An Australian startup company called Linttas Electric has plans to manufacture the world’s first electric combine harvester. According to the company, the implementation of electrification and a patent-pending linear threshing approach promises unparalleled efficiency, speed and cost effectiveness, with the potential of achieving up to 30% in energy savings.

Linttas was set up by Malcolm Lucas, a farmer and inventor, and Terry Krieg, an electrical engineer. This isn’t Lucas’s first rodeo. In 2008, he converted an east German-built Fortschritt 5160 combine to electric power using off-the-shelf, three-phase electric motors.

The proposed electric combine will initially be powered by a diesel engine, which will be paired up to an electric generator, with potential to convert it to hydrogen power in the future. The company also plans to use induction motors, to keep the costs low.

Linttas says it will be using an innovative patent-pending grain separation process. According to the company, Linttas, which stands for linear threshing, turbulent air separation, was designed to maximise the benefits that can be achieved by electrification of the grain separation process in a combine.

Initial combine

The initial modified electric Fortschritt harvester was used for nine years on farms in South Australia.

The company says it has been really successful, with excellent reliability and significant fuel savings. It says that the new electric harvester will be suitable and adaptable for a range of crop types and conditions, with a focus on beans, peas, wheat, canola and lentils.

The machine will be based on standard off-the-shelf components, where possible, which it feels will be easily updated and repaired. The company plans to use the latest technologies such as machine learning to maximise yield with reduced operating and whole-of-life costs.

It also says that the electric technologies it has developed can be applied to a wide range of other agricultural machines.

Other technical information is limited for now, but the Australian company claims it has developed unique intellectual property for the design of an energy-efficient electric combine.

Linttas is currently looking for commercial and research partners and other collaborators. Should the combine make it to production phase, the two men are planning to manufacture it in Australia.