Electronics manufactures must from Saturday fit all devices sold in the EU with USB-C charger ports in a bid by the 27-nation bloc to reduce waste and cut costs for consumers, who will no longer have…
I think another challenge for farming equipment would also be the uneven terrain, risk of things coming up and piercing or shorting the battery, and also overheating. The first one can be fixed by installing a metal plate like Tesla did after cars kept blowing up. The overheating part might be a bit more tricky. I suppose an air conditioner dedicated to the battery would work alright.
The other thing is, using it day in and day out, from sunrise til sunset or even later, will probably wreak havoc on the battery health. I know EVs in general suffer from this, too, but I feel like it’s even worse for farming equipment, because you know they’ll get a let of extreme use, whereas a lot of people with EVs might only use it for a commute into the city, or a trip to the shops
One final thing, just based off the farmers I know (used to live in the country), a lot of them, maybe even the vast majority, have no interest in upgrading until they have to. If it works, it works. Anything new might not work as well, and require precious time to learn how to use well or properly. They tend to skew towards the older generation, and emissions just aren’t really a concern. Since EV fires tend to make the news a lot of the time, if they’ve got a perception that getting an electric tractor might cause a bushfire and burn their entire farm down, even if that’s very unlikely, and maybe even more likely with a diesel, I don’t think you’ll find them very willing
(This is specifically in regards to Australian farmers I’ve known, perhaps farms elsewhere are smaller, or farmers elsewhere a bit more willing to take upgrades)
These are all design constraints that need to be taken into account. Most EVs these days have heating and cooling on the battery pack, for the reasons you mention. Adequate protection for it is also certainly solvable.
Extended use is a more challenging need. I’ll assume for a moment that the machinery uses as much power as an EV at highway speed, although I’m pulling that assumption out of nowhere. That would mean a comparable battery only lasts ~5 hours, and you need it to last 15+ (with a full charge happening overnight). Farm machinery is already very heavy - would the extra 4,000lbs for a triple-size battery be a solution? What about a battery trailer that is easily swapped? That could also create a different form of vendor lock-in, just like your power tools. I really doubt the same machinery is used all year long. Branded batteries are an effective way to keep customers from jumping ship on their next purchase.
Does the same machinery have to run all at once, or is this just how things have always been done?
These ideas obviously have problems, not the least of which is running enough electricity to the farms. But it’s just engineering a design to meet the needs/use cases. I’m sure that John Deere, CAT, etc have all had conversations on the matter. I haven’t seen them announce anything yet, though. That could mean they can’t do it yet, they aren’t ready to announce anything yet, or simply that they don’t feel it to be more profitable.
Given Deere’s infamous lock-in and the repairs needed for ICE, that doesn’t surprise me.
The other thing is, using it day in and day out, from sunrise til sunset or even later, will probably wreak havoc on the battery health. I know EVs in general suffer from this, too, but I feel like it’s even worse for farming equipment, because you know they’ll get a let of extreme use, whereas a lot of people with EVs might only use it for a commute into the city, or a trip to the shops
That’s certainly a problem I didnt thought about. Driving farming away from being forced to use fossil fuels devinetively is one hell of a challenge and I still have zero Idea on how to achieve this in some practical way.
Also I can only agree with you. Where I live the attitude that you should use something as long as it runs devinetively applies.
I think another challenge for farming equipment would also be the uneven terrain, risk of things coming up and piercing or shorting the battery, and also overheating. The first one can be fixed by installing a metal plate like Tesla did after cars kept blowing up. The overheating part might be a bit more tricky. I suppose an air conditioner dedicated to the battery would work alright.
The other thing is, using it day in and day out, from sunrise til sunset or even later, will probably wreak havoc on the battery health. I know EVs in general suffer from this, too, but I feel like it’s even worse for farming equipment, because you know they’ll get a let of extreme use, whereas a lot of people with EVs might only use it for a commute into the city, or a trip to the shops
One final thing, just based off the farmers I know (used to live in the country), a lot of them, maybe even the vast majority, have no interest in upgrading until they have to. If it works, it works. Anything new might not work as well, and require precious time to learn how to use well or properly. They tend to skew towards the older generation, and emissions just aren’t really a concern. Since EV fires tend to make the news a lot of the time, if they’ve got a perception that getting an electric tractor might cause a bushfire and burn their entire farm down, even if that’s very unlikely, and maybe even more likely with a diesel, I don’t think you’ll find them very willing
(This is specifically in regards to Australian farmers I’ve known, perhaps farms elsewhere are smaller, or farmers elsewhere a bit more willing to take upgrades)
These are all design constraints that need to be taken into account. Most EVs these days have heating and cooling on the battery pack, for the reasons you mention. Adequate protection for it is also certainly solvable.
Extended use is a more challenging need. I’ll assume for a moment that the machinery uses as much power as an EV at highway speed, although I’m pulling that assumption out of nowhere. That would mean a comparable battery only lasts ~5 hours, and you need it to last 15+ (with a full charge happening overnight). Farm machinery is already very heavy - would the extra 4,000lbs for a triple-size battery be a solution? What about a battery trailer that is easily swapped? That could also create a different form of vendor lock-in, just like your power tools. I really doubt the same machinery is used all year long. Branded batteries are an effective way to keep customers from jumping ship on their next purchase.
Does the same machinery have to run all at once, or is this just how things have always been done?
These ideas obviously have problems, not the least of which is running enough electricity to the farms. But it’s just engineering a design to meet the needs/use cases. I’m sure that John Deere, CAT, etc have all had conversations on the matter. I haven’t seen them announce anything yet, though. That could mean they can’t do it yet, they aren’t ready to announce anything yet, or simply that they don’t feel it to be more profitable.
Given Deere’s infamous lock-in and the repairs needed for ICE, that doesn’t surprise me.
That’s certainly a problem I didnt thought about. Driving farming away from being forced to use fossil fuels devinetively is one hell of a challenge and I still have zero Idea on how to achieve this in some practical way.
Also I can only agree with you. Where I live the attitude that you should use something as long as it runs devinetively applies.