The concept
The eTrac-20 is a light weight unmanned full electric small track tractor especially designed for fruit cultivation. The unique design, protected by Dutch model right, with three wheels each equipped with an electrical hub motor makes the vehicle really maneuverable. It can be used for all kind of light unmanned operations at the farm like spraying and mowing. With a first proof of concept, the vehicle will be controlled manually by a remote radio joy stick. With a next proto type GPS-RTK functionality will be added for precision farming applications.
Unique selling points
• light weight (< 1.000 kilogram) to prevent soil compaction
• modular design
• no usage of limited fossil fuels
• no emission of green house gases or fine dust
• propulsion accomplished by just a few rotating parts
• maximum high torque during acceleration
• scalable concept
• steering done by torque vectoring like any other robot
• no expensive cabin required
• really manoeverable as a trike
• prepared to apply a hydrogen fuel cell for range extension
Specifications
• sales price € 80.000
• battery pack of 20 kWh for 2-3 hours of unmanned operations
• time to load the battery pack is 1,5 hours with a 3-phase loader
• weight < 1.000 kg
• power 5 kW for each hub motor
• power 5 kW for the Power Take Off to drive the tooling
• turning circle of 0 meters (zero turn)
• dimensions l x b x h = 2.5 x (1.2 -1.4) x 1.25 meter
Gross margin and revenues
The first proof of concept of the eTrac-20 will be developed and built in a distributed organization so all engineering and manufacturing tasks are outsourced. In the future also sales and servicing will be done by a specialized partner with a worldwide sales- and service network at the agri culture market. Farmertronics Engineering will do the final assembly, testing and shipment to distributors when serial production of the eTrac-20 has been started. With a sales price of 80.000 euro and a cost price of 40.000 euro per vehicle there will be a gross margin of 40.000 euro per vehicle.
| Year | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| phase | proof of concept | prototype | pre prod. | pre prod. | serial prod. | serial prod. |
| # sales | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 20 | 50 |
| turnover (€) | 0 | 0 | 240.000 | 640.000 | 1.600.000 | 4.000.000 |
| gross margin (€) | 0 | 0 | 120.000 | 320.000 | 800.000 | 2.000.000 |
| revenue (€) | 0 | 0 | 48.000 | 128.000 | 320.000 | 800.000 |
Achieved so far
Until now a network of specialized professional partners has been collected, ready to start engineering and manufacturing a first proof of concept. There is an industrial design of the eTrac-20 and all components are selected to be applied. It’s just a matter of mechanical, electrical and software engineering to deliver a complete package of technical documentation before manufacturing and assembly of the eTrac-20 can start. There has been a lot of interest from people all over the world as the eTrac-20 can start a revolution at the agri culture market due to its unmanned and clean tech character.
Required investment and purpose
An investment of €250.000 is required for engineering and building a first proof of concept to check the functioning of the control system in combination with the battery pack and the electrical hub motors to check the overall dynamics of the vehicle. €100.000 is required for all materials used to build the vehicle and €150.000 for all engineering and manufacturing tasks which have to be performed. With this first proof of concept, the vehicle can be shown to potential customers and investors to make a next step by adding unmanned GPS-RTK functionality for precision farming applications.
For the investor
The required investment of € 250.000 is equal to 5% shares at Farmertronics Engineering with a valuation of € 1.000.000 of Farmertronics Engineering. The amount of shares you will get will be related to the height of your investment e.g. when you will invest € 50.000 you will get 5 % shares of Farmertronics Engineering. When the required investment has been confirmed by the group of investors, an investment cooperation will be raised. This cooperation will participate as a whole at Farmertronics Engineering and will get involved with all business aspects of Farmertronics Engineering.
When you have planned to invest we will send you the complete business plan including all financial forcasts.
The team
Thieu Berkers is founder and CTO of Farmertronics Engineering. Thieu has a background in mechanical engineering (HTS Eindhoven 1982). From 1982 to 1988 he was mechanical engineer at several engineering companies. From 1988 to 1998 Berkers managed the software and hardware department at a manufacturer of back-end equipment for the semiconductor industry. From 1999 to 2002 and from 2007 to 2014 Berkers was equipment engineer at a manufacturer of front-end equipment for the semiconductor industry. In between he taught physics. In 2014 Berkers founded Farmertronics.
Arjan Steketee is founder and director at Steketee design.
Niels van den Berselaar is founder and director at Flingk machinebouw.
Johan van Uden is software engineer at ICT.
Boudewijn den Boer is electrical engineer at Den Boer engineering.
Jos van Oosten is director at Traction Electrique delivering the battery pack.
Willem Jan Lamers is founder and director at Venamics.
Roel Thelen is sales manager at Reesink Technische Handel.
Giel Hansen is founder and director at Hansen Automotive Engineering.
Do you want to join our team as an investor, please register yourself at our crowd funding page.
