100 HP Plug In EV 4WD Tractor

[aczlan]

I think anything less than ten hours on one charge is not going to cut it. You really want to stop and change battery packs at lunch?
They might be seriously heavy. Possible you might have to as an early adopter, but this won't fly until battery tech or perhaps motor tech allows a full day work with a plug in at night.

I agree, but it would have to be 10 hours of using (on average) at least 80% of the rated horsepower. The problem is that a pack big enough to do that would be either too heavy (causing extra soil compaction) or too big to fit on the tractor.

Aaron Z

 

[daugen]

I agree, but it would have to be 10 hours of using (on average) at least 80% of the rated horsepower. The problem is that a pack big enough to do that would be either too heavy (causing extra soil compaction) or too big to fit on the tractor.

Aaron Z

with current tech, agree totally. Nobody is going to take much of a step backwards to try one of these expensive alternatives.

 

[jinman]

Forget the over priced Ferrari, look at Cats electric drive dozers, and work from there.

http://www.cat.com/D7E

I agree. All the power and efficiency advantages of the diesel locomotive and no extension cord or power source required. I'll put my money on the Cat model: real innovation that doesn't break the bank or become a logistical nightmare of battery swaps in isolated places where conventional trucks may not even be able to go. The D7E doesn't require any specialized equipment or service. The same support equipment that services conventional heavy machinery can service the D7E.:thumbsup:

 

[rider0]

Forget the over priced Ferrari, look at Cats electric drive dozers, and work from there.

http://www.cat.com/D7E

The D7E is a lot like a scaled-down diesel-electric locomotive. Basically allows the engine to be run at proper RPMs for peak efficiency and simplifies the drivetrain. That model (diesel-electric hybrid drivetrain) will expand up and down the product line as the manufacturers scale the production line and iron out the inevitable issues that pop up with new technology.

 

[vtsnowedin]

The D7E is a nice machine but it still uses 6.2 gallons of diesel each hour so is no answer to peak oil and post peak tractor needs.

 

[jagyzf]

The D7E is a nice machine but it still uses 6.2 gallons of diesel each hour so is no answer to peak oil and post peak tractor needs.

You shouldn't look at how much it uses per hour, but cost for work done. A train or huge mining equipment use huge amounts of fuel also, but the amount of fuel used per unit of work done is very low. You could build a dozer that uses .5 gallons per hour, but the unit of work done will be very low and in the end fuel useage much higher.

Cat is claiming less fuel used that the D7 it replaced by as much as 30%, and more material moved than a D8 per hour. This is because you have less power loss through the drive train and infinit speed selection. The engine also always runs at the same speed, no more slowing down and speeding back up changing directions or fine grading. Yet the operator can also run as fast as he wants, not in the highest gear the machine will pull, which would propbably be slower the he could run. Many times the next jump on a gear machine is more than the machine will push.

When this machine 1st came out on heavyequipmentforum.com some people who operated it were very impressed and said if anything it was better on fuel that even Cat was claiming. Some of the operators have claimed it uses only about 1/2 the fuel of a D7R when worked hard on a volume of material basis. Yet at the same time was keeping up with the larger machines.

Last year Cat shipped it's 500th machine, which for the short time it's been out I think is very good.

I would love to see one of these machines up close, but I don't see anyone around here buying one. Not many big jobs being done and no mining. I don't even see that many older D7 and larger machines around here anymore.

 

[daugen]

I would love to see one of these machines up close, but I don't see anyone around here buying one.

If you go to the "who has the most tractors" thread, some unknown OP is giving out D7's as prizes.
Maybe there's a D7E in there...

kidding aside, what does a 7E cost? with 500 units built, Cat should have gotten its development cost back, but I bet this
tech will migrate into other machines.

In some ways it bums me out we are headed to electric. Nothing like the sound of a small block with the pedal down a bit...
Engines make wonderful noises. But then I've been a motorhead since I was a teenager.

And apparently Cat has its own sound. or maybe I'm watching too many videos of older Cats starting up and turning over slowly, like
a beast of burden warming up to get to work.

 

[jagyzf]

I would love to see one of these machines up close, but I don't see anyone around here buying one.

If you go to the "who has the most tractors" thread, some unknown OP is giving out D7's as prizes.
Maybe there's a D7E in there...

kidding aside, what does a 7E cost? with 500 units built, Cat should have gotten its development cost back, but I bet this
tech will migrate into other machines.

In some ways it bums me out we are headed to electric. Nothing like the sound of a small block with the pedal down a bit...
Engines make wonderful noises. But then I've been a motorhead since I was a teenager.

And apparently Cat has its own sound. or maybe I'm watching too many videos of older Cats starting up and turning over slowly, like
a beast of burden warming up to get to work.

I want to say it was either 600K or 700K for the cost of a dozer, which again going by memory was about 10-15% more than the dozer it replaced.

This machine still has a diesel engine, it just instead of a mechanical transmission with gears, it has electric motors.

I do miss the sounds and smell of the job sites I used to go to with my father in the late 70's and early 80's. I do not run machinery that much anymore, I took a different career path. I do love to when I'm given the chance to run some machinery.

 

[vtsnowedin]

The D7E list for $600,000. That's just $1.00 per yard for what it can move in a years work so quite cheap on a unit price basis. All you need is a paying customer with a couple of million yards that need pushing around and you can have one all your own.