Spanish startup Voltrac has emerged from stealth with an autonomous tractor that lives a double life.
In peacetime, the 3.5-tonne electric vehicle zips around farms, hauling heavy goods and using cameras to gather data on crop health. But when enlisted, the tractor is equally capable of navigating enemy assaults to deliver critical supplies to frontline soldiers.
“In Ukraine, for instance, many lives are lost in non-combat situations, including frontline resupply missions,” Voltrac’s cofounder and CTO, Francisco Infante Aguirre, told TNW in an interview. “That’s where we see a machine like ours making a difference: it’s built for tough terrain, and it doesn’t risk human life. It can do the same job whether it’s hauling crops or carrying ammo.”
Voltrac’s machine has a carrying capacity of 4,000kg, a top speed of 40km/h and a range of up to 20 hours thanks to several large 200kW batteries stored in its body. Like an ebike, the tractor’s batteries are swappable — except these batteries are so heavy you’ll require a forklift to transport them.
The tractor comes with the standard tow hitch where farmers would typically attach equipment like ploughs, mowers, or cutters. The machine can also be retrofitted with a giant flatbed that makes it capable of transporting a container full of supplies. That’s useful for both farms and frontlines.
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“Our tractor only needs tiny tweaks to its hardware to easily serve both agriculture and defence markets from the same platform,” said Infante, adding that the startup is in preliminary talks with NATO departments. For military purposes, those “tweaks” include the addition of anti-jamming tech and interceptor drones to protect it from enemy attack. The machine could also be used for removing and detecting mines.
As you’ve probably noticed by now, the tractor doesn’t have a cabin. That’s because it pilots itself — or at least, that’s the plan for later on. For now, the vehicle is remote-controlled, a bit like a first-person view (FPV) drone. Voltrac plans to have one human control several tractors from a remote location station. Then, once the company gets the regulatory green light, it plans to let the machines drive themselves.
Beyond self-driving, Voltrac’s system will run “live experiments” in the field. The tractor will try slightly different agricultural treatments in different areas, watch how the plants respond, and adjust its approach on the next pass. Over time, this constant feedback loop helps it figure out the right dose of water, fertiliser, or pesticide for every patch of land. That could lead to higher yields, lower costs, and fewer chemicals in the soil.
“We’re not just building a smarter tractor — we’re building a system that learns as it goes, which is one of the big differences from other intelligent tractors out there,” Voltrac’s CEO and cofounder, Thomas Hubregtsen, told TNW.
Hubregtsen’s CV includes jobs building AI systems at BMW and Google X. The Dutchman also co-founded Extropic, an Austin-based startup building a new kind of AI chip to rival NVIDIA.
Meanwhile, Aguirre, an aerospace engineer, has had stints at hypersonic plane startup Destinus and now bankrupt flying taxi firm Volocopter. His connection to tractors, though, runs deep: his family’s business, Aguirre Agricola, is one of Spain’s biggest suppliers of agricultural equipment.
Hubregtsen and Aguirre combined their expertise to found Voltrac just over a year ago. The startup quickly secured $2mn in pre-seed funding from Antler and Foodlabs, which allowed them to build their first prototype.
Voltrac aims to develop its tractors — and the underlying hardware and software stack — entirely in-house. The vehicles are built mostly from off-the-shelf components. Thanks to their electric drivetrain and lack of a cabin, they use 70% fewer parts than a traditional tractor.
The startup is targeting a seed round in September and plans to deliver its first vehicles in early 2026.
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