By far the best post in this thread.
An accurate assessment of the benefits of electric vehicles vs. fossil fueled vehicles, whether it's environmental implications or user costs, needs to consider everything from the cradle to the grave rather than cherry pick a few data points.
If there's an increase in cost associated with a cleaner planet then that's ok, but don't sell it as being better and cheaper in every measurable way when it's not.
As for the original question, I don't have any interest in an electric Kubota tractor. I'll keep my '02 F250 7.3L, MX6000 and GL7000 generator as long as I can buy diesel. When I can't buy diesel any more I'll have to look into making it I suppose.
Agree with that.
Regardless of incentives and as much as I enjoy my tractor and truck and other fossil fuel burning tool/toys, the base of my relationship with them is a need to accomplish work. IF that work can be accomplished in a cost effective manner with an electric alternative when it’s time to retire them, I would certainly entertain an electric option. Currently, to my knowledge, that’s not the case. Electric equipment, whether battery operated or corded (and yes, some of the largest open pit drag lines are corded to stationary generation systems as in the case of the drag line at the Aurora, NC phosphate mine) is almost exclusively used in very specific, single purpose operations where the charging of batteries or providence of continuous electricity from an outboard source is a known constant and therefore can be planned into the work schedule.
I look at electric vehicles and cars same as cars/trucks v horses. Horses remained dominate for several years after invention of cars. The infrastructure for cars, reliability of cars, cost effectiveness of cars, efficiency of cars all had to reach the point of being competitive and then surpassing that of horses before there was wide adoption. Is that same process possible with electric vehicles? Arguably yes, but until it happens ubiquity of electric cars is unlikely. Same process occurred with steam shovels and trains v diesel excavators and trains. The process isn’t unique aside from the politics of attempting to accelerate electric vehicle adoption earlier than its natural progression would indicate. That artificial acceleration of the process is the only aspect I find a bit troubling.
For equipment for my use, our current weed eater and blower setup is a good example of the issues I have with equipment, large or small. My wife decided she wanted the convenience and ease of operation of battery powered blower and weed eater. I thought it silly but acquiesced as I’m not a complete idiot. Now that we have them, I also use them routinely for the routine small jobs around the yard. They are very convenient and maintenance is near zero. However, when it’s time to mow the dam or blow the gutters and spend hours blowing leaves in the fall, the much larger gasoline blower and weed eater come out. The electrics simply haven’t reached the point of being competitive in either power or length of duty cycle.
And that’s my basic issue with an electric tractor. Will it actually do the job that’s required of it? Can I bush hog with it for 12 hours straight? Can I spend 8 hours boxblading the road and trails? Can it spend 6 hours of intermittent duty pulling trees out of the pond after a bad storm? If power is out for a week after an ice storm, can it run the generator 3 or 4 hours each day? Can it run a chipper for 8 hours? If the answer is yes, then it’s a competitor for the diesel tractor. If the answer is no, then it isn’t. Just because a mine can run a 100 ton rock truck or excavator on batteries, while impressive, I have no need for those items so that doesn’t make an electric tractor a viable alternative to my diesel tractor.
Same thing with my truck. An electric car would handle my daily commute. Will an electric truck haul a 9,000 lb trailer four hours away for an overall cost that’s competitive with my fossil fuel truck? If yes, it’s in the running to replace my current truck. If it won’t, it isn’t.
It’s really that simple; and unless it’s legislated to the point I have to modify my use to fit the lesser capacity of an inferior electric vehicle/piece if equipment, which is a possibility I strongly disagree with, the electric alternatives won’t be viable options until they are true replacements capable of all the task requirements for the fossil fuel items they replace.
Some people may have requirements for their vehicles and equipment that can currently be met by electric alternatives. If that’s the case for them, that’s swell. Doesn’t mean they’re a viable alternative for everyone; at least not yet.
