Exclusive: Ecotricity plots development of wind-powered tractor

It may already have plans in place for a crack at the British electric car land speed record, but green energy firm Ecotricity is already turning its hand to a rather less glamorous form of electric-powered transport – tractors.

Speaking to BusinessGreen.com, Ecotricity chief executive Dale Vince revealed that the firm was preparing to launch a research and development project to produce an electric-powered tractor capable of replacing conventional diesel-powered agricultural equipment.

"We've identified three areas of the economy that remain heavily dependent on oil: energy, transport and food production," he said. "It's entirely feasible to produce electric-powered farm machinery and then power it with renewable energy produced onsite, but while low-carbon energy generation and transport are attracting a lot of attention, no one is looking at food production – that is what we plan to do next."

The project is likely to launch within the next few months, around the same time as Ecotricity formally unveils an electric sports car which it hopes will break the UK land speed record for an electric vehicle.

Vince said the car, which has been dubbed the Nemesis, is now in the final stage of development with the engineering team working on a number of modifications to the bodywork, battery management system and charging technology.

"We will have it on the test track in early February and on the road in late February," he said. "Then we will have a crack at the land speed record in the spring. It currently stands at 137 miles per hour and we are confident we can beat it."

The company is also looking at how to commercialise the car, which was developed by a team of ex-Lotus engineers and is expected to do 0-60 in four seconds, while also covering around 150 miles on a single charge.

Vince said that the company was considering forming either one or two electri c car spin-offs with a view to manufacturing the car from later this year.