New Challenges Towards Electrification Sustainability: Environmental Impact Assessment Comparison Between ICE and Hybrid-Electric Orchard Tractor

Paris Climate Agreement defined the strategy to contrast the current climate change trend. Therefore, a complete and deep review of the entire lifespan of a product is necessary. Recently, in the agri-tech field, also tractors manufacturers have begun to explore the adoption of full-electric or hybrid-electric powertrains to contrast pollutants emissions and to misrepresent tractor functionalities, due to diesel engines stricter regulations in terms of pollutants emissions. The aim of this work is to evaluate the carbon intensity of an ICE and hybrid-electric orchard tractor trough Life Cycle Assessment technique. The assessment has been conducted considering production, use and disposal phases of the tractor. Lastly, the results obtained are illustrated according to gate-to-gate and cradle-to-gate approach.