India Gets Its First Ever Electric Tractor

After scooters, bikes and cars, electric mobility has now forayed into the agricultural sector in India as a Hyderabad-based start-up by the name Cellestial E-Mobility has launched the country’s first electric tractor. Apart from being an environment-friendly electric vehicle, the tractor also boasts of new-age features which we will have a look at here.

But before we do that, a brief about the company behind the novel vehicle. Cellestial E-Mobility is essentially an EV manufacturer that deals in passenger, goods, agricultural as well as haulage vehicles for airports as per the company’s website. In operation since 2019, the company has already managed to raise $2,00,000 (~Rs 1 crore 48 lakh) investment from a Singapore-based angel investor.

Now targeting another $6-$8 million of funding within the next six months, the company has now showcased its electric tractor as a prototype for the first time ever in India. Being electric, it is claimed to outshine its diesel-powered counterparts by a considerable margin.

To put it in numbers, the 6HP electric tractor is equivalent to a 21 HP diesel-engine tractor as per the company’s co-founder Siddhartha Durairajan. On its own, the electric tractor is able to cover up to 75 km on a single charge and can churn out a maximum power of 18 HP and a peak torque of 53 Nm.

Interestingly, the indigenous electric tractor by Cellestial E-Mobility can be charged through a power socket and also supports swappable batteries. So charging the tractor should not be any problem for the user. In addition, the tractor comes with all the modern-age features associated with electric vehicles like regenerative brakes, power inversion as well as fast charging.

The company is now planning to make the electric tractor available for sale within the next 3 to 6 months. The working prototype will result in a total of 8,000 production models of electric tractors in the next 3 years. The company is aiming to price them below Rs 5 lakh.

In addition, the co-founders promise to be working on setting up the adequate charging infrastructure for its working too. “We are planning to set up e-hut stations, community charging places, similar to gas stations, at gram panchayats. These will generate employment opportunities and e-haul the logistics sector,” Durairajan mentioned.

He even mentions the operating cost of the tractor. Around Rs 20 to Rs 35 per hour, he claims, which will be a considerable drop than what the diesel tractors usually amount to. If so, the electric tractor by Cellestial E-Mobility might have the potential to tap into the completely untapped market of agricultural vehicles which can benefit from the electric drivetrain.

Source: India Times

Image Courtesy: IndianWeb2