John Deere partners with Spudnik to replace mechanical driveline with electric motors
John Deere is offering an Electric Variable Transmission (EVT) on its larger 8 and 9 series model tractors that replaces a standard mechanical variable transmission with electric motors. Now, they’re partnering with Spudnik to put the system to work on potato and root crop farms.
Naturally, Deere cites a number of advantages to using its tech — including more efficient operation, infinite speed control, reduced maintenance requirements, and superior torque delivery “to the wheels.” The ag equipment experts at Agriland, however, cite yet another benefit to the EVT that’s often overlooked: off-boarding.
“(One of) the virtues of this (EVT) approach is getting power to the wheels … but another notable benefit of this arrangement is that an electrical power source is readily available to drive implements, which is now generally referred to as off-boarding,” writes Justin Roberts. “The various driveshafts and belts on a trailed machine, such as a baler, can be replaced with wires and motors which are lighter and do not require the heavy engineering necessitated by tensioned pullies and the torque reaction of shafts.”
John Deere EVT cutaway
Deere notes that agricultural implements with powered axles are already successfully used in Europe, where they help to “push” the tractor from behind while working in the field. In addition to improving traction and preventing tractors from getting stuck in inclement weather, the EVT-powered axles theoretically enable a smaller tractor to effectively pull a larger implement.
“This EVT is the industry’s only transmission that enables electric power generation (up to 100kW),” says Ryan Jardon, marketing manager for John Deere. “By using this electricity farmers could power implement fan drives, take the place of implement hydraulic pumps, or assist the tractor by powering the implement’s axles. This is similar, to proven-technology John Deere currently uses, on construction equipment.”
By now, though, you’re probably wondering what any of this has to do with potato farming. It turns out that electrification, whether we’re talking about fully electric drive or a diesel/EVT hybrid, solves a huge problem in root crop harvesting.
Using air to separate roots and tubers from dirt clods and stones is a common practice on mechanical harvesters, but maintaining a consistent airflow with a diesel engine that’s under differing loads throughout its duty cycle, constantly varying engine speeds, and — as a consequence — fan revolutions is a constant problem. Working with Deere, Spudnik has solved this problem by driving its fans with an electric motor that’s powered with off-boarded electricity from the EVT, rather than a mechanical connection to the tractor’s transmission (how it’s been done for the better part of a century).
Electrifying the fan motor means it can run at a constant speed, regardless of how fast, or how slow the tractor is running.
The configuration has already been tested on one of Spudnik’s 6621 2 Row AirSep potato separators with a large grower out in Washburn, Maine with great success, according to Spudnik. No word yet on when they’ll get serious and roll out to Idaho.
Electrek’s Take
John Deere knows that its core buyers are wary of new technology — and even talking about a fully electric tractor is one of those things that could sour a longtime customer relationship in some parts of the country. Deere is doing a smart thing here by developing the EVT, electrifying their ag equipment’s drive units and offering several of the benefits of full electric operation without taking away all the rattling vroom-vroom diesel noises that their current customers love.
Think of the EVT, then, as a PHEV for farmers. Once they understand that they’re already driving an electric tractor and pulling electric implements with electrically driven axles, the only question will be how those motors get the electrons they need to do the work. Will it be from a diesel generator/alternator, as in the EVT, or a battery?
Sooner than later, the sheer economics of battery power will make switching a no-brainer. Until then, clever tech like the EVT is laying the foundations by playing up the benefits of EVs without using any politically charged terms. And— hey, whatever works.
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Police have seized an imported Tesla Cybertruck in the UK as it is not road-legal in the country and deemed dangerous for pedestrians.
Tesla has always known that its Cybertruck design would be complicated to get homologated in other markets than North America, where the rules are similar between the US, Canada, and Mexico. The company admitted that it might limit the markets where Cybertruck would be sold, which is why Tesla doesn’t plan to expand beyond current markets.
However, it hasn’t stopped people from privately importing Cybertrucks to their home markets.
We have seen two Cybertrucks traveling through Europe, and they were stopped at Lithuanian customs due to suspicions that they were going to Russia.
Sure enough, Russian warlord and Chechen ruler Ramzan Kadyrov took delivery of Cybertrucks and outfitted them with machine guns a few months later and then claimed that they joined the war effort in Ukraine.
Other Cybertrucks made their way to other markets like China.
Now, we learn that one has made it to the UK, but it didn’t last long.
The Greater Manchester Police (GMP) announced that the seized the Cybertruck pictured above that was roaming the streets in the UK illegally. They wrote on social media:
Whilst this may seem trivial to some, legitimate concerns exist around the safety of other road users or pedestrians if they were involved in a collision with the Cybertruck.
Tesla had brought the vehicle in the UK, but only for demonstration. It never tried to make it legal in the country.
The police added:
The Tesla Cybertruck is not road-legal in the UK and does not hold a certificate of conformity.
The authorities said that the Cybertruck was registered and insured abroad, but the driver was a UK resident. They will have to show prove of ownership and insurance to release the vehicle.
Electrek’s Take
The authorities are clearly right here since the vehicle is not road-legal currently, but could it be road-legal? It’s hard to say.
The police here repeat claims that the Cybertruck might be dangerous for pedestrians in crashes. That has been a concern that has often been raised since the truck launched in 2023.
It looks obvious based on the design of the Cybertruck. However, we haven’t seen third-party crash testing of the Cybertruck yet, and it might take a while before we do.
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This week on Electrek’s Wheel-E podcast, we discuss the most popular news stories from the world of electric bikes and other nontraditional electric vehicles. This time, that includes proposed e-bike restrictions in New York and Oregon, Super73 lowering the performance of its e-bikes, a review of the Tenways CGO600 Pro-C electric bike, new sodium-ion batteries coming from Yadea, Heybike unveiling its first mid-drive e-bike, and more.
The Wheel-E podcast returns every two weeks on Electrek’s YouTube channel, Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter.
As a reminder, we’ll have an accompanying post, like this one, on the site with an embedded link to the live stream. Head to the YouTube channel to get your questions and comments in.
After the show ends, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps:
We also have a Patreon if you want to help us to avoid more ads and invest more in our content. We have some awesome gifts for our Patreons and more coming.
Here are a few of the articles that we will discuss during the Wheel-E podcast today:
Here’s the live stream for today’s episode starting at 6:30 a.m. ET (or the video after 7:30 a.m. ET):
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Environment
Charge Cars finds new owners to resume development of its ’67 bespoke electric muscle car
UK EV startup Charge Cars has announced a fresh breath of life into its bespoke electric muscle car business. The company has announced new ownership, which intends to continue and expedite the development of its flagship model, the ’67, based on a classic Ford Mustang.
Charge Cars emerged as a startup in 2016 and is headquartered a few minutes outside London. The company’s initial goal has been to develop and deliver its flagship product, the ’67 EV, as seen below. The ’67 is based on the 1967 Ford Mustang Fastback and required a license from the American automaker to use its body components.
The company previously shared plans to build only 499 examples of this electric muscle car, but almost a decade later, potential customers are still waiting.
While we have been following Charge Cars for some time, there’s a reason we haven’t covered the company. Its flagship BEV is cool as hell but has always given us the feeling that it runs on pure vapor. Most startups can build a prototype, but as we always say, scaling is hard.
There’s no better evidence of this struggle than the news that came out of Charge Cars HQ in May 2024, stating that it had entered administration in the UK and a licensed insolvency practitioner, in this case, Mark Smith and Stephen Cork of Cork Gully LLP, were appointed as administrators to handle the business, its affairs, and intellectual property.
The options were to sell off pieces of the business or try to salvage it with fresh investors interested in taking over. Lucky for Charge Cars, a group of private investors has come to the rescue and will try to pick up where the original owners left off in developing and delivering a bespoke electric muscle car.
Charge hopes to live on and deliver its electric muscle car
According to a press release published from the UK early this morning, a consortium of private investors has acquired Charge Cars. It plans to expedite the final development of the ’67 electric muscle car at a new state-of-the-art global headquarters based in Silverstone, UK. Paul Abercrombie, who took over as Charge CEO last November, spoke about the new ownership and the opportunities it will bring the British EV startup:
On behalf of the consortium, I am delighted to announce the acquisition of Charge Cars. The ‘67 establishes a new class of EV – and we will now accelerate final development at our new global HQ in Silverstone, UK, rapidly delivering this exciting luxury vehicle to customers. The Charge brand has huge global potential, and we look forward to revealing more details very soon.
While we now know the future of Charge Cars’ electric muscle car is in the hands of this consortium at a new headquarters, the rest of its plans remain private for now. We do not know if the new owners will stick to the original production targets of 499 builds or go smaller or larger.
From what we can tell, the specs of the ’67 will remain the same as the reborn startup works through its final development stage, as outlined above. The electric muscle car based on a classic Ford has a 63 kWh battery that delivers 200 miles of range and powers quad motors that can reach 400 kW of peak power (1,520 Nm of torque). The BEV can travel 0-60 mph in 3.9 seconds and recharge at a DC rate of up to 50 kW.
Charge Cars promises to reveal future plans “imminently.” Check back with Electrek soon.
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