Ag industry buzzes with electric vehicle movement

Developing battery technology will lower cost, increase performance

By MATTHEW WEAVER

Capital Press

KENNEWICK, Wash. -- The future use of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in agriculture all depends upon the battery.

Use of electric vehicles is a new but growing movement, said Ron Johnston-Rodriguez of the Port of Chelan County, during a seminar at the Harvesting Clean Energy conference Sunday, Feb. 7 in Kennewick, Wash.

Every major or new automotive manufacturing company plans to produce all-electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles in the wake of fears that fuel demand will eventually exceed supplies, Johnston-Rodriguez said.

They are already being used in short-haul trucks, utility trucks, lawn tractors and farm tractors.

Benefits in agriculture include decreased emissions, reduced vibration for sensitive equipment and quieter vehicles, to a point where farmers can hear irrigation leaks and answer their cell phones while operational, said Bob Acheson, president of Ashland, Ore.-based Barefoot Motors.

Karen Lewis with Washington State University Extension in Ephrata, Wash., said many orchard owners are shifting to a two-dimensional and three-dimensional row setup, enabling human or robotic hands to access the fruit by any type of technology.

They are looking for smaller, electric utility vehicles to harvest or apply pesticides, she said.

The tree fruit industry's reliance on seasonal labor is a top concern that electric vehicles could help by providing fuller employment for workers, Lewis said.

"One way to do that is to get rid of ladders and put people on platforms," she said.

After a higher initial start-up cost -- Acheson's vehicles cost $11,900 for two-wheel drive and $12,900 for four-wheel drive -- they prove cost-effective in the long run, he said.

Electric vehicles are ideal for frequent start and stop operations, at a predictable distance for charge-ups and short-burst heavy work, he said. They are not as useful in sustained heavy work, sustained pulling or carrying heavy loads up hills.

His company provides all-terrain vehicles for agriculture, not recreational use, he said. Barefoot Motors recommends its vehicles be used to carry 300 pounds plus the rider and tow a thousand pounds.

"We tried to make it really stout," Acheson said. "When we asked farmers what would be the rate of capacity for a vehicle that would tickle their fancy, their answer was, 'We want to be able to pile it on until it starts falling off.'"

Batteries are the most efficient form of energy storage for vehicles, ahead of gasoline, diesel and fuel cells, said Tim Murphy of the Idaho National Laboratory. But they are still more expensive and not as reliable. More research needs to be done to drive the costs down, he said.

"The No. 1 cost driver of the difference between an electric vehicle and a gas-powered vehicle are the batteries," Acheson agreed. "If we get better batteries, we'll have better electric vehicles."

Besides cost, one of the biggest issues is diminished battery performance at hot and cold temperatures, Murphy said.

"We've made great improvements at standard temperatures," he said. "We want chemistries that make it behave better at both high and cold temperatures."