This Tilmor 520e is a one of a kind electric conversion by Thiessen Tillage Equipment

This video presents a short walk around tour and description of the work undertaken on this Tilmor 520 cultivating tractor to convert it to battery-electric operation at a high standard.

The conversion project was initiated years ago by a group of engineering students in Ohio working with a component kit sourced from Electric Motorsport in California. The initial conversion used lead-acid batteries and the operator interface and wiring were never fully completed so the tractor, only somewhat functional, sat in storage at Tilmor for several years.

In 2025 Thiessen Tillage Equipment and I acquired the tractor to complete it properly and in hopes of sending it to work on a vegetable farm where it could raise the bar for 520s everywhere and demonstrate that that a truly excellent electric tractor of this kind is not just possible but long overdue.

The upgrades to the conversion are too numerous to list but the end result is a truly impressive machine that should be able to run for 8 to 10 hours and recharge from 10% to 80% state of charge in 2.5hrs. Tractive Power and performance for the tractor are equivalent to or better than it's diesel brethren and it is dramatically more pleasant to operate.

Many thanks to the team at Thiessen Tillage for believing in this project and to Tilmor for supporting us with spares and technical details.

Here are some details for those curious about components and numbers:
• Motor: Motenergy ME1114 motor (axial flux PMAC air cooled) capable of 10kW continuous and 22kW peak
• Controller: Sevcon Gen4 size 4 controller - 48V, 450A peak
• Battery: 5 units Standard Battery 14S NMC packs in parallel. Each 3.5kWh nominal with parallel-savvy BMS for hot swap, even at disparate SoC. 100A BMS means the tractor can operate reliably with 3 or more modules.
• Thomson 48V linear electric actuators for implement lifts. Electrak XD for belly mount and Electrak HD for rear
• 6.6kW onboard charger (software limited to 4kW) from Ovar tech. 240VAC supply
• 1.5kW removable battery charger for slower charge when 240V not available or for charging battery modules off the tractor

Built and tested by Reid Allaway at Tourne-Sol co-op farm in les Cèdres QC.

Видео This Tilmor 520e is a one of a kind electric conversion by Thiessen Tillage Equipment канала Reid Allaway