Design of a Concept Electric Mini Tractor

Due to the hike in fuel prices and the environmental threats associated with the combustion of fossil fuels, researchers are opting for an alternative energy source to propel the vehicle. One such solution is the adoption of electric vehicles, which accounts for high degree of sustainability as compared to the conventional fuel vehicles. The requirement of low power tractors has been on the rise since 2011. The increasing debts and deteriorating economic conditions of the farmers have led them to opt for smaller machines at the cost of productivity. This work presents the design and development of electric motor powered tractor for mild ploughing operation with a 3kw BLDC motor sustaining a 2 hours constant operation using Lead acid traction batteries. Description of the subsystems which includes the steering system, braking system, electric powertrain, and the chassis frame has been delineated precisely. The vehicle modelling was done in Solidworks and the analysis of the framework has been carried in ANSYS software. Safe design of the framework was ensured during maximum loading condition. Design calculations were carried out to obtain an optimized powertrain respectively. A prototype was developed and weight of the prototype was found to be 320 kg. Testing was carried out and the tractor could plough with a depth of 5cm. The successful testing of the concept tractor can be extrapolated to high power motor for real-time ploughing applications.