John Deere battery-powered tractor surfaces

John Deere has taken one giant leap into the future by releasing the first imagery and information of its fully electric tractor, named the SESAM (Sustainable Energy Supply for Agricultural Machinery), ahead of its official unveiling at the SIMA trade show in Paris next February.

Unlike its previous Battery Boost hybrid tractor concept unveiled in 2015, John Deere's SESAM is 100 per cent battery-powered and uses no diesel fuel to run, hence eliminating any engine and carbon emissions.

The project was part of John Deere's vision for a cleaner global agricultural industry, powered by renewable energy generated on-farm.

In the place of a diesel engine under the hood is a high-capacity battery providing power to two independent, electric motors. In a standard operation, one motor is used to drive the transmission and another powers the PTO and hydraulics.

If necessary, the powers of both electric motors can be combined to provide 400hp of power to the transmission or to the PTO or hydraulic system.

The prototype workhorse's design was based on the chassis of the 6R tractors produced out of John Deere's facility in Mannheim, Germany. The battery under the hood provides a power capacity of 130kW.

In addition to producing no emissions, the SESAM also produces next to no noise, according to John Deere, making it suitable for work at night or near residential areas.

Currently, a fully charged battery allows for four hours of conventional farm work or to travel 55km on the road. The charge time is three hours and the battery life is about 3100 charging cycles, John Deere adds.

Those interested in the SESAM can find out more about it and see it in the flesh when it makes its public debut at the SIMA agricultural trade fair in February 2017.

The trade fair is one of the biggest of its kind in the world and will be held at the Paris Nord Villepinte exhibition centre in Paris from February 26 to March 2, 2017.