Electric Monarch Tractor & AI Data Platform Support Better Vineyard Management

Electric motors are more energy efficient than gas and diesel ones. At this point, electric tractors are not nearly as common as electric cars and yet they offer many benefits. In addition to their greater efficiency, they don’t belch toxic air pollution and they are much quieter than their fossil-fuel burning counterparts. In some cases, they are being powered by electricity from clean, renewable sources.

The electric tractor manufacturer Monarch Tractor has partnered with the Scout AI data platform to better manage vineyards. Scout’s mission is to “assist growers, wineries and vineyard management companies achieve their financial objectives, grow better quality fruit, and increase their yields using data harvested during the growing season.”

Praveen Penmetsa, CEO & Co-Founder of Monarch, answered some questions for CleanTechnica.

How is the Monarch tractor driver optional? 

Historically, autonomous machinery has not supported having a driver on board and has been limited to single-use cases (e.g., an electric, autonomous feed-pushing robot for dairies that run  on a track). Early on, Monarch made a strategic decision to engineer a tractor that can be driven like a traditional tractor OR monitored remotely while the tractor conducts operations autonomously, without a driver in the seat.  

Currently, Monarch is the only manufacturer to successfully bring a fully autonomous feature to market. Monarch® Autodrive™ is available for dairies with outdoor feed lanes and can be used day or night. In the case of dairies, the MK-V pushes feed automatically, without a driver on board, like a robot. No tracks are needed. And when the owner needs the tractor to do something else, like pull a trailer bin or mow, a driver can get into the seat and take care of it.  

With a driver-optional tractor, farmers and land managers can invest in one piece of machinery that brings them the benefits of electrification, automation, and connectivity, as well as the operational versatility of a familiar, conventional tractor. It streamlines a farm’s ecosystem of equipment. 

Driver-optional also means the MK-V is equipped with semi-autonomous features. Row Follow, for instance, automatically keeps a tractor centered in a narrow row, freeing the driver to give their implement and operation their full attention. Benefits include higher precision and efficiency, lower collision risk (this is significant with crops that rely on perennial plants whose value increases over time (e.g., grapevines, orchards, blueberry bushes), and it elevates the skill level of even novice tractor operators.  

What is the battery capacity and chemistry? 

The Monarch XLR battery is a 105 kWh (nameplate) NMC lithium-ion battery.  

The MK-V delivers up to 70 horsepower, when needed: 40 HP at the PTO continuously and the additional 30 HP is available when the tractor needs it for driving and hydraulic systems. Each system adapts and draws what it needs, accurately adjusting to fluctuating demands stemming from the implement used and operational requirements. By delivering 70 HP only when it’s needed, the battery runtime is extended.

How long does it take to charge? 

The tractor will charge from zero to 100% in six hours with an 80-amp charger. Owners report the tractor easily meets their full workday needs. 

Dairy farmers provide a unique charging use case. Feed-pushing in dairies can be quite short and owners will plug the tractor in between feedings every hour for round-the-clock operations.  

How long can it operate on one charge? 

Monarch’s advanced battery management system safely supports powering the tractor for up to 14 hours depending on farm, implement, and operation. 

Monarch’s battery also provides up to 5.6 kW of exportable power. If the grid is down, MK-V owners  have a back-up system for energy. Owners have used this feature to power homes and appliances during outages, and they use the tractor as a mobile power wall. Electric tools can plug directly into the tractor.  

What makes it a smart tractor? 

Think of the MK-V as not just a tractor, but a platform for electrification, robotics, and technology.  

Monarch uses Amazon Web Services (AWS) for storage, data downloads, and communications. Wingspan Ag Intelligence (WingspanAI™) is Monarch’s cloud-based hub on AWS that farmers rely on for insights gained from in-field operations.  

WingspanAI provides real-time and historical insights into their operations, including videos. It reports tractor metrics: distance traveled, usage hours, carbon offset, and diesel savings. Dairy farmers use WingspanAI as part of their labor accountability system for tracking overnight feed pushing operations. If milk production is low in the morning, WingspanAI can quickly tell a manager when cows were fed, how long the tractor was running, and who drove it. WingspanAI also lets farmers know exactly where a tractor is located at any given moment, so they don’t have to spend extra time hunting it down in the fields, and carbon offset metrics makes reporting easier for farmers to meet organic certification requirements. 

The MK-V can be upgraded with new features and improved performance over time through over-the-air software and firmware updates. Owners update their tractor much like they would update their smart phone.

What is Scout and what are its benefits? 

Scout is an AI-supported precision viticulture data platform that captures detailed information about the crop at the plant level so a vineyard owner or manager can make informed, data-driven decisions based on that information. And it does this while a farmer is conducting routine operations, like mowing or seeding. Scout’s vine-level mapping and analysis give farmers insights on crop and fruit performance, virus detection, and yield forecasting.  

Without Scout, farmers gather this information with manual scouting or aerial imagery — methods  that are often expensive, time-consuming, inaccurate, incomplete, and prone to risk. These outdated tools lead to blind spots, wasted time, and poor forecasting. 

Why is Scout needed? 

There are over 500,000 acres of vineyards in the U.S., managed by more than 500 vineyard  management companies and 1,500+ estate growers. But over the past five years, climate chaos, labor shortages and higher costs, and a shifting market have made grape farming more unpredictable, more expensive, and more challenging to manage. 

The situation is further strained by a soft wine market. As farming budgets tighten, growers are under pressure to make smarter, faster, and more efficient decisions across operations, planning, and resource allocation. With budgets under pressure, the need for actionable insights has never been greater. Improving vineyard performance not only enhances fruit quality — it also preserves and increases long-term land value. Scout meets this need. 

How does it work with the Monarch Tractor? 

The MK-V’s unique ecosystem of versatile compatibility, scalability, and licensing opens the door for third-party AI companies to use the MK-V’s infrastructure to develop specialized applications. Scout has made one such application, a “digital implement” that works with the MK-V.  

Mowing offers one example of how benefits stack up when Scout works with Monarch’s MK-V tractor. Many vineyards opt to mow chemically with toxic herbicides because mowing weeds requires multiple passes with a tractor. Those passes equate to high diesel expenses. They will also pay to have manual or aerial imagery collected on their vineyard.  

With a MK-V electric tractor armed with Scout’s digital implement: 

• Mowing becomes affordable because it eliminates diesel costs and associated diesel emissions. The vineyard can reduce or eventually eliminate its reliance on herbicides, which supports a healthier soil biome that also holds more moisture, improving its resiliency against drought. Herbicide use plays a large role in the rapid decline of pollinator  populations. 
• While mowing, Scout collects precision, data-rich information on each plant, enabling a farmer to make highly informed decisions that can impact farm productivity and profitability.