In an online seminar hosted by Farmers for Climate Action earlier this month, John Deere’s production and systems manager Steph Gersekowski said vineyards and almond farms would be the first areas in agriculture targeted for the rollout.
Ms Gersekowski said the strategy was driven by customer values in agriculture in the face of “more difficult” challenges such as time constraints, escalating customer demands, labour shortages and climate change.
“We are seeing more increase in advanced weather events,” Ms Gersekowski said.
“We also consider those upcoming challenges that we just don’t know about yet.”
John Deere aims to cut the carbon dioxide equivalent emissions for customers by 15 per cent and reduce its own environmental footprint by 50 per cent by 2030.
Horticulture has been selected as the first recipient of EV technology due to it receiving very little technological advances since the 1960s.
“Not a lot has changed in terms of efficiency and productivity,” Ms Gersekowski said.
She also said horticulture was “ready”, according to a US survey which found 65 per cent of John Deere’s customers were receptive to purchasing EVs compared to only 17 per cent of city car owners.
EV Council head of energy and infrastructure Ross De Rango also spoke at the seminar and said there was significant parallel between the purchasing of both farming and city EVs.
“Australia has the lowest uptake rate (of EVs) of anywhere in the world,” Mr De Rango said.
“This can be due to the relatively large distances that we drive.”
Mr De Rango said 90 per cent of new cars sold in Norway were electric, compared to four per cent in Australia, and global demand of EVs exceeds their supply.
He also said EV producers send their vehicles to countries which had the strictest emission standards.
“As a country we need to get our act together and enact similar principles, otherwise we are just not going to get the EVs that people want to drive.”
The EV Council has lobbied the Federal Government to introduce appropriate emission standards in Australia.
Mr De Rango said increased towing loads would reduce maximum travel distances, causing customers to buy vehicles with back-up fuel engines.
“We are anticipating that people who tow heavy loads for long distances are likely to go for the hybrid vehicles; that’s what the petrol is for.
“The issue is not that EVs can’t tow, they’ve got the power to do it.
“The issue is that when you do tow, it impacts the range.”
Mr De Rango said price was a major factor facing farmers as well as the cost for providing multiple recharging stations to accommodate multiple tractors simultaneously.
He said ute prices were likely to rapidly fall in price.
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