Electric tractors — where are we really? An honest review for Irish farms
You've seen the headlines. Fendt unveils electric tractor. New Holland goes battery-powered. The future of farming is electric.
Then you look at your 180hp John Deere pulling a mower-conditioner through heavy grass at 7pm on a June evening and think: how?
You're not wrong to be sceptical. The technology exists. It works — for some jobs. But for the work most Irish farms need done, electric tractors are years away from being practical. Here's an honest look at where things stand.
What actually exists today
A handful of electric tractors are on the market or in late-stage testing. None of them replace what's in your shed.
New Holland T4 Electric Power — 74hp, 110kWh battery. Designed for livestock yards, feeding, and light loader work. About four to six hours of runtime depending on the task. Available in Ireland through New Holland dealers. Price: not publicly listed, but estimated at two to three times a comparable diesel T4.
Farmtrac FT25G — 25hp, available in Ireland. Built for horticulture, smallholdings, and amenity work. Not a farm tractor in any conventional sense. Under €30,000.
Fendt e100 Vario — 67hp, limited availability. Similar to the New Holland — designed for yard work, not field work. Fendt has been cautious about pushing it as a replacement for anything with a PTO.
Monarch MK-V — 70hp, US market only. GPS-guided, designed for vineyards and orchards. Not relevant to Irish livestock or tillage.
Solectrac — this US startup was one of the first to market with small electric tractors. It went bankrupt in 2024. That tells you something about where the economics are.
Why batteries don't work for heavy farming — yet
The maths is brutal.
A 300hp tractor working a 12-hour harvest day uses roughly the equivalent of 1,500kWh of energy. The battery pack to store that would weigh approximately 10 tonnes. For context, the tractor itself might weigh 10 tonnes.
You'd be pulling a battery that weighs as much as the tractor. In a field. Through soil. The physics doesn't add up.
According to Teagasc research on future farm power, current lithium-ion battery technology doesn't have the energy density for heavy agricultural machinery. The energy-to-weight ratio is roughly 50 times worse than diesel. Batteries are improving — but not at the rate the headlines suggest.
Charging is the other problem. Even with a fast charger, refilling a tractor-sized battery takes hours. You can fill a diesel tank in five minutes. During silage, that difference matters.
What about hydrogen?
Teagasc has flagged hydrogen as more promising than batteries for heavy farm equipment. Hydrogen fuel cells have better energy density than batteries. A hydrogen tank weighs far less than an equivalent battery pack.
The catch: hydrogen infrastructure doesn't exist in rural Ireland. There are no farm-gate hydrogen refuelling stations. The production and distribution network is years away.
Several manufacturers — including JCB and AGCO — are testing hydrogen-powered prototypes. JCB's hydrogen combustion engine is one of the most advanced. But none are commercially available for farm use in Ireland today.
Where electric makes sense right now
Electric tractors have a genuine role — just a narrow one.
Yard work. Feeding livestock, scraping yards, moving bales short distances. These are low-power, short-duration jobs where a 70hp electric tractor with four to six hours of battery life works fine. No exhaust fumes in enclosed sheds is a real benefit.
Horticulture and market gardens. Smaller operations where the work is lighter and the distances are shorter. The Farmtrac FT25G fits here.
Amenity and council work. Mowing, maintenance, grounds keeping. This is where most electric tractor sales happen globally.
For mainstream Irish farming — silage, ploughing, slurry spreading, heavy cultivation — electric is not ready.
What the manufacturers are actually saying
If you read past the press releases, the manufacturers are honest about the timeline.
New Holland calls the T4 Electric a "specialist" machine, not a replacement for its diesel range. AGCO (Fendt's parent) has said publicly that full electrification of large tractors is a decade or more away. John Deere is investing heavily in battery research but hasn't committed to a timeline for large electric models.
Nobody with skin in the game is telling you to wait for an electric 200hp tractor. Because it doesn't exist on any near-term roadmap.
The realistic timeline
Based on current technology and what Teagasc, manufacturers, and energy researchers are saying:
- Now to 2028: Electric tractors stay niche — yard work, horticulture, small operations. Diesel remains dominant.
- 2028 to 2032: Larger battery-electric prototypes emerge. Hydrogen prototypes reach field testing. Neither is mainstream.
- 2032 to 2040: If battery density improves significantly or hydrogen infrastructure builds out, you might see viable alternatives for medium-duty field work. Heavy-duty (200hp+) remains diesel or hydrogen.
A realistic estimate for mainstream heavy electric farm tractors: 10 to 15 years. And that depends on battery breakthroughs that haven't happened yet.
Should you delay buying a diesel tractor?
No.
Your next tractor will run on diesel. The one after that probably will too. The second-hand value of a well-maintained diesel tractor isn't going to collapse because of electric models that can't do the same work.
If you're buying a yard loader or a light-duty machine for enclosed buildings, an electric option is worth pricing. The running costs are lower and the zero-emissions benefit in sheds is real. But don't pay three times the price for a machine that does half the work.
According to CSO energy data, agriculture accounts for about 2% of Ireland's total energy consumption. The pressure to decarbonise farm machinery is real but not immediate. EU emissions targets focus on methane and fertiliser first. Tractor fuel is further down the priority list.
Where to get help
- Teagasc: Ask your advisor about the latest on farm energy and decarbonisation research. See teagasc.ie/rural-economy/farm-management/farm-energy.
- Your dealer: Ask New Holland, Fendt, or any dealer about electric models. Get a demo if one is available. Form your own view.
- FarmAI Ireland: We'll keep tracking this space and updating as new models reach Ireland.
The bottom line
Electric tractors exist. They work for light-duty, short-duration jobs. They're nowhere near ready for the heavy field work that Irish farms depend on. Your next tractor will be diesel — and that's fine. Keep an eye on hydrogen. Ignore the headlines that say farming is about to go fully electric. It's not. Not yet.
Part of our Farm Energy series. Read next: Will a 3-phase upgrade pay for itself on your farm?
Sources
- Teagasc — Future Farm Power and Emissions — Teagasc research on battery technology limits and hydrogen alternatives for farm machinery
- New Holland — T4 Electric Power — New Holland Ireland product information for the T4 Electric tractor
- AGCO/Fendt — e100 Vario — Fendt electric tractor specifications and availability
- CSO — Energy Statistics — CSO data on energy consumption patterns in Irish agriculture
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