Renewables

Renewables has developed a unique type of electric vehicle (EV).

You won’t find this EV on any highways or parked in a driveway. And it’s not a car, truck, or SUV. It’s an electric tractor — quiet, affordable, and automation-ready. It’s been designed to help farmers tackle some of the agriculture industry’s biggest challenges.

Agriculture is one of America’s biggest industries, valued at more than $1.5 trillion. Farming, alone, is a major economic driver, with on-farm production contributing more than $222 billion to the Gross Domestic Product in 2023.

But farming and land management are at a breaking point. Rising equipment costs, labor shortages, and dependence on fossil fuels are squeezing margins for farmers and towns. Traditional tractors are expensive, noisy, polluting, and aren’t designed for the precision and efficiency that modern agriculture demands.

Renewables is addressing these issues with its electric tractor, which it calls the e2T. This solar-electric, remote-controlled tractor is built for versatility and scale. Designed to operate solo or in swarms, the goal of this EV is to lower costs, eliminate emissions, and bring advanced technology like Artificial Intelligence (AI) integration to farmers and land managers.

With its tractor, Renewables is targeting several multi-billion-dollar markets within the larger agriculture industry. These include the $200 billion global agriculture-machinery market, the $170 billion landscaping market, and the $10 billion market for municipal fleets.

Renewables has created an initial version of its tractor and has received more than 200 inquiries through social-media engagement. It also has confirmed pre-orders and interest from distributors and dealerships. The Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF) has called the e2T a “game-changer.”

Team Background

Stephen Heckeroth - Founder & CEO

Stephen is an expert when it comes to solar-electric design, having more than three decades of experience building clean-energy tools for land and labor.

Prior to starting Renewables, he founded Solectrac, an electric-tractor company. His work was featured in Solar Today, Mother Earth News, and Harrowsmith Country Life.

Earlier in his career, Stephen was Director of Building Integrated Phovoltaics with ECD Ovonics, a company that created thin-film solar cells and other renewable-energy products.

He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from Arizona State University.

Jose Etcheverry - Chief Sustainability Officer

In addition to his role with Renewables, Dr. Etcheverry has spent the past eighteen years at York University in Toronto, serving as an associate professor. Before that, he held positions at the David Suzuki Foundation, a non-profit environmental organization, and on the climate-change team of the Global Environment Facility in Washington D.C.

He holds a Master’s degree in Renewable Energy and a Ph.D. in Environmental Studies from the University of Toronto.

Co-Investors