A Swiss family business that started as a one man operation in the 1970s has just achieved something no other company in Europe has accomplished, building the continent’s first mass produced fully electric tractor. The Knüsel family worked together for years to develop the SKE 40, an innovative electric tractor that runs on solar power collected from barn roofs. Managing director Theres Beutler Knüsel, who took over leadership of Rigitrac AG ten years ago, says the journey had plenty of setbacks, especially since many of the necessary parts didn’t even exist on the market when they started. The family got the idea after seeing solar panels covering large barn roofs and thinking how fantastic it would be if farms could use that electricity directly to power their equipment.
Working alongside the University of Dresden, the family developed their first test vehicle in 2018, creating some parts from scratch with their suppliers when nothing suitable was available. Now the company, which employs about 45 people with all four daughters working in different roles from purchasing to accounting, is successfully mass producing these groundbreaking tractors. The Swiss Federal Office of Energy recently honored the family with the prestigious Watt d’Or award, recognizing their innovation as proof they’re on the right track. The battery powered tractors, which run for six hours on a single charge, are already being used across Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Denmark, and Norway for everything from vineyard cultivation to snow removal in cities, and the ambitious family is already planning their next project: a larger, more powerful version set to launch in just two years.
