Finding
Battery tractors work where the daily energy is small and the charger is close - orchards, vineyards, livestock yards and municipal work - and autonomous robots that run slowly for long hours; row-crop tillage stays diesel because a day of draft work needs several times the largest pack built
John Deere's EPower prototype (Agritechnica 2025) matches a 130 hp diesel with up to five 39 kWh Kreisel packs, fast-charges in about half an hour and is rated for several hours of light work such as spraying, tedding or raking; first US units are planned for 2027. A 130 hp tractor at 60% load for a 10-hour tillage day turns about 580 kWh at the shaft, three times that pack.
The first startup wave is gone. Monarch Tractor raised more than $200 million for the driver-optional MK-V; Foxconn built a few hundred at Lordstown, Ohio, dealers sued over the autonomy claims, the remaining tractors were auctioned in early 2026 and Caterpillar bought the assets in April 2026. New Holland's T4 Electric Power was built on Monarch technology. Established makers now set the pace: Fendt's e100 Vario (100 kWh, up to five hours, CCS fast charging) is in series production for farm and municipal buyers, Kubota sells the compact LXe-261 in Europe, and Deere is moving from prototypes to a 2027 product.
Chinese makers are building electric tractors for domestic use first. Lovol (Weichai) showed the E504ET-3 with 58 kWh and the E2000ET-6 with 141 kWh at the China International Agricultural Machinery Exhibition in 2025, next to a 410 hp diesel-electric hybrid. XAG, the agricultural drone maker, sells the R150 autonomous ground vehicle for spraying and spreading with swappable batteries. India's Sonalika sells the Tiger Electric with a 25.5 kWh pack for small farms. Hydrogen tractors such as YTO's Dongfanghong concepts and diesel-electric autonomous AgBots from AgXeed are left out of the list because farm machinery already has battery-electric options.
Autonomous robots fit batteries better than tractors do. They trade speed for hours: FarmDroid's FD20 seeds and weeds beet on power from its own solar panels, Naïo's Orio and Sabi Agri's Alpha weed vegetables and vines, and Burro carts follow harvest crews with swappable packs. Farms usually have three-phase power and often solar, so charging is easier than on construction sites; the harder problem is powering implements, which the AEF is addressing with a high-voltage tractor-implement interface standard.
Tractors
Electric tractors
Battery-electric only; in production first.
| Model | Type | Country | Battery kWh | Charging | Runtime | Autonomy | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| e100 Vario (Fendt) | tractor | Germany | 100 | DC fast charging (CCS); on-board AC | Up to 5 h | none | in production |
| LXe-261 (Kubota) | tractor | Japan | On-board AC; DC fast option | none | in production | ||
| E504ET-3 (Lovol (Weichai)) | tractor | China | 58 | none | in production | ||
| T4 Electric Power (New Holland (CNH)) | tractor | Italy | On-board AC; DC fast option | assist | in production | ||
| SKE 50 Electric (Rigitrac) | tractor | Switzerland | On-board AC | none | in production | ||
| Tiger Electric (Sonalika) | tractor | India | 25.5 | On-board AC | none | in production | |
| 5ML autonomous orchard tractor (John Deere) | tractor | US | autonomous | prototype | |||
| EPower (John Deere) | tractor | US | 195 | Wall box or high-power DC, about 30 min fast charge | Several hours of light work | none | prototype |
| E2000ET-6 (Lovol (Weichai)) | tractor | China | 141 | none | prototype | ||
| MK-V (Monarch Tractor) | tractor | US | Swappable battery; AC charging | autonomous | closed |
Robots
Autonomous electric farm platforms
Battery-electric robots and carriers that work without a driver.
| Model | Type | Country | Battery kWh | Charging | Runtime | Autonomy | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burro Grande (Burro) | autonomous carrier | US | Swappable batteries | autonomous | in production | ||
| Amiga (farm-ng) | autonomous platform | US | Swappable batteries | autonomous | in production | ||
| FD20 (FarmDroid) | autonomous platform | Denmark | Solar panels on the machine charge its battery in the field | autonomous | in production | ||
| Orio (Naïo Technologies) | autonomous platform | France | On-board AC | autonomous | in production | ||
| Alpha (Sabi Agri) | autonomous platform | France | On-board AC | autonomous | in production | ||
| R150 (XAG) | autonomous platform | China | Swappable batteries | autonomous | in production |
Task fit
Farm tasks by battery fit
| Task | Daily energy | Fit today | Machines |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orchard and vineyard work | Low: narrow rows, light implements | Strong | Fendt e100 Vario, John Deere 5ML concept, New Holland T4 Electric Power |
| Livestock yard and loader work | Low to medium, near the farmyard charger | Strong | Compact electric tractors and wheel loaders |
| Weeding and seeding | Very low, run slowly for long hours | Strong (autonomous) | FarmDroid FD20, Naïo Orio, Sabi Agri Alpha, XAG R150 |
| Harvest logistics | Low: carry crates behind crews | Strong (autonomous) | Burro Grande, farm-ng Amiga |
| Spraying, tedding, raking | Medium | Partial: a few hours per charge | John Deere EPower, Lovol E504ET-3 |
| Primary tillage and row-crop work | High: 500+ kWh per day at 130 hp, more for larger tractors | Weak | None battery-only; diesel and diesel-electric |
Sources
Sources and scope
- Scope
- Electric Tractors and Farm Machines
- Sources
- John Deere and Farmers Weekly (Agritechnica 2025); TechCrunch (Monarch, Apr 2026); Lovol (CIAME 2025); Fendt; Maker releases and specifications; ICCT (Zero-emission construction machinery in China, Sep 2025); CCMA via Yieh; International Mining; Oct 2026
- Updated
- October 2026