The New Holland T7 Methane Power LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) prototype tractor is the winner of the 2023 Green Good Design Award. The award is bestowed by the Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
The Green Good Design award identifies and emphasizes the world’s most important examples of sustainable design, with the aim of heightening awareness among the general public about the best efforts of global companies to adopt sustainable design.
From architecture and landscape to urban planning projects, products, packaging and graphic designs, the institution receives hundreds of submissions from around the world. For 2023, projects from over 32 nations were granted Green GOOD DESIGN 2023 awards, representing the world’s most important manufacturers and design firms and leading Fortune 500 corporations focused on more sustainable design and environment worldwide.
Founded in Chicago in 1950 by Eero Saarinen and Charles and Ray Eames, the GOOD DESIGN program remains the oldest and most important design awards program worldwide. This is the 15th year of this very specialized edition of the original GOOD DESIGN program. It is judged by a jury of distinguished design professionals and leading industry specialists, recognizing outstanding examples of Green Design.
The T7 Methane Power LNG prototype tractor
Presented for the first time during CNH Industrial Tech Day in December 2022 in Phoenix, Arizona, the T7 Methane Power is the world’s first LNG tractor. It builds on the heritage of the commercialized T6 Methane Power, fueled by compressed natural gas, but this new model will more than double the autonomy of New Holland’s current methane-powered products.
CNH Industrial’s in-house design team created a tractor with a new ‘Clean Blue’ colour and an aesthetic designed to accent the tractor’s use of sustainable alternative fuels. Inspired by nature itself, the all-new exterior features fit with the brand’s new signature design style, which can be seen in the re-imagined bonnet with the illuminated New Holland iconic leaf.
A brand-inspired approach to lighting has been adopted, with the New Holland’s leaf lending its form to the lighting design. From illuminated bonnet and C-pillar leaves to the LED running strip which wraps around the cab’s rear roof, lighting has been transformed from a function to a core design element.
The tractor’s cab incorporates a full-length skydome roof for enhanced visibility and a greater sense of space. Operating features include the innovative SideWinder Ultra armrest, the new larger IntelliView 12 touchscreen, and the CentreView fixed hub steering wheel-mounted display, combining to make operation intuitive. Ergonomically-shaped seats in leather and Alcantara, with contrasting stripe and embroidered logo, look sporty but provide the comfort and support operators need.
The T7 Methane Power LNG prototype is a step forward on the path towards New Holland’s Carbon Neutral Farming strategy. It can be powered by liquefied biomethane sourced from livestock manure and slurry, delivering better than carbon zero operation. This solution integrates with the approach proposed by Bennamann, the UK-based start-up partnering with New Holland that focuses on innovation around the collection, processing and storage of fugitive methane with the aim of unlocking circular economy benefits for customers and delivering a local, clean energy revolution.
Carlo Lambro, Brand President of New Holland Agriculture says: “We are honoured to receive this Green Good Design Award, an authority in the design sector, and even more proud that the recognition is given to such a ground-breaking prototype tractor set to represent a significant expansion in New Holland’s alternative energy tractor range. The New Holland T7 Methane Power LNG marries great design with great tech and innovation, the result of our continued investment of our energies in creating something that is not only useful, sustainable and functional, but also beautiful to see.”
