On Tuesday, 14 November, Fendt and Lauwen Agro Engineering received the DLG AgriFuture Concept Award 2024. The concept of an electrically powered weeder driven by the battery-electric Fendt e100 Vario convinced the jury of the "DLG AgriFuture Concept Award".
On Tuesday, 14 November, Fendt and Lauwen Agro Engineering received the DLG AgriFuture Concept Award 2024. The concept of an electrically powered weeder driven by the battery-electric Fendt e100 Vario convinced the jury of the "DLG AgriFuture Concept Award".
v.l. Hubertus Paetow (President of the DLG), Walter Wagner (Managing Director Research& Development Fendt) and Eerke Lauwen (Managing Director Agro Lauwen Engineering)
The jury wrote in its statement: "The E-Vario-Weeder concept from Fendt is a mechanical weeder that is optimised for combination with an electrically powered tractor. The E-Vario-Weeder has electrically driven weeding modules that optimise energy consumption. The modular design makes it easy to adapt to different cultivation conditions and crops. AI-based plant and weed detection and two cameras to monitor the process form the basis for complete self-sufficiency."
Walter Wagner (Managing Director Research & Development at Fendt)
"Weeds have been controlled mechanically for thousands of years. An electrically powered weeder turns this into a technology of the future. Together with our Fendt e100 Vario, the overall efficiency of the combination is optimised. To extend the operating time, we are showing the combination in our Future Zone at Agritechnica with a range extender. This is a kind of power bank for a fully electric combination," explains Walter Wagner, Managing Director Research & Development at Fendt. "I would like to congratulate the engineers involved on this special award for their pioneering work."
Efficient energy utilisation with a low CO2 footprint
The battery-electric Fendt e100 Vario is consistently designed for highly efficient energy utilisation with the lowest possible energy losses. The Fendt e100 Vario supplies the electrically powered, modular hoe directly via an AEF socket and converts the 700 volts provided by the vehicle into 24 volts DC using a DC-DC converter. This eliminates the need for conventional conversion steps, such as generating the necessary electrical power via a hydraulic motor with alternator and the associated significantly higher energy losses.
With an all-electric drive, the tractor and attachment utilise the available energy particularly effectively. The overall efficiency of the combination increases to up to 92 per cent and losses are drastically reduced. This is particularly reflected in the operating times. For example, a combination with a battery-electric tractor and a hydraulically driven intra-row hoe achieves an operating time of up to eight hours. A combination of a battery-electric tractor and an electrically driven intra-row weeder achieves an operating time of up to 10 hours in the lower partial load range.
The DLG AgriFutureConcept Award was presented for the first time in 2022 by the DLG to selected concepts and model projects for the future of agriculture. The Future Award is intended to recognise visionary agricultural technology solutions and future-oriented pioneering work for the future of agriculture over the next five to ten years.
