John Deere Unveils Its Electric Powered Tractor Prototype

Dec 09, 2016

At Electrek, we firmly believe that all forms of ground transport will start to transition to electric propulsion relatively soon. That includes large tractors for agriculture, as demonstrated by John Deere's latest all-electric tractor concept.

The iconic American machinery manufacturer showcased the new prototype ahead of the Sima show in France next month.

While the company dabbled in alternative fuel sources for its full-size agricultural tractors in the past, including a hybrid electric version, this concept called SESAM (Sustainable Energy Supply for Agricultural Machinery) is the first fully powered by a battery pack.

Where you would normally find a large diesel engine under the hood, there are stacks of battery packs adding up to 130 kWh of capacity:

That's more energy than in Tesla's highest capacity battery pack (100 kWh). SESAM needs it to tow large tools and to perform other tasks, which it can do while in "off mode" without having a large diesel engine running as highlighted by the company in a video released last week.

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