Sonalika Tractors on 23 December 2020 launched a field-ready electric tractor for the domestic market at an introductory price of Rs. 5.99 lakh.
Sonalika Tiger Electric is equipped with a-11 KW induction motor along with a 25.5 KWH lithium ion battery that can be full charged in ten hours through a regular home-charging socket & in four hours with a fast charging system.
The company said that Tiger Electric can run for eight hours while operating with a 2-ton trolley on a single charge.
It must be noted that 3 years back, Escorts Ltd had revealed its in-house developed electric tractor. The company had exported it to few developed markets but was not able to launch in India.
The company said, “Our electric tractors are designed in Europe & developed in-house with proven aggregates to deliver seamless power & emission free, noiseless farming”. It added that the availability of extra torque delivers more power that would maximise the performance of tractor on the field without causing exhaustion to the driver.
The new electric tractor assures better comfort for cultivators as no heat is transferred from the engine & lesser number of parts result in reduced vibration, thus ensuring lesser product downtime & zero maintenance costs, Sonalika said, claiming that it can bring down the running costs to one-fourth as compared to a conventional diesel-run tractor.
Sonalika added that it has developed many electric tractors including some bigger models and is working on a plan to roll them out commercially soon.
Raman Mittal, executive director, Sonalika Tractors said, “It is built on the proven tractor platform of Sonalika to ensure pocket friendly performance while being easy-to-use as we progress towards an emission-free, greener tomorrow. The Tiger Electric operations are no different than normal tractor making it farmer-friendly while cutting off the fuel costs".
Mittal said riding on the strong demand for tractors, Sonalika has recorded a growth of 33 percent in its tractor sales so far this fiscal against industry growth of 13 percent.
