Electric tractors models are increasing

Electric tractor models are increasing from different manufacturers for the smaller holdings in agriculture and horticulture. Models are available from different manufacturers are available. Check out the top 10 largest tractor manufacturers below, although Wikipedia has a list of dozens and Tractor Junction has a top 10 list. About 245,000 tractors are sold in the USA each year. In India, about 9m are sold annually, with another million exported. China has about 650,000 tractor sales per year. Coimpare with Global Car sales of about 80m a year which includes about 20% as pickup trucks.

Top 10 Tractor Manufacturers

  1. Mahindra & Mahindra from India
  2. John Deere USA
  3. Massey Ferguson USA since 1953 although Massey was originally from UK
  4. Case IH from the USA, since 1927
  5. Sonalika International. India, since 1960
  6. Escorts Group – ex Ford, in 60 countries (2021 = 4,695 tractors sold but in 2020 = 7,733)
  7. Kubota Japan since 1890
  8. Fendt (Germany)
  9. Deutz Farh – another European manufacturer
  10. Class – since 1913 and known as well for combine harvestors

Growing Demand for Tractors

BlueWeave Consulting says the global tractor market:

  • Worth USD 67.4 billion in 2021
  • Projected USD 98.0 billion by 2028
  • CAGR of 4.4% during the forecast period (2022-2028).

Various factors are driving the global tractor market

  • Increasing farm mechanization rates
  • Increasing automation in agriculture industry
  • Rising labor costs
  • Seasonal labor shortages
  • Shorter tractor replacement cycles.
  • Emergence of organic farming and growing demand for food products around the world
  • Integration of AI into agricultural equipment
  • The emergence of Farming 4.0 creates lucrative growth opportunities for the global tractor market.

Electric Tractor Models

Some manufacturers have announced electric tractor models but few are producing them. Here is a short selection

Solectrac

Solectrac from the USA has made a few hundred. It has 3 models:

  • 25HP (18kW) with a PTO power of 20HP (15kW) at $28,000 starting price. These have a 3 to 6 hour running time, with a 22 kWh battery. They say these are good for hauling, mowing, tilling
  • 40 HP
  • 75HP for vineyards and commercial farms

Monarch

Purchasers of the Monarch Tractors can place a reserve. The tractor is a 70kW / 10 hours of runtime.

John Deere

John Deere has announced new autonomous tractor concepts based on electric, autonomous driving and artificial intelligence

  • Small utility tractors based on their 1R models with high PTO power, allowing more than 10,000 m² of lawn (1 ha) to be mowed with one battery charge lasting 4.5 hours
  • Very large – e.g. very compact electric drive unit with integrated attachment. The tractor has a total output of 500 kW and can be equipped with either wheels or tracks.
  • Drones.