Electric Tractor: HAU Develops Cheap E-tractor for Farmers

Amidst the daily increase in diesel prices, agricultural scientists have started looking for cheaper alternatives for the farmers. Tractor, which is the most used machinery in farming, will see a big change in the coming days. Average farm par availability in India is 2.0 kWh per hectare, while in developed countries it is around 15 kWh per hectare.

Due to the huge gap, there is a lot of scope for mechanization, and hence, the development of battery-operated tractors will help in increasing the level of mechanization.

Many companies are working on such technology these days. Recently, scientists of Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University (HAU), Hisar have also developed an electric tractor. It is claimed that it will be up to 25 percent cheaper than the diesel tractor.

The University's College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology has designed this e-tractor. This tractor is powered by a 16.2 kWh battery and its operating cost is very less as compared to a diesel tractor. Vice-Chancellor Professor BR Kamboj said that this is the first agricultural university in the country to conduct research on electric tractors. In view of the increasing diesel prices, this tractor will prove to be economical for the farmers, which will reduce their agricultural costs relatively.

Runs for 80 km in One Charge:

This e-tractor can run at a maximum speed of 23.17 kmph. Not only this, it can travel up to 80 km with a trailer weighing 1.5 tonnes. With the use of this tractor, the income of the farmers will also increase significantly. This research achievement has been achieved under the guidance of Dr Mukesh Jain, a scientist of the Department of Agricultural Machinery and Farm Engineering. The Vice-Chancellor praised this new discovery of the scientists and stressed doing similar farmer-friendly research in future.

Features:

The battery-powered tractor is powered by a 16.2-kilowatt-hour (kWh) lithium-ion battery. It has a 12 kW (kW) electric brushless DC motor that operates at 72 volts and 2000 revolutions per minute. This battery can be fully charged in 09 hours. During this, 19 to 20 units of electricity are consumed. It also has the option of fast charging. With the help of which, the tractor can be charged in just 4 hours. The cost of fully charging the battery is around Rs 160.

Talking about vibration and noise in the tractor, 52 percent vibration and 20.52 percent noise was found to be less than the maximum permissible limit of the BIS code. Due to the lack of an engine with the operator in the tractor, heat is also not generated which will prove to be absolutely comfortable for the operator. 

Cost and Maintenance: 

Agricultural scientists of the university said that being a prototype model, the battery-operated tractor would cost around Rs 6.5 lakh. The diesel tractor with the same horsepower costs Rs 4.50 lakh. If the battery-operated tractor is manufactured on a large scale, then the price of this tractor will also be at par with the diesel tractor. 

The hourly cost of operating a battery-operated tractor will come to Rs 332 with a rotavator and Rs 301 with a moldboard plough. If we talk about the cost of diesel tractor then 447 with rotavator and with moldboard plough the hourly cost of operation will come to Rs 353. That is, the cost of operating an electric tractor is 15 to 25 percent cheaper than that of a diesel tractor. All the cost has been calculated on the basis of the domestic electricity rate, otherwise, the cost of operation will be even lower.