To address the challenge of limited continuous operation time in pure electric tractors, this study proposed a hybrid electric tractor powered primarily by fuel cells with batteries serving as auxiliary power sources.Fuel cell model, power battery model and tractor model were established. An advanced energy management strategy was developed, integrating a power‑following strategy and fuzzy logic control, and further optimized using the tabu search algorithm. The power‑following strategy ensured that the fuel cell provided output power based on real‑time demand, with the state of charge (SOC) of the battery serving as the independent variable for regulation. Simultaneously, the fuzzy logic strategy was designed to limit rapid changes in the fuel cell's power output, thereby reducing frequent power fluctuations. To enhance both energy efficiency and system durability, a comprehensive energy consumption evaluation function was established, incorporating metrics for energy utilization and fuel cell longevity. The tabu search algorithm was used to iteratively optimize the membership functions and weight coefficients of the fuzzy control strategy, thereby improving the operational economy of pure electric tractors and extending the durability of fuel cells. The simulation results validate the effectiveness of the proposed energy management strategy across varying SOC conditions, demonstrating a significant reduction in fuel cell and reduce power fluctuations. In the 600 s simulation period, the proposed strategy decreased equivalent hydrogen consumption by 1.2% and 1.5% compared to compared to fuzzy control and power‑following strategies, respectively. Additionally, it reduced the rate of fuel cell lifespan decline by 46% and 15%, respectively.