Deutz AG: Green Agricultural Machinery with Electric Drives

Drive Technology The Path to Green Agricultural Machinery

2025-12-09 From Bert van Hasselt, Managing Director of New Tech at Deutz AG | Translated by AI 4 min Reading Time

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Agriculture secures food supply and directly feels the effects of global warming. Deutz AG aims to contribute with various products and expertise to reduce the CO2 emissions of the industry.

Telehandlers are pioneers in the application of electric drives. Pictured here: a Magni telehandler with a Deutz battery.(Image: Deutz AG) — Telehandlers are pioneers in the application of electric drives. Pictured here: a Magni telehandler with a Deutz battery.
(Image: Deutz AG)

Environmentally friendly drives are a component of 'green agriculture' and will replace combustion engines powered by fossil fuels in the future. Which drive technology will prevail in the long term remains uncertain. Hydrogen – in fuel cells or combustion engines – enables propulsion with very low pollutant emissions. However, today the technology is still too inefficient, complex, and delicate for tough everyday use. 'ReFuels' are at least CO2-neutral, but will remain scarce for years to come.

At Deutz AG, we are convinced that, in the medium term, electromobility offers the best balance of environmental friendliness, practicality, cost efficiency, and technological maturity. Electric drives operate quietly and are free of local emissions, making them suitable for stable facilities and residential areas.

A Complete Ecosystem

The Deutz New Tech business unit offers a broad product portfolio and extensive expertise in battery-electric drives for agricultural machinery. The company has evolved into a full-service provider—through its own technological expertise and acquisitions like Futavis for battery management systems and UMS for the complete integration of electric drives.

The ecosystem encompasses electric traction motors, batteries, power electronics, software, and charging solutions. Deutz is systematically digitizing the powertrain and expanding it with customer-oriented software functions.

With over 160 years of experience in building internal combustion engines, the company understands the design and integration of drives and the requirements of specific vehicle types. The service network—more than 1,000 locations worldwide—is being systematically prepared for electric drives. Experienced specialists with comprehensive high-voltage training maintain the electric drives and carry out necessary repairs.

Development in Energy Storage

In the realm of batteries, the heart of the electric drive, Deutz New Tech offers NMC (Nickel-Manganese-Cobalt) and LFP (Lithium Iron Phosphate) batteries—currently the two most promising cell chemistries. LFP is catching up: it offers higher energy density, greater safety against thermal runaway, lower costs, and longer cycle life. NMC has been the preferred choice so far.

The company utilizes both cell chemistries and manufactures batteries in various sizes and with operating voltages up to 1,000 volts. Customers receive a modular battery system that can be tailored to power requirements and installation dimensions.

Semi-solid and solid-state electrolytes, along with new anode and cathode materials, will bring further technological leaps and significant increases in energy density. This enhances the competitiveness of electric drives compared to diesel and facilitates market penetration—even for machines with high continuous power requirements.

If the stored energy is insufficient for combines, chippers, or other equipment, Deutz offers swap battery systems. These allow for quick battery exchanges and the rapid provision of electrical power. The company is already delivering such swap batteries in series for large excavators.

A Future Full of Energy

The Deutz “Power Tree” is a mobile fast charging system for farms, depots, or construction sites, complementing Deutz batteries. It combines a battery storage system with complete charging infrastructure for 400- or 800-volt batteries and delivers up to 150 kW DC.

The system is housed in a 10- or 20-foot container, offering up to 256 kWh of storage capacity (potentially up to 1 MWh) and can operate off-grid like a power bank or connect to the grid. The Power Tree enables the quick setup of a DC fast charging station on-site, allowing machines to charge in under 30 minutes.

If a farm generates its own energy with photovoltaics, that energy can be stored in the Power Tree and utilized in its vehicles at very low costs. The company has demonstrated in several projects which types of vehicles can be equipped with this system.

For example, we equipped a telescopic handler from an Italian manufacturer with a high-performance battery. This device primarily operates in agriculture and can therefore be regularly charged at the Power Tree. Tests for batteries and/or electric drives in telescopic handlers have been agreed upon with additional manufacturers.

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Date: 08.12.2025

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Smaller tractors can also be electrified. Deutz has already installed batteries in vineyard tractors from a southern European manufacturer. Since they also serve as multifunctional implement carriers in municipal use, small tractors represent a promising field. Drives with more than 100 kW are now being tested in larger tractors for construction and agriculture.

In about five to ten years, electric drives are expected to be technically feasible in nearly all agricultural machinery. Whether the lifespan of the battery storage will be sufficient for everyday use remains to be seen. We are working intensively to increase the storage capacity with innovative cells and battery technology.

Bert van Hasselt, Managing Director of the New Tech division at Deutz AG. (Source: Deutz AG) — Bert van Hasselt, Managing Director of the New Tech division at Deutz AG.
(Source: Deutz AG)

Another task is to replace hydraulic drives with electric solutions. The combination of electric traction drives with hydraulic circuits for attachments or mechanically driven water pumps is not necessarily practical. Here, electric high-voltage drives and actuators offer interesting efficiency gains—provided they deliver the necessary power.

Keeping the Entire Powertrain in View

With modular drive, battery, and charging systems, Deutz provides solutions for the electrification of many agricultural machines. The company considers the entire powertrain while meeting individual requirements for performance, space, and infrastructure.

Together with partners and subsidiaries, we continuously test new solutions and systematically develop them into series products when they prove effective in practice.