A feasibility study for agriculture tractors electrification: duty cycles simulation and consumption comparison

This paper presents a feasibility study for the electrification of a farming tractor. In such an application the working cycle is not that trivial and then the system design is not straightforward: power has to be supplied at both road and power take off for implements. The purpose of this paper is to prove the convenience in adopting hyrid tractor. Therefore, duty cycles and powertrains for agriculture are introduced. Then, by means of simulations, consumptions are compared between traditional and hybrid tractor, including costs analysis. As first approach, the benefit of full electric mode usability for light duty is proved, regardless innovative power management strategies [1]. For this work a plug-in solution has been preferred, powered with a parallel mild hybrid electric powertrain.