Soletrac Electric Tractor | Interview with CEO and Founder

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[@neuropilot7310]

What about right-to-repair? Can a farmer troubleshoot and repair their tractor? Replace a failed board if necessary, without transporting the tractor back to the dealer, or an expensive service call? It ain't like they can claim it's emissions regulations, that restrict farmers from repairing their own tractors.

[@MYGM350]

Like he said, only one moving part against more than 300 in diesel, obvious conclusion…

[@bigbearhungry983]

@@MYGM350 That's not what he asked.

[@MitzvosGolem1]

John Deere totally ignores this as does CAT. Being sued in Nebraska .

[@kevind5841]

It’s only the battery management system that is different, everything a hobby farmer with basic electronic and battery knowledge can handle the repairs. Like all new technology, the knowledge base will grow if you want to learn.

[@MitzvosGolem1]

@@kevind5841 SCR drive variable speed AC or a DC main motor? Square wave or old fashion contactors ? Electric forklift s have used this tech for decades. Maybe adopt some ideas parts from them . I test drove your Tractor at Louisville KY expo. Excellent 👍

[@badgerdad777]

I designed and built a small articulated loader for landscapers several years ago. It was a daunting project so I have some idea the sweat and tears it took for you to get to this point. And I understand there are several other challenges ahead.

[@michaelbackovski4994]

Having been an alternative energy nut for many years, I was most interested in your presentation. Thanks so much!

[@tonydeveyra4611]

I'm planning to get a e70n through a air pollution control district incentive program. That said, we do vegetable crops and strawberries so it's important to us that we can get a wider track setting...64 inches or 80 inches ideally.

[@shekharmoona544]

Hopefully they stick to consumer focused right to repair stance.

[@theunknownunknowns5168]

The regenerative agriculture movement is going to take advantage of technologies like this, lots of silicon valley/agile types are in the regenerative farming space.

[@MrMawnster]

yes....as a canadian medium small sized producer out west, I try to do regenerative stuff, I'm so excited that one day I can close the loop and also stick it to the man. On farm power generation with panels etc to charge my tractor would be glorious

[@DVLOGSYT]

Isn't this Farmtrac?

[@MrMawnster]

Thank you so much for doing this! I love that you made a 70hp one, would be perfect to replace my old Deutz 72-06 with, but it needs to not be a narrow machine ( non orchard), and needs enough weight for traction. I am a medium sized rancher so to bale, disc and seed and pull my bale wagon a bit more weight and wider stance makes it safer. But I'm sure you'll make more types eventually once you're thriving profit wise, I get that you have to go after the small segment first it's a gold mine and ..well...farming might start collapsing to smaller scale again

[@utubota5522]

Great info! I am glad to hear about the backhoe. I would recommend that you change the reverse method to a foot switch or pedal of some sort. Great tractors, but the reverse switch is a show stopper.

[@kelvynbettridge]

We need these available now in Australia!

[@rardenne]

Yes we do! Dealership in Sydney South region please

[@serta5727]

Wow impressive that he could convert whole tractors

[@MYGM350]

Very good, I’m planning to come back to a farm life in Canada, after ecological construction design course with energy,water and food autonomy studies, sure will start with electrics tractors and all tools. Your video is very rich!

[@christopherkleps2976]

The Solectrac 25 G is the Farmtrac 25 G, made by EscortsKubota in India. With the support from Solectrac/Ideanonics weak or missing, I fail to understand why there is no support from the manufacturer in the form of a workshop manual or parts support. Chris Kleps

[@chriswirth5975]

Very good Solectrac! 👍 I'll be looking you up! Cali NV mkt..

[@wadafruit]

Glad to see you all will be selling in India. Hopefully I'd affordable prices for those farmers. India badly needs electric revolution over there. The pollution all over there is a lot. But if that government sort of steps in and starts helping and if more entrepreneurs are given opportunities it will be great for India. Other than that I'm glad that you all got to interview the CEO and found her. I remember following them before they got acquired. They have improved greatly especially after the acquisition. I would invest into ID x for the long-term. They are doing a very good job so far of managing their portfolio of companies. Especially this one. Thanks again for the interview.

[@palecompass3598]

We have a Monarch on the way, but I've had my eye on Solectrac, too. I could see using the smallest tractor in several ways around a medium or small farm. Right now, there are 2 incentive programs in CA that can be used for the small Solectrac tractor, too.

[@haouamhichem6627]

Very good job ❤️

[@dongreenfield1906]

Great video and since I grew up on a farm and ran all farm equipment that was noisy especially working 12 hour days in the field. I am really curious if this company will be expanding into larger tractors that does air seeding with 80 foot wide cultivators. Also, just imagining if anyone have been engineering electric combines that harvests grain and corn, since it requires a great deal of horsepower to run these large equipment nowadays and yes, all lot of fuel is used to get the job done. Perhaps the metal battery technology could be used to power large scale equipment in the future.

[@ggardentracks2012]

I am very interested in the farming and electric revolution. I’m part of a small off grid market garden. One thing that could be huge for electric tractors is GRID FEEDBACK. Zach and Jesse, we need a new series!! It’s almost better than the electric school bus backup idea because this could allow tractors battery banks to be used in the winter! When solar is low and we need battery storage the most, tractors are in their off-season! If they made Giant battery tractors like you are talking about, Don, this could allow farmers to act almost as a utility company in the off-season.

[@pinkelephants1421]

India & other developing countries: for most individual farmers these would be too expensive but a village might be able to club together to buy one & the solar/battery storage system via a micro financing loan. Could be transformative especially for lone parents trying to manage child rearing and farm work alone.

[@marcolegault3564]

Wondering if I put my 5feet wide snow blower on it, how long could I blow through a foot of wet heavy snow ? thanks

[@MrLoudog7]

Does anyone know what states have rebates or ev incentives ?

[@wadafruit]

I've been following them since they were independent and then got bought out by ideonomics. I think ideonomics is doing a good job managing this purchase of this company. I hope this company is succeeds with its founder at the helm even though it was bought out. It has great potential in the market. Maybe they could release a very compact compact bulldozer like struck company.

[@davidpape9726]

A loader without four wheel drive is useless, also 750 lbs. lifting capacity is also useless. That would not even lift a round bale of hay. If you are going to build a tractor you need a 55 to 60 HP, four wheel drive, needs to be able to lift large round bales, have good hydraulic flow rate and pressure to operate all the new implements available on the front end loader and three point hitch.

[@jimmydykes7961]

These tractors are made for riding around on.2 battery packs for 8 hrs of work?I run a flail mower behind my case,and my guess would be that the mower would drain that pack fairly quickly

[@coryneedham1851]

It would seem a solar roof (shade) would be ideal for this as dual application for being out in the sun all day. I'm no farmer and I don't envision it being able to charge at a rate of discharge but can someone please explain why this a solar shade roof is not at least an option?

[@dongreenfield1906]

Dust would be a problem settling on the panels and you would need to wash it constantly, as well as vibration may be a problem too, just my guess.

[@ggardentracks2012]

You might only get a 250w panel on there (3.5x5.5ft). In my location that would get you 2KW per day in the summer. I think it’s a great idea, but probably would cost a lot to design and add price to a product they are already trying to keep cheap. If you are going to use a tractor like this, you will definitely want a stationary solar farm of some sort, so much easier to add extra solar panels to that rather than the tractor. You would also have to add a charge controller to the tractor to convert the panels to charging voltage. Also, not sure what battery voltage they are using, but I would guess they are using semi-standard LFP batteries that come at 48v. (48v is the classic highest voltage for off the shelf LFP). A standard 250w panel won’t even make a high enough voltage (they make like 30v) to charge a battery that high voltage so maybe you would need a special type of solar panel or special charge controller. All these design considerations are probably not worth figuring out when you can just add another couple of stationary solar panels to your main system instead.

[@martinmuldoon603]

Basically a solar panel is a low energy generation system, a solar roof on a small vehicle couldn't supply enough energy for constant work, however it would still be beneficial for battery maintenance and slowly top up while tractor is sitting/idling or for very low usage which is common on farms. Farmers are great engineers they will help bring this battery industry forward, farmers have been using wind driven electricity turbines, water pumps etc for years. Farmers generally have lots of large barns that could easily be covered with solar panels. This will catch on very fast in the agricultural communities is my guess.

[@showme360]

Solar panel operate at around 34volts and 8amps not enough to run a tractor but an add on instrument with low voltage like 12v yes!

[@serta5727]

Using solar and electric tractors 🚜 you would have almost no operating cost

[@serta5727]

Interesting 😎🤓

[@newman_LaRue_Jr]

Are you going to be in Louisville Kentucky in February for the National farm machinery show

[@dgb5820]

So it’s a standard 4 hour capacity

[@toddkortekamp3685]

Zac and Jesse I have the e25 and live in VT if your interested in test run.

[@ggardentracks2012]

This sounds awesome

[@CaptainMir]

I am from Pakistan 🌹🏆 We have 🚜 and desperate to get conversion kit because its affordable.. Waiting for China to do it 💛

[@MitzvosGolem1]

I ran one at Louisville KY expo backhoe and front loader nice units. Maybe make a hybrid unit which has a Honda generator to extend run time . Ps in 1974 My grandparents had a GE Electrak battery tractor .

[@MJF40]

Saw it on TTWT and looks great ! Any plans for battery jackets or warmers ?

[@dirkdiggler2052]

Yes, it’s called a diesel engine

[@JimJWalker]

Considering that the e25 is a full 33% more expensive than a JD1025R, it's loader lifting capacity is half, and the intermittent electrical service in rural areas, it is very hard to justify an electric tractor. That may change in the future as prices are reduced.

[@MJF40]

And they need battery jackets or warmers to deal with cold too.

[@wadafruit]

Tractor time with Tim is doing a long term use of the Soletrac. He trusts his John Deere a lot and seeing him trying out a guest generation Soletrac is No-ICE.

[@jameshoffman552]

Hmmm, I can probably make a better use case to my family for a Soletrac than a 3rd Model Y.

[@srbailey7]

Is Solectrac having troubles? I’ve called and left messages twice. I’ve sent a message via the online form at the website. I did the same for the dealer in the Round Rock, TX area. No one has ever contacted me!!! Either you are going under or you will because you don’t seem to care to follow-up on insistent sales leads.

[@winnipegnick]

It would be nice if they partnered up with businesses like MacDon or John Deer to make it for them. They may be able to ramp up faster and get a great quality product out on the market.

[@davidmcdonald9180]

From the goals stated they should have a discussion with someone from BioLite Inc which is just passing ten years in Africa, and is also big in India.

[@kellybarthel8060]

Let me get this straight, these small farmers can't afford a used diesel tractor. But they can afford a brand new electric tractor?

[@chriskimber7179]

Ooof, IDEX is not all that promising. I'm just looking to move my small market vegetable farm operation into tractor territory -mostly for building and spreading compost. Think I'll be buying a Kubota which is 1/2 the price and a great dealer network. It would take me 50 years to see the break even on fuel and maintenance. Sure love to see these get better -I really want one!

[@richardrich3445]

Tractor time with Tim tractor time tractor time with Tim and induced sex distractor yours I was very pleased with the detail he went through I hope he does more work on that demonstration of your tractor because it was a very inspiration to see how much it did keep the good work going I appreciate it

[@katsheetz]

Taxing farmers off the land is happening farmers and landowners are expected to carry the budgets of spend happy politicians.

[@Nitrotix1]

And the USDA is levying huge fines for nonsensical infractions.

[@simpleagain1]

So vote Democrat and stop voting republitard

[@wildtwindad]

The key in my mind is that all these systems have to be modular, and field repairable. Also batteries NEED to be able to be modular/removable/hot swapable. No farmer in their right mind wants to deal with cold dead batts.

[@CultureIsKey]

Nice video. Their stock plummeted a chunk of my savings, so I needed to see if they were actually doing anything to change their value. Seems that they are!

[@BowenOrg]

INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE ASK ALL THE BILLIONAIRES TO INVEST $1 BILLION EACH AND GET THESE LIFE-CHANGING MACHINES OUT TO FARMERS & GARDENERS GLOBALLY IMMEDIATELY.... IT'S THAT IMPORTANT! Amen Retired, Veteran

[@ChitFromChinola]

I have a Solectrac e25 compact tractor, serial #32. It’s awesome. I’ve had it for just over a year now with zero maintenance. Operates in cold-weather Wisconsin with no problem. I just plug in the a 110v wall plug at night and it’s ready to go in the morning.

[@carlsmith2826]

Have these guys preformed a all weather condition testing because not everyone lives in wine country?

[@wadafruit]

Tractor time with Tim is doing a long term use of the Soletrac. He trusts his John Deere a lot and seeing him trying out a guest generation Soletrac is No-ICE.

[@wheelgun5102]

Dang I bought a Kubota grand l4060 for less than their subcompact. Heck you would need to run a subcompact for a decade even at todays fuel prices to break even. Give it 10 years and if the graphene batteries pan out maybe they will workout. They need 3 to 5 times the capacity to run a pto implement for any real amount of time.

[@MYGM350]

Another important point is the fuel cost today and in 10 years, and still available? , if yes, for how much? we are paying now the double from last 2 years, maybe 10 $ one gallon soon, but over the price, the goal is to get autonomy with solar, starting your tractor tomorrow zero fuel, the huge oil industry can stop but it’s not your problem…

[@wheelgun5102]

@@MYGM350 I get that one day electric might be viable, but for now it isn’t. 1 you have to buy solar panels which for me to meet base needs is a 36k investment. 2 if grid tied until solar becomes more efficient we need to move back to nuclear power plants which the environmentalists hate as well. 3 in 10 years I do hope graphene batteries actually happen where we get 3 to 5 times the power storage in the same space with the charge times cut to minutes instead of hours. Right now fuel prices have been artificially raised due to the current POTUS executive orders. Give it 2 more years and he will make it to where no one will be on his side. Our grid can not take an uptick in electric vehicles for the short term. China definitely can not produce your solar panels fast enough.

[@protovack]

"no front load" option? that can't be right.

[@frog42]

This guy gets it

[@katsheetz]

most what you call huge industrial farms are NOT industrial but usually families that have incorporate to support those families

[@showme360]

The most successful EV cars have been the ones that have been designed from the ground up. This tractor is based on an existing design and there fore does not address the issue most farmers would have, range anxiety, or in this case, task a anxiety. So imagine a tractor with a drop out battery pack, so it could run 24/7 as some people have mentioned below, you would need at least 3 battery packs for each tractor. How are they charged? via solar the cheapest energy there is to day, followed by wind energy. If I was a farmer I would get a third party involved who would handle all your energy needs, all you do in return is pay a premium price that is fixed for ten/twenty years, in return for solar on your roof, and battery charging points that could be subsidised by public users needing a charge. The existing old out of date grid network would just act as a trickle charge, to help support your renewable needs. My biggest worry is that how do we put all that carbon back in the ground, as it took nature millions of years to achieve, I would say that even if we covered the whole Earth in Trees it would not come anywhere near enough!

[@solartime8983]

Thank you D.I. for this interview!🧑‍🌾🌞 "Solar for all countries levels the playing field" CEO is a WISE Man!! 🌻🗽

[@sholomgordon7890]

Is this the same companey that was doing autonimus tracters

[@pinkelephants1421]

I think you've got Monarch & John Deere in mind.

[@katsheetz]

these are fine for small operations with predictable weather and lots of sunshine.

[@pinkelephants1421]

Actually they're fine for many large commercial operations such as fruit growers, wineries, orchards, vegetable, dairy & beef etc farms. I grew up on a farm & Solectrac products would EASILY have covered (most) of what our old Massey Ferguson tractor would have done. Our farm was six hundred acres.

[@simpleagain1]

@@pinkelephants1421 -Exactly!

[@Ful-OGold]

But what they don’t talk about is how much more destruction to the planet to dig out all these minerals to make the batteries and than of course what happens when the batteries are dead? How do you recycle them? What happens to all the chemicals that are spilt when there’s a car crash?

[@honesty_-no9he]

What is it with you guys? The worst kind of FUD media sticks this crap in your brain and it sticks there like glue. They said it has an LFP battery. Maybe do some research about LFP batteries.

[@ChitFromChinola]

That’s just propaganda. They use lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) batteries that use ordinary iron as the main component, so not rare or hard to get. The batteries don’t have any liquid that spills, and tractors don’t generally get in crashes. Batteries are easy to recycle. EVs are far less environmentally damaging than gas or diesel engines. It’s not a close call. Don’t repeat propaganda.

[@kevinashby3784]

Y’all look like you pave never seen a farm.

[@dcidci1012]

Ah now I see why you 2 set there with smiles like the cat that just ate the parakeet LOL you sold out. Now you really want to make some Jack, create a fully self charging system giving us perpetual power, if we can with alternators keep 12 volt bats charged, why not a full battery pack ?

[@dcidci1012]

OK the math begins, you say bat pk lasts 3,000 charging cycles. Now you say full charge lasts 4 hours & you say 10 yrs life ??? Well 10 yrs is equal to an 83% charge 1 time per day ? Now U really do have an open mind for the tractor, 100% against Elect. cars & trucks, I might want to go 2100 miles in 2 days not 10 or 12 days. but I am 100% in favor of battery operated power tools. I wan to know how much Diesel/Coal/Natural Gas does it take to make your Battery packs ? & how much to keep them charged daily? I have a 29 yr old Ford diesel I bought new in 94 that has never been touched by a wrench, oil & fuel & hytrans filters only. Starts like a new car. you say 10 yrs for the bat pk ? I am open here I am, convert me to Battery.

[@AK88.]

Please, for god sake turn down the bass on your mic. Not sure if overcompensating or if your sound guy is an imposter.

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[@On_The_Farm]

A lot of work to do yet folks. Someday electric tractors may make sense, but not now.

[@CSGATI]

Take something cheap and make it more expensive.is not good progress.

[@pinkelephants1421]

AS with EV's of all types, I think you're kind of missing the point; it's the TCO & increased reliability that counts. In business, that matters.

[@ggardentracks2012]

The electric tractor is also a newer product (in the whole market, not just for this company) and has not received the benefits of economies of scale yet. And I wouldn’t ever call a new tractor cheap. Even the most used beat up ones are not cheap

[@ChitFromChinola]

The cost of these electric tractors is on par with conventional ones.

[@hornett22]

Gay

[@jessewoody5772]

To hell with our economy, Lets all go out and buy some indian and chinese junk. I misread the headiing, I thought it read disruptive inventing. Not investing. We need disruptive investing in our country, our economy and landfills will thank us.

[@khrisyeet8022]

I hope the CEO gets his tractor back from tractor time with tim. He did a horrible job for that company. He has no business reviewing anything.