A Sunraysia-owned dried fruit business says it is saving more than $10,000 in fuel costs a year after trialling six electric off road vehicles, and charging them with its own rooftop solar and battery arrays.
Duxton Dried Fruits received a Victorian government grant to trial six Ultra Terrain vehicles made by Queensland manufacturer Tuatara UTC, and to install a solar charging station at their Wemen vineyard near Robinvale in north-west Victoria.
The E-Tuatara 1500 UTV is a four-wheel-drive side-by-side off-road vehicle that Tuatara claims a maximum range of up to 170km. Offering much lower running costs and regenerative braking, and can be fitted with either one or two batteries delivering 12kWh or 21kWh and a charging time of between 5 to 6 hours at 12kWh or between 8 to 9 hours at 21kWh.
The transition to fully electric UTVs means that Duxton can avoid the need for fuel trucks to come from out of town while simply reducing fuel usage, and all told is expected to save the company more than $10,000 in fuel costs each year.
The solar charging station features a 60kW rooftop mounted solar array and a 128kWh battery system. The solar system covers both the vineyard’s electricity consumption and the charging for the electric UTVs.
Henry Young, Duxton sustainability project officer, told Trade Farm Machinery that the introduction of the new electric UTVs had been really well received.
“There was a sense of anxiety with battery replacing internal combustion engines, but they have been absolutely faultless so far,” he said.
“The UTVs are integral to our day-to-day operations. All the machines are used daily by our staff. The various roles they fulfil include fuel and harvest support during the summer months, general yard duties, irrigation checks and currently they have been used widely for weed control.
“My favourite thing is probably the reduction in noise in the operator environment. They’re also considerably more powerful than the machines we’ve replaced, and they have got a range of innovative features.
“The solar system and battery have, in general, replaced us having a fuel bowser and fuel tank.We’ve greatly saved on the complexity and labour savings of not having to organise fuel and have emergency run-ins to town, which is about 40km away, for supplies.”
Duxton is also working with the Mallee Regional Innovation Centre to encourage greater adoption of ZEV technology across the industry.
The company is also partnering with TAFE Victoria and working with our local TAFE provider SuniTAFE in Mildura to develop “an educational course that our staff are completing that goes through maintenance procedures and operational procedures unique to high-voltage electric vehicles.”
“This is a keystone project to demonstrate to our existing portfolios and the wider agricultural community of the way that solar can be adopted on a pathway to net zero.”
Joshua S. Hill is a Melbourne-based journalist who has been writing about climate change, clean technology, and electric vehicles for over 15 years. He has been reporting on electric vehicles and clean technologies for Renew Economy and The Driven since 2012. His preferred mode of transport is his feet.