robots might be there way to go.

toomuchtodo 6y ago
Biodiesel is a perfect fit for farm equipment until battery density and charging infra in the field catches up. Filter out those particulates though! Just as bad from biodiesel as it is from fossil diesel.

cmrdporcupine 6y ago

Honestly, I disagree. This isn't a large farm tractor, it's a compact utility tractor. They're more for small farm / rural residential / hobby farm users, not the scenarios you're talking about. Compact utility tractors like this are really only used for a couple hours. I use mine once or twice a week -- clear the driveway of snow, rototill the garden, spray the vineyard, box scrape the parking pad, haul some dirt with the loader, mow the back field. None of this is more than a couple hours of continuous use. And if you consider that there's lots of times you're just sitting there idling while shoveling dirt into the loader, an electric tractor wouldn't even be using energy just sitting there waiting for your load. And bonus: not making noise. I've been waiting for this for a long time, but the price just isn't there yet. Also, people bailing hay aren't using compact utility tractors like this. They're using bigger tractors. You couldn't even lift a full round bale with this loader.

engineer_22 6y ago
First line of article says "If you were a farmer..." So I understand why parent focuses on farm utility. I agree with parent, productivity is the most important metric for farm equipment. Crops will not wait for you to charge your tractor. But I also agree with you that this is a toy, not a serious piece of equipment.
- cmrdporcupine 6y ago
  You don't seem to understand the categories of tractors in the market. Utility / compact utility tractors are used on farms, but are not the same as a 'farm tractor'. Not used usually for harvesting, bailing, heavy tillage, etc. More for all the other crapload of chores one does. Mowing, some tillage, box scraping, post holes, etc. And, no, this is no toy. It's more powerful than many compact utility tractors, including mine and has the same type of frame as most of them. Run length wouldn't be an issue for most uses of this class of tractor. Only task I do where I can see it being an issue is if I had to mow for more than a couple hours, or running the wood chipper, where I typically have the tractor parked running the chipper for hours while I feed it.
GlenTheMachine 6y ago
I am in fact a small farmer and I have and use a compact utility tractor. Sometimes I use it for an hour or two. Sometimes I’m on it all day long. I lift full 500 lb round bales with my Ford 1320. Very carefully.
- vvanders 6y ago
  I've used a Ford 1500 to move ~500lb round bales and it was on the edge of being safe. Even with a ~800lb implement on the back you're really pushing the capability of that machine. I don't know if I'd touch round bales with a 1320, I'd just roll them by hand(which I've done when the tractor is in the shop). Now that we've got something appropriately sized(~5k lbs machine) it's a heck of a lot safer to work with bales that size.
  - 6y ago

wongarsu 6y ago

The mountable extra battery pack might help somewhat. You can rotate through a number of battery packs as you use one and charge the others back home. You still need someone to shuttle them to and from your tractor.

bryanlarsen 6y ago

Utility tractors aren't often used continuously, power requirements are very bursty. I've had 16 hour days drilling fenceposts, but the tractor itself would only have travelled a few miles. With a diesel tractor you have to leave it running (not idling) to have power at the PTO to run the auger. With an electric tractor it wouldn't use any appreciable power when the auger isn't running so I would bet you could get a full 16 hours of usage out of it between charges.

m463 6y ago

You could just tow a generator during harvest. It sort of fits the mindset too. Just like a tractor, a generator has lots of uses.