Electric tractor driving calls for leaders

Photo: © Niels van der Boom

Agromec in Veghel, Brabant, has developed an electrified 700 series from Fendt with ECE. The 700 Vario is one of the most popular tractors in the Netherlands. Under the slightly widened hood are a 70 kilowatt battery and 150 kilowatt electric motor, good for 200 hp. The internal battery is intended for maneuvering while changing the main battery.

This power unit weighs 2,000 kilos and hangs in the front linkage. All you have to do is plug it in. You can work for about three and a half hours on one battery. One box is connected to a charging point, while you continue working on the second pack. Depending on the energy needs, you can switch batteries throughout the day. During quiet periods, the batteries can serve as energy storage or to power another device.

New battery's

'Therefore, the battery is equipped with a cooling and heating unit', explains product manager Coen Loeffen of Agromec. 'We choose new batteries'not recycled ones. A new battery is expensive, but second-hand ones are even more expensive in comparison. With three thousand charging cycles, a new battery will last at least fifteen years. Then the capacity is still 80 percent of the original.'

ECE, a subsidiary of Doosan importer Staad, has been converting earthmoving machines to fully electric for some time. The demand for tractors is also coming from this direction. Clients such as contractors, construction companies and municipalities demand emission-free work.

'Subsidy opportunities are focused on fully emission-free vehicles', Loeffen knows. 'Partly because of that, we skip the hybrid intermediate step. Look at the automotive and transport sectors. There, hybrid technology is a passed station.'

Civil engineering

The companies that ordered a tractor are all active in earth, road and hydraulic engineering or roadside management. 'These entrepreneurs are also looking at hydrogen', knows developer of the tractor Mart van der Valk.

'One disadvantage of hydrogen is the volume. There are examples where, with current technology, 11 kilos of hydrogen are carried on the roof, while 90 kilos are required to replace a 400-liter diesel tank. That would require 25 bottles, the space of two cabs' explains Van der Valk.