If Ford can do it, why not tractor companies?

I was watching the rebuild or restoration of a 1914 electric car battery charger this morning. It is likely a good thing we don't use mercury in an exposed tube anymore.
The museum this charger was being restored for didn't even know that component of the charger was even required.
The museum stated most people don't know electric vehicles date back that far.
They failed then and fizzled out do to practicality. I was also reading last night that it was cost just as much to charge as it was to fill for the same miles traveled in California.
All I can say is hang onto your gas vehicle if you can. We may see the electricals faze out again just as they had in the early 1900's.

There are a lot of people that an electric car would make sense for them to have.
The last 20 years my wife was working, it would have been perfect, but they were not practical then, but they are getting close now.
8 miles to work, 8 miles home, a trip to the grocery store 5 miles away once or twice a week.
But we would have needed a different vehicle to visit family, 250 miles across the mountains one way.
If she would have had one, we would not have been under the illusion we were saving the planet.
My truck, I was running around last week grossing 24,000 pounds, that will not be happening any time soon with an electric truck I can afford.
My garden tractor, given how my yard lays, that will not be happening any time soon either.

And I still say, if you look at the whole picture all an electric vehicle is, is the illusion you are saving the planet at the cost of a rather large chunk of your money.

If I was going to do something good for the planet, I would plant a few dozen more trees. That would accomplish more than driving an electric vehicle would.
I have been wanting a grove of cherry trees, I might step up and do my part to save the planet next spring. I already have over three acres of trees on all my ground to steep to mow.

Many of us just don't fit in to the city dweller model or the east coast model of driving from one village to another without seeing open country. Yet I can see where an electric car can be as welcoming to someone in the city as mass transit was a way of getting rid of horses. But for us country folk it will take much more convincing than someone saying the sky is falling and life will end. Life will end a lot faster if city people don't quite watering their grass and filling their swimming pools.
Washing the car only happens when it rains or the windows get to muddy to see out of here in the country.
But for those city dwellers food is bought in the store and made in factories. Farms and ranches are just someone's hobby. Anyways I was once told that by a city dweller. But when the water disappears, and food no longer falls on grocery shelves they will have done their part by going electric. So, they will say. I say we need to stop listening to money and fools. Then the world will be a better place for all of us.

EV's would be fine for short trips and commuting to work, maybe. How long does a battery last in a cheaper commuter type EV before it has to be replaced? You have to have heat and A/C, how does that affect the mileage per charge?

We bought a new Corolla in 2009 for my wife to drive to work. Well she's racked up 307,000 miles on that baby and it's still going strong. I've replaced the alternator one time and a couple sets of spark plugs in that time. Would a battery for a Nissan Leaf last tor 307,000 mile? I know according to Google a Leaf battery costs $5000, probably cheaper options though. I'm all for clean air and reducing emissions, when it's reasonable. I don't want it rammed down my throat though.

As far as converting a Ford truck to a EV, I'd say there are a very few people that could do that themselves. I'm sure Jay Leno could afford one for his collection.

Dave55 said:

Why would you want to?

All the hype about electric everything will save the planet is just a very expensive joke on anyone that falls for it.
All a battery powered anything does is move the pollution to a different location than where the item actually is.
Like I have said before, I can run a fossil fueled vehicle, the pollution exits the tail pipe of my vehicle.
Or I can run an electric vehicle, plug it into the electric grid, then walk up to the top of the hill from my house and see the smoke stack at the electric power station 5 miles from my house, that burns coal, also a fossil fuel.
So all the money I spent to go electric, moved the pollution 5 miles from my house.
What is 5 miles going to do on a global scale, nothing it is the same place when you look at it on that scale.

Want to do something for the environment that actually accomplishes something, stop cutting the grass, plant some trees and walk where ever you want or need to go, grow your own food, turn off the lights, air conditioner and heat at your house and business. Now you are doing something that will make a difference. But that is not convenient for anyone, don't make any money for anyone, so we never hear that.

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In no way can a million SEPARATE engines or more, be more efficient than electric. The pollution stays at the power plant where it is easy to control, not millions of engines spewing smoke and people spilling gasoline all over the ground while refueling. These are the usual talking points that do not have substance or reality

frankcar1965 said:

In no way can a million SEPARATE engines or more, be more efficient than electric. The pollution stays at the power plant where it is easy to control, not millions of engines spewing smoke and people spilling gasoline all over the ground while refueling. These are the usual talking points that do not have substance or reality

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What about all the pollution and environmental damage caused by lithium mining for the batteries? Anyone that want's an EV or mower or whatever, fine. But don't try to force them on people.

Except:
-those people will be forced to do whatever, mine coal, dig for diamonds, go through trash looking for stuff, all kinds of things. It just happens to be that currently, whoever is in power finds it most profitable to force them to do that.
-yes, right now, and in the immediate future, coal and natural gas generates a bunch of power. The difference with using electric vehicles is that it is orders of magnitude easier to change how the power is being generated. And there are states that make a point of doing everything they can to prevent generating power any other way "just because".

Demanding a perfect, immediate solution, and because it's not, you go "oh well, it's better to do nothing".

I may not like it. But I at least try to keep up on what's happening. Eventually someone's going to come up with some hair brain idea that just may work. Going back to horse and buggy days is not an option in today's world. By the late 1800's it was not an option.
Yes television makes it look glamorous but that's about it.
Just maybe for those living in cities gas and diesel power is also no longer an option. But we like or mobility in what ever way one wants to do it.
If you have the time walk across the US. Just maybe the next time a horse or boat will be preferred. Or next a train. Good luck finding a cross country stage line or you could try a bus. None of these by the way are as cheap a transportation mode is the gas sipping auto.
Ok Scotty beam me aboard.

ekywildcat said:

What about all the pollution and environmental damage caused by lithium mining for the batteries? Anyone that want's an EV or mower or whatever, fine. But don't try to force them on people.

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Everything we pull out of the ground has an environmental cost including oil, gas, and coal. Harvesting hydrogen would be the optimal solution, but even that has its costs. Nothing is free. We just have to get to what is the least impactful. Ultimately, we need to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels.

Dave55 said:

Roll back the cover on electric vehicles and take a look under the hood.

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2023/02/01/1152893248/red-cobalt-congo-drc-mining-siddharth-kara

But we can't see that from North America, out of site, out of mind.

Someone said a while back about putting my money where my mouth is.
So I have 4 gas, oil and coal stocks and I have a bunch of Tesla stock.

With all this green energy push, Tesla should be doing great and fossil fuel stocks should be way down. In reality, my fossil fuel stocks are all up, but not quite far enough up to cover my Tesla losses. So my money is where my mouth is, and I did try to cover my bets, which unfortunately is not working out at this time.

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Very little is working at this time. Waiting and hoping.

I ran across a Chinese manufacture front end loader. It looks really interesting and battery powered. Operational time projected at 7 hours. Has a whole bucket list of attachments. Two models are provided. The one I was looking at scaled a little under 5000 lbs cost was about a $1 per lb.
The catch was you had to buy a full shipping container worth. With the options of a 20 or 40 foot container.
Someone in Florida has done this and will not tell exactly what he purchased until the container arrives. Total cost was in the 20G range.
I have no link and forgot the brand name.
So is it doable and affordable? I think so if one has the container price.
If I could simply go to the dealership and try one it would be a yes.
Will a similar piece be offered by a American manufacturer? I doubt it.

Steve Urquell said:

The thread below was opened specifically for discussion of things related to EV but not on topic for specific EV threads.

I'm not sure why some think that hijacking any EV thread is OK to do. That is against the forum rules. Post all other discussion in the thread below.

https://www.mytractorforum.com/threads/ev-infrastructure-discussion.1378728/#post-12788101

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Thank you

tm10058196 said:

No need to convert a tractor or mower. ICE vs EV? How about ECE (external combustion engine) power?

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In reality, the new JD Tractors aren't really Diesel, they are Diesel/Hydraulic,, meaning in the manner that Diesel trains are really Electric Locomotives which uses Diesel Generators. Look under the hood on these ordinary tractors and you'll see a maze of hydraulic motors & electric circuits, this is why Deere fought against owners being able to work on their proprietary equipment. The software & controls are a nightmare, not to mention the DEF pollution system. Electric mowers could benefit from using the same type of system but it is 'complicated'
Speed & torque is why electric is better for the train & many heavy duty applications, you just need to add a diesel generator

KellyG4 said:

In reality, the new JD Tractors aren't really Diesel, they are Diesel/Hydraulic,, meaning in the manner that Diesel trains are really Electric Locomotives which uses Diesel Generators. Look under the hood on these ordinary tractors and you'll see a maze of hydraulic motors & electric circuits, this is why Deere fought against owners being able to work on their proprietary equipment. The software & controls are a nightmare, not to mention the DEF pollution system. Electric mowers could benefit from using the same type of system but it is 'complicated'
Speed & torque is why electric is better for the train & many heavy duty applications, you just need to add a diesel generator

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This isn't new at all, JD has been making Diesel/Hydrostatic machines for a very long time!

And Cat, Case, New Holland or dozens of other companies that use hydrostatic drives.
Dozers, skid steers, excavators and more with hydro drive.
And I guess if you wanted to swap out the petrol engine for an electric, that would be the easiest to do it to.
Normal hydrostatic operation, wide open throttle.
So get an electric motor that turns the same RPM as the petrol motor at WOT and swap them out.
Electric motor to fast, gear it down to petrol motor RPM.