A number of new electric-powered vehicles made their debut at Agritechnica following years of development.

German company, Sensor-Technik Wiedemann GmbH (STW), unveiled a specially adapted electric powered tractor at the show. Although not scheduled to be produced commercially any time soon, the tractor is a French-built Noremat base tractor adapted by STW for electric power.

Known as the Symone demonstrator, it took in excess of €100,000 to convert the tractor to battery power. “The battery is a lithium ion cell and alone cost over €50,000,” said Klaus Gnahm from STW. “It’s a 100 kwh battery from Kreisel Electric, in Austria and charges to full capacity in just one hour.

“With a full charge and depending on the workload of the machine, the battery can run for three to five hours. This is the same technology that is used in the Fendt e100 electric tractor and it is us that supplies Agco with our electric system for that particular tractor,” he said.

The electric tractor will primarily be used as a test vehicle for a number of applications to aid further development of electric powered vehicles.

Also on an electric theme, the world’s first electric powered self-propelled mixer wagon with silage intake chute was on show on the Supertino stand. Developed in Italy in a joint venture with the University of Turin, Supertino said it has been developing the wagon for the last two years and hopes to bring it to production stage sometime next year.

Although the mixer and its 150kw battery can currently run for two hours on a full charge – which takes three hours reach 100% when hooked up to the mains – the company said it was trying to improve that running time to around four hours.

The unit on show was the Electra 21 model with a tub capacity of 21 cubic metres and measuring 8.2m long. Supertino said it was planning to develop and produce a total of six electric powered feed wagons, starting with the Electra 12 model with a capacity of 12 cubic metres up to the biggest Electra 23 with a 23 cubic metre capacity.

Supertino did not state a price for any of the models stating that further tests and developments were needed before the wagon was on offer for sale and that this will further affect the price.