Will electric tractors gain traction? At a pilot event for farmers,
researchers see possibilities
[September 20, 2025] By
MICHAEL PHILLIS, MELINA WALLING and JOSHUA A. BICKEL
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — In the soft dirt of an indoor horseback
riding ring last month, a group of farmers got ready to test drive a new
piece of equipment: an electric tractor.
As they took turns climbing in — some surprised by its quick
acceleration — they gave real-time feedback to the Michigan State
University researchers who have been developing it for over two years.
The farmers remarked on the motor's quiet whir. Most were intrigued, or
at least open to the idea. Some were concerned that the battery on the
underside of the carriage would mean a lower clearance over the field,
while others worried that it would simply be too expensive.
“What we hope to do when we retire is we want to get everything electric
on the farm. The tractor is the last electric implement to get,” said
Don Dunklee, one of the farmers to provide feedback. He runs a small
organic vegetable farm that's relied on wind and solar for decades.
The market is fairly new, but some researchers and entrepreneurs think
electric tractors will be ideal for small farmers who care about
sustainability and want to market their products that way. The small
cherry-red, open-cab machine is well-suited for tasks like weeding
fields of specialty crops like carrots or asparagus, or squeezing
between the tight rows of orchard trees. Farmers with solar panels can
avoid the cost of diesel.
Agriculture is among the largest sources of climate-warming emissions
worldwide. Though tractors are a small culprit, experts believe an
environmentally friendly machine would still attract buyers interested
in sustainability.
“There’s reduced emissions, but before you get there, you have to be
solving for other problems,” including noise, ease of use and cost, said
Derek Muller, business manager for battery electric systems at John
Deere.
There are downsides — electric tractors are aimed at filling a niche,
not overturning the status quo. And while battery technology has come a
long way, they can’t last all day or match the massive horsepower of a
diesel engine that sets giant tractors cruising through the sprawling
grain and soybean operations of the Midwest.
Why few companies offer electric tractor options, and who wants them
In addition to battery limitations, there are other structural
obstacles. Most farmers do not have fast electric chargers, nor do they
have solar panels to supply those chargers with free electricity —
diesel would need to be much more expensive for the economics to turn
sharply in favor of electric. But companies are starting to see an
opportunity.
“For John Deere, it is not the only solution,” Muller said. “It’s not
going to be where we lead our efforts. It’s going to be one of many
options.”
The company has built a small utility electric tractor prototype. It
joins a limited set of offerings from other companies like Monarch
Tractor, which started in 2019 with the aim to help farmers, who have
traditionally struggled with razor-thin profits, save money, work
sustainably and more efficiently.
Ajit Srivastava, an agricultural engineer and Michigan State professor
who hosted the farmer feedback session, wants to help smallholder
farmers across the world. Such farmers grow about a third of the world’s
food but many do it with only hand tools. He started trying to emulate a
pair of oxen made of off-the-shelf parts, so anyone could build it
themselves.
“If we were to mechanize all the smallholder farmers in the world, there
isn’t enough diesel out there to power them. So we have to find some
other source,” Srivastava said.
It's still a work in progress. Rain had postponed the feedback session,
originally planned for the spring, because the tractor hadn't been
waterproofed yet. It also doesn't have enough power for some jobs like
tilling. But farmers generally like what Srivastava had developed. He
hopes it could eventually be sold for roughly $30,000, substantially
cheaper than some of the competition.
[to top of second column] |
MK Bashar, right, test drives an electric tractor as Ben Phillips,
left, watches Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025, during a demonstration in East
Lansing, Mich. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
 “The steering is really responsive.
It just seems to run really smooth,” said Dunklee, adding, however,
that it might not do everything he needs on a farm yet. “Probably
the biggest thing would be it’s relatively quiet.”
Muller said they're seeing demand for electric tractors from Europe,
where farming policies are sometimes more progressive. And there's
also a market at universities in other countries where researchers
are studying agriculture, said Brendan Dowdle, chief business
officer of Bonsai Robotics, which sells modular, automated electric
farm robots that can work together to mimic some tasks ordinarily
done by a tractor.
One possible customer is the so-called “gentleman farmer” who has a
small operation of specialty crops or vegetables and farms for fun,
not necessarily to make a living.
“They want to be self-sustaining,” said Patrick Woolcock, an
associate engineering professor and agriculture expert at the
University of Wisconsin-River Falls.
Plus, without harmful diesel emissions, they can work in greenhouses
and, with fewer parts, there's hope repairs won't be as complicated,
at least once a readily available supply is established.
Could electric tractors be more compatible with automation?
Some entrepreneurs see electric tractors as a step on the path to
automation — fewer workers, more efficiency and less cost. Engineers
are now designing machines that will drive themselves and power
precise weeders and planters.
For example, Monarch Tractor CEO Praveen Penmetsa noted that if a
self-guided tractor gets stuck and has to notify the farmer,
electric power has clear benefits. A diesel tractor would sit there
idling, but an electric one doesn’t waste fuel while waiting.
Srivastava also said he's just trying to make people's lives easier
— looking backward all day to make sure a plow is operating properly
is grueling. So, a self-driving tractor would let farmers pay more
attention to ensuring harvesting is happening properly, or the
weeder isn't accidentally digging up crops.
"Not that we want to take the operator off the tractor, the operator
would be there, but they can focus on how well the operation is
going rather than making sure the tractor is in the rows," he said.
Still, some aren’t so sure electric has such a big advantage when it
comes to automation. Tim Bucher, CEO of Agtonomy, a company focused
on bringing autonomy software to farm vehicles, was all-in on
electric a few years ago. But the technology has gotten so good that
now his customers can pick and choose the energy source for their
tractor and see similar results, he said. And with government
electric vehicle subsidies disappearing, there's less incentive for
most farmers to go that route.
On his own farm, though, he opts for electric, and he says he's seen
economic returns.
And from an environmental perspective, “it also just makes me feel
better,” he said.
___
Phillis reported from Washington and Walling reported from Chicago.
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