Solectrac parent company restructures Sonoma County electric tractor maker
Solectrac electric tractor sales have failed to surge as planned, prompting the Sonoma County company’s parent firm to put a major restructuring plan in place that will focus on direct-to-consumer orders.
Ideanomics (Nasdaq: IDEX) Chief Operating Officer Robin Mackie, who also serves as Solectrac’s CEO, said his global alternative energy technology and infrastructure producer has declared Solectrac tractor sales are underperforming and need a major fix. Sales on the electric farm equipment, which average $30,000 each, have totaled only about 15 per month. Mackie’s goal is double that.
Ideanomics’ stock price stands below $1 a share. According to Solectrac management including Mackie, vendors have gone unpaid lately. Moreover, the national distribution dealer network set up with Brim Tractor based in Lynden, Washington, two years ago is no more. The changes began Jan. 24, and Ideanomics announced the new plan March 27, with a continued commitment to supporting zero-emission regenerative agriculture.
“That strategy didn’t work. Management didn’t support the dealers,” Mackie said.
The New York-based company that bought the North Coast startup for over $20 million in June 2021 will still support those dealers showing brisk sales performances — although that list was unavailable at the time this article was published.
“It’s been a mess. We have to reduce costs and restructure. It’s been difficult to raise capital,” Mackie said.
The workforce of 45 people was trimmed to 38, and founder Steve Heckeroth, the engineer who started the company, was taken off the payroll in October. He was tapped as chief innovation officer when Ideanomics purchased Solectrac.
“I’m not involved anymore. They want to go a different direction, and they eliminated all the tractors I designed,” Heckeroth said.
The 75-year-old longtime climate activist started the business in Mendocino County with $900,000 of seed money. He moved the business to Santa Rosa in 2021.
When it reviewed Solectrac as a business venture, Ideanomics made a combined $2.6 million investment into the electric vehicle operation before purchasing it outright.
When the company laid the groundwork for establishing the national dealership network, it expanded from the Santa Rosa Regional Parkway location to a 36,000-square-foot facility on Earhart Road in Windsor, the latter of which is still operating.
Like its automobile and truck counterparts, the electric tractor market was anticipated to take off. According to Statista, it was projected to double its worth by 2028 to $124 million for bestselling, light-duty rigs.
But electrification on the farm hasn’t caught on as planned, at least in Sonoma County.
“There’s just way too much skepticism still,” said Sonoma County Farm Bureau Executive Director Dayna Ghirardelli, referring to whether enough charging power is available for electric tractors. “The reality is, it sounds like a good buzzword now, but a lot has to be explored to have it be a viable alternative.”
Karissa Kruse, CEO and president of Sonoma County Winegrowers, believes electricity will have a place on the farm of the future and applauds any company embracing the technology.
“I think we will get there, but there are two challenges,” she said, listing adequate infrastructure to support the tractors and the “need to have a whole network of charging stations.”
It’s going to take collaboration and confidence, she said.
“(The farmers and winegrowers) are going to want proof of concept. This is a new skill set,” she said. “What we’re hearing, in addition to the infrastructure and ability to charge, there’s gotta be wraparound services. Who will service the equipment?”
Susan Wood covers law, cannabis, production, transportation, agriculture as well as banking and finance. She can be reached at 530-545-8662 or susan.wood@busjrnl.com
