Manitou's MLT 625 e, a battery-powered compact telehandler, has been crowned Machine of the Year at the 95th National Ploughing Championships. The National Ploughing Association's judging panel announced the award on the Grandstand after the official opening of the event.

The judges said they were struck by how closely the electric machine lines up against its diesel equivalent, with similar dimensions, capacities and performance, and by Manitou's aim of cutting emissions. The compact telehandler sector suits battery power, they noted, because daily work cycles are usually limited to a couple of hours.

"The MLT range or the MT range of 625 is our biggest seller in the UK and Ireland, it's the most popular machine that we do," James Hulme, Manitou UK's sales support manager, told Agriland. "We do it in a full diesel option, but we thought with people knowing the machine, we'd offer it in a full electric range as well." The machine carries three 3kW on-board chargers, and its lithium batteries sit inside the middle of the chassis, protected from damage.

Price remains the main reservation among buyers, Hulme admitted, because of the cost of electric motors and components. But he argued the total cost of ownership works in the machine's favour: "When you've got to look at the whole package and cost of ownership, it's actually quite cheap to run this over a longer period of time against diesel because of the cost of diesel at the moment."

The biggest selling point, he said, is opportunist charging. An operator who drives for an hour and then takes an hour's break can plug the machine in and put back 10% of charge per hour on single-phase supply or 25% on three-phase, which means it can keep working through the day. Manitou hopes the award draws more farmers to a machine it believes will suit many agricultural operations. Joshua Kelly reported for Agriland.

Source: Agriland