High voltage electrification of tractor and agricultural machinery – A review

•CO2 emission reduction calls for energy-efficient mobile work machines.•Energy recovery could be possible in some agricultural machinery operations.•Owning and operating costs of electrified tractor-implement pairs should be analyzed.•Plug-in hybrid electric tractors running along tramlines make sense.•Electrification allows for precise speed control, noise reduction and flexible design.

Reduction of both pollutant emissions and fossil fuel dependency is an objective of energy policies worldwide. In many countries, governments promote the use of efficient vehicles like the hybrid electric vehicle. Incorporation of electric drives in tractor and agricultural machinery presents advantages in terms of increased energy efficiency and expanded functionalities. Higher efficiency means reduction in fuel consumption and subsequent decrease in CO2 emission. New functionalities improve work quality and increase operator comfort. Tractor electrification takes advantage of decoupling loads and drives from the engine, which allows operating the latter at its highest efficiency point. Major advantages of machinery electrification are torque and speed control, noise reduction, and a more flexible design. In this paper, a review of the state-of-the-art of agricultural machinery high voltage electrification is presented.