The latest hybrid telehandler from New Holland packs a range-extending combustion engine to boost its battery power during longer shifts – but it doesn’t run on gas or diesel. Instead, this farm-friendly machine is built to run on METHANE.
By collecting pig, cow, or poultry waste (poop), silage waste (corn husks and grass clippings), and food waste from composting and putting into a manure digester, farmers can generate valuable biogas – a renewable, low-carbon fuel that can be burned for heat, electricity, or used as fuel. And because large farming operations can produce huge amounts of biogas at an incredibly low cost compared to conventional grid and fuel costs, any machine that can run on biogas is going to have a real total cost of ownership (TCO) advantage.
Biogas generator
CASE and New Holland (collectively, CNH) understands its customers’ desire to put that biogas to good use. They also understand that nothing is quite as efficient as battery-electric power, though; but big farms have weird duty cycles: 4-6 hour shifts most of the year, then critical, un-skippable, non-negotiable round-the-clock running during harvest.
That need to run 24 hour shifts limits the appeal of pure electric machines, and has led to companies like ZQUIP developing power-agnostic modules that swap-out, power tool-style, to keep the machines going. With its new methane hybrid, New Holland is going a more recognizable EREV and hybrid route.
“With this prototype, New Holland shows its continuous commitment to the ‘Clean Energy Leader‘ strategy, building on our leadership in alternative fuel machines,” says Marco Gerbi, New Holland T4 and T5 tractor, loader and telehandler product management. “Our aim is to help our customers boost farm productivity and profitability by broadening our range of alternative fuel machines that do not compromise efficiency or productivity yet help to minimize agriculture’s carbon footprint.”
Primarily driven by a 70 kWh lithium-ion battery, the telehandler uses a methane-fueled version of Fiat Powertrain’s four-cylinder F28 engine as a range-extending backup whenever jobs demand more uptime. On the energy stored in the battery alone, New Holland says the machine can handle a full day’s worth of typical farm work — roughly a “350-day duty cycle,” and it can recharge from the grid, a biogas generator, or even rooftop (barntop?) solar.
It’s still just a prototype, but New Holland claims the hybrid setup cuts fuel use by up to 70% compared to a conventional diesel telehandler while delivering 30% better performance and uptime for its operators.
No word yet on availability and pricing.
New Holland methane hybrid gallery
SOURCE | IMAGES: CNH, via Equipment World.
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