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Review

Achieving the Sustainable Agricultural Development Goals by Adopting the New Energy Electric Agricultural Machinery: An Analysis of Opportunities and Challenges of China

by
Hongguang Yang
1,
Fujie Ding
2,*,
Fengwei Gu
1,
Feng Wu
1,
Zhaoyang Yu
1,
Peng Zhang
1,
Jiangtao Wang
3,4 and
Zhichao Hu
1,*
1
Nanjing Institute of Agricultural Mechanization, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Nanjing 210014, China
2
Linshu Dongtai Machinery Co., Ltd., Linyi 276700, China
3
Henan Province Planting and Harvesting Agricultural Equipment Co., Ltd., Zhumadian 463100, China
4
Henan Nongyouwang Agricultural Equipment Technology Co., Ltd., Zhumadian 463100, China
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Energies 2025, 18(16), 4211; https://doi.org/10.3390/en18164211
Submission received: 3 July 2025 / Revised: 1 August 2025 / Accepted: 5 August 2025 / Published: 8 August 2025
(This article belongs to the Section A: Sustainable Energy)
Browse Figures
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Abstract

New energy is a type of renewable energy that has the characteristics of protecting the environment and conserving energy. Agriculture is an industry that concerns the national economy and people’s livelihood. Agricultural mechanization is a key factor in achieving high-quality agricultural development. At present, China is the world’s largest producer and user of agricultural machinery. The use of traditional agricultural machinery powered mainly by internal combustion engines is currently the main source of carbon emissions in China’s agricultural production. How to achieve effective application and sustainable development of electric new energy technology in agricultural machinery is the primary issue facing China and countries around the world. This article takes the application and development status of electric new energy technology in agricultural machinery as the research object. Firstly, we provided an overview of China’s primary energy production and utilization as well as the national agricultural mechanization situation. Secondly, the research and application status of new energy electric agricultural machinery in China were elaborated on. Finally, some major challenges and opportunities faced by China’s development of new energy electric agricultural machinery were analyzed. We firmly believe that China’s active development of new energy technologies in agricultural machinery plays an important role and practical significance in building a community with a shared future for mankind, reducing carbon emissions from agricultural production, and achieving sustainable agricultural development goals.

1. Introduction

As is well known, energy is an important material foundation for human activities [1,2,3], and also a driving force for the economic and social development of countries around the world. It has a significant impact on national development and people’s health [4,5,6,7]. However, with human development and utilization, the reserves of fossil fuels have sharply decreased. Currently, countries around the world are facing energy and environmental issues [8,9,10]. New energy, as an environmentally friendly and renewable energy source, is receiving increasing attention from countries around the world.
New energy does not refer to the latest discovered energy but rather to renewable resources developed and utilized through modern means based on new technologies and materials. Practice has proven that steadily replacing traditional fossil fuels with new energy is the only way for countries around the world to achieve sustainable development goals [11,12,13,14]. In recent years, China has proposed dual carbon goals [15,16]. Group, C. stated in 2023 that non-fossil sources will meet 62% of India’s total energy demand by 2030 [17]. Michigan in the United States has proposed legislation to phase out coal by 2030 and achieve the goal of fossil-free energy by 2023 [18]. Denmark will establish a fossil fuel-free system by 2025, with 100% of its energy consumption coming from renewable energy sources [19]. Sweden will establish a fossil fuel-free transportation sector by 2030 and achieve the goal of zero net greenhouse gas emissions by 2045 [20]. The agricultural sector is the fundamental industry of national economies around the world and one of the main industries contributing to carbon emissions [21,22,23,24]. In the context of low-carbon sustainable development, the agricultural sector is facing enormous pressure to reduce carbon emissions [25,26]. Agricultural mechanization is the foundation and key to achieving efficient agricultural production. Currently, the agricultural machinery industry has become an important pillar industry for the national economy of countries around the world, especially developing countries. However, traditional agricultural machinery powered by internal combustion engines is also a major source of carbon emissions in the agricultural sector [27,28]. Therefore, the use of new energy technologies in agricultural machinery has broad application prospects.
In recent years, in order to alleviate energy and environmental issues and reduce agricultural carbon emissions. Many countries around the world have focused their attention on the field of new energy, constantly developing new energy agricultural machinery, especially new energy tractors. For example, China [29], the United States [30], Finland [31], Sweden [32], Russia [33], Belarus [34], Australia [35], Spain [36], Malawi [37], South Korea [38], Japan [39], Romania [40], Brazil [41], India [42], Iran [43], Italy [44], etc., have developed and tested a large number of new energy electric agricultural machinery, making important contributions to energy conservation and emission reduction in global agricultural production.
As a major producer and user of agricultural machinery in the world, China’s active development of new energy electric agricultural machinery is a major responsibility to promote energy conservation and environmental protection in the agricultural sector. It is also an opportunity to transform from a major agricultural machinery country to a strong agricultural machinery country and a concrete action to implement the dual carbon goals in the agricultural sector. China’s vigorous research and promotion of new energy electric agricultural machinery provides an opportunity to move towards achieving the dual carbon goals [29,45].
This review provides a comprehensive study of the application and development of electric new energy technology in Chinese agricultural machinery as well as some major opportunities and challenges faced in the development of new energy agricultural machinery. The main research contents include the following aspects: (1) an overview of China’s primary energy production and consumption; (2) the development status of China’s agricultural machinery equipment industry; (3) the current situation of development and application of new energy electric agricultural machinery in China; and (4) the main challenges and opportunities faced by China in developing new energy electric agricultural machinery.

2. The Production and Consumption of Primary Energy in China

2.1. Overview of Primary Energy Production and Consumption

Since the reform and opening up, with the sustained and rapid economic development and the accelerated urbanization process, China’s primary energy production and consumption have increased year by year [46,47]. In 2006, China’s primary energy production reached 69.29 quad Btu, surpassing the United States’ 68.52 quad Btu for the first time and ranking first in the world. In 2009, China’s primary energy consumption was 96.53 quad Btu, exceeding the United States’ 91.62 quad Btu for the first time and ranking first in the world. Since 2006 and 2009, China has consistently held the top position in both primary energy production and consumption. As shown in Figure 1, the total primary energy production and consumption of China and the world over the past 20 years.
As can be seen from Figure 1, the total production of primary energy in China increased from 50.85 quad Btu in 2003 to 137.83 quad Btu in 2022, an increase of 2.7 times. It accounted for approximately 23% of the world’s total production in 2022. The total consumption of primary energy increased from 53.35 quad Btu in 2003 to 173.96 quad Btu in 2022, growing by 3.3 times. It accounted for approximately 29% of the world’s total consumption in 2022. Meanwhile, as can be seen from the yellow and green bar charts in Figure 1, the total consumption of primary energy in China over the years has always been higher than the total production.
The top ten countries in the world in terms of primary energy production in 2022 were China, the United States, Russia, Saudi Arabia, India, Canada, Australia, Iran, Indonesia, and United Arab Emirates. The top ten countries in the world in terms of primary energy consumption are China, the United States, India, Russia, Japan, Iran, Canada, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Germany. Although Australia, Indonesia, and the United Arab Emirates are major energy producers, their energy consumption does not rank among the top ten in the world. Although Japan, South Korea, and Germany produce less energy, they consume a lot of energy. Overall, China is currently the world’s largest producer and consumer of energy.

2.2. Structure of Primary Energy Production and Consumption

At present, primary energy mainly includes non-renewable energy sources such as coal, petroleum, and natural gas as well as renewable energy sources such as hydropower, wind power, and solar power. The structure of primary energy production and consumption in China over the past nearly 20 years from 2003 to 2022 is shown in Figure 2.
As can be seen from Figure 2, coal is the main source of primary energy production and consumption in China. The production and consumption of coal showed an increasing trend from 2003 to 2013. It began to decrease after 2014 but showed a slow increasing trend again after 2016. In 2022, both coal production and consumption exceeded 100 quad Btu. The production and consumption of natural gas, nuclear energy, and renewable energy all show an increasing trend year by year. In 2022, the production of natural gas, nuclear energy, and renewable energy increased by 6.3, 10.2, and 10.4 times, respectively, compared with 2003, and the consumption increased by 11.3, 10.2, and 17.6 times, respectively, compared with 2003. Petroleum production has basically remained stable within the range of 7 to 9 quad Btu. The consumption of petroleum has been increasing year by year and has remained stable at around 30 quad Btu in recent years.

3. The Current Status of Agricultural Mechanization in China

Agricultural machinery is an important material basis for the development of modern agriculture. Since 2004, China’s agricultural mechanization has achieved high-quality development. This provides strong support for ensuring the effective supply of important agricultural products such as grain, consolidating and expanding the achievements of poverty alleviation. The comprehensive mechanization rate of plowing, sowing, and harvesting major crops in China and the total power of agricultural machinery in China from 2000 to 2022 are shown in Figure 3. In 2022, the national comprehensive mechanization rate exceeded 73%, which was 2.3 and 1.4 times that of 2000 and 2010, respectively. In 2022, the total power of agricultural machinery across the country was 1105.97 billion watts, which was 2.1 and 1.2 times that of 2000 and 2010, respectively. In recent years, agricultural mechanization in China has developed rapidly.
The comprehensive mechanization rates of eight major crops in China in 2022 are shown in Figure 4. It can be seen from Figure 4 that wheat production in China has basically been mechanized. The comprehensive mechanization rates of crops such as corn, rice, soybeans, and cotton are all around 90%. The mechanized productivity of potatoes is the lowest, but as a non-cereal food crop, it has great development potential, and there is also a large space for improving the level of mechanized production. Moreover, the comprehensive mechanization rates of the eight crops, namely wheat, rice, corn, soybeans, rapeseed, potatoes, peanuts, and cotton, increased by 6.29, 26.35, 24.66, 14.77, 39.54, 26.76, 28.60, and 34.47 percentage points, respectively, compared with 2010. Overall, the mechanized production level of major crops in China has also developed rapidly, but there are still shortcomings.

4. The Status of New Energy Electric Agricultural Machinery in China

4.1. Definition and Classification of New Energy Electric Agricultural Machinery

Agricultural mechanization is one of the important symbols of agricultural modernization. In recent years, with the advent of the new energy technology revolution and the development needs of modern agriculture, new energy electric agricultural machinery has emerged. At present, electrification has become one of the new tracks for the development of the agricultural machinery industry. Referring to the relevant concepts and classifications of new energy vehicles [51,52], we can define new energy electric agricultural machinery as agricultural machinery that adopts a new power system and is completely or mainly driven by electricity. Table 1 presents the main types and principles of new energy electric agricultural machinery.
The pure electric agricultural machinery is fully driven by motors, and its electrical energy comes from on-board rechargeable battery devices or the power grid.
The series hybrid electric agricultural machinery is directly driven by the motor and can be connected to an external charging power source and charged on the vehicle. The power output by its configured engine is only used to drive the generator to generate electricity.
The parallel hybrid electric agricultural machinery has a certain pure electric driving capacity and can be charged externally. The engine and the motor provide power either separately or simultaneously in parallel. In pure electric mode, after the battery power is exhausted, it is driven by a hybrid power mode mainly based on an internal combustion engine.
The parallel–serial electric agricultural machinery is similar to the parallel hybrid power. The difference lies in that the engine and the motor are connected in series. In pure electric mode, when the battery power is exhausted, it is driven by a hybrid power mode mainly based on an internal combustion engine, and the battery is charged in a timely manner.
The pure fuel cell electric agricultural machinery only uses the electricity generated by on-board fuel cells as power. Hybrid electric agricultural machinery with fuel cells and power batteries provides power mainly with fuel cells and supplemented by power batteries.

4.2. The Development History of New Energy Electric Agricultural Machinery

Today, as environmental issues become increasingly prominent, countries around the world are actively developing new energy technologies [53,54]. At present, electric power has become a concentrated manifestation of new energy, and electric agricultural machinery has become a typical representative of new energy technology in the development of the agricultural machinery industry. New energy agricultural machinery mainly powered by electricity is gradually becoming a star product in the agricultural field with its unique advantages.
Electricity was gradually applied to agricultural machinery after 1949. Before 2000, agricultural product processing machinery was mainly powered by domestic or industrial electricity. These machines were all small and fixed and needed to be connected by wires or cables [55,56], such as micro-electric rice mills, electric threshers and handheld electric sprayers, etc.
Entering the 21st century, especially after 2007, with the implementation of the “Management Rules for Production Access of New Energy Vehicles”, new energy vehicles have received high attention from the Chinese government. Since then, new energy vehicle and power battery technologies have developed rapidly [57,58]. Agricultural machinery powered by batteries has gradually received attention and development. However, compared with fixed agricultural machinery connected by cables or wires, electric agricultural machinery powered by batteries has greater flexibility and portability and can be directly used for field operations.
At present, after more than 70 years of construction, fixed agricultural machinery in China that is connected by cables or wires and powered by the power grid has achieved all-round development, and the corresponding technical equipment has also become relatively mature. Electric agricultural machinery powered by batteries for field operations has also made significant progress in its development over the past decade or so [59]. However, compared with traditional fixed agricultural machinery, there is still a considerable gap and room for development.

4.3. The Current Situation of New Energy Electric Agricultural Machinery

In order to have a comprehensive understanding of the application of new energy electric agricultural machinery powered by batteries in China, this study elaborates and analyzes from different aspects.

4.3.1. Electric Tractors

Tractors are important power machinery in agricultural production. Many scholars have studied and proven that electric tractors have significant effects in energy conservation and emission reduction [60,61,62,63,64]. Research on electric tractors in China originated in the 1950s. At that time, based on the electric tractors developed by the former Soviet Union, China’s first wheeled electric tractor was developed and named “Electric Bull 28”. Later, after improvement, a second one was developed and named “Electric Bull 33”. Both of these two electric tractors are powered by overhead contact lines and hundreds of meters of cables, with an operating voltage as high as 1000 V. However, this kind of electric tractor powered by cables has many inconveniences when turning around and being transferred in the field, and the long cables are prone to cause power transmission losses. Therefore, these electric tractors have not achieved mass production and practical application in China.
Since 2007, electric tractors in China have also undergone further development. It is obvious that this is due to the advancement of new energy vehicle technology. Nanjing Agricultural University in China conducted research on pure electric tractors relatively early [65,66,67]. Subsequently, numerous domestic scholars and research institutions have conducted extensive studies on electric tractors and their key technologies. These research contents are as follows: (1) The drive and transmission system of electric tractors mainly includes a single motor [68,69,70], a dual motor independent or coupled [71,72,73], and four motor independent [74,75,76]. (2) Energy management technology for electric tractors mainly includes energy management of pure electric tractors [77,78], energy management of hybrid electric tractors [79,80,81], and energy management of fuel cell electric tractors [82,83,84]. The graduation thesis was retrieved on two Data Knowledge service platforms, with the keyword “electric tractor”. More than 100 relevant graduation theses have been screened and sorted out. These graduation theses mainly come from Nanjing Agricultural University, Jiangsu University, Henan University of Science and Technology, etc. It can be seen from this that China has carried out a large amount of research on electric tractors. Furthermore, China has also developed a large number of electric tractors. As shown in Figure 5, the historical timeline of some battery-powered electric tractors in China.

4.3.2. Electric Tillage Machinery

Plowing and leveling the soil is the key to subsequent crop sowing and transplanting. At present, China has developed a variety of electric machinery for soil tillage operations. For example, the Crawler type electric rotary tiller developed by Ningbo Nongbang Agricultural Machinery Co., Ltd., in China. This machine is purely electrically driven. After charging for 5 h, it can operate continuously for 8 h. Take the cultivation of one mu (Mu is a Chinese unit to measure land area and 15 mu equals 1 hectare.) of land as an example. It only consumes 1 kilowatt-hour of electricity, and the cost is about 1/25 of that of similar fuel-powered agricultural machinery, reducing carbon emissions by 4 kg.
In recent years, many scholars in China have conducted extensive research on the key technologies of electric tillage machinery. Tao et al. [85] analyzed the problem of automatic control of tillage depth for electric rotary tillers. Liao et al. [86] optimized the operating parameters of the electric rotary tiller by using the discrete element method. Wang et al. [87] explored the automatic navigation system of the crawler electric micro-tiller. Xue et al. [88] studied the composite power supply system of the electric micro-tiller. Mo et al. [89] simulated and analyzed the air-cooling heat dissipation characteristics of the battery of the electric micro-tiller.

4.3.3. Electric Planting and Fertilization Machinery

Sowing and fertilizing are the main links in crop production. The quality of high-performance sowing and fertilization operations is the key to ensuring the uniform emergence and strong growth of crop seedlings. Practice shows that electric drive can achieve stepless adjustment of the operating speed of seed-metering devices and fertilization devices compared with the traditional ground wheel drive [90,91].
Li et al. [92] designed an electric sugarcane sowing system. Zhang et al. [93] designed a spoon-wheel type electrically driven corn seeder. Huang et al. [94] designed an operation parameter detection system for corn electro-driven precision seeders, achieving real-time and high-precision detection of various parameters such as operation speed, the rotational speed of the seed discharge disc, and sowing depth. Li et al. [95] designed a monitoring system for electrically driven wheat planters based on Beidou speed measurement. Zhang et al. [96] designed and tested the electrically driven air-suction peanut precision seeder. Chen Liqing et al. [97] designed a miniature electric fertilizer applicator. Wang et al. [98] developed an electrically driven side deephill-drop fertilization system.
To sum up, the current application of electric technology in planting and fertilizing machinery is mainly to realize the electric drive operation of seed-metering devices and fertilization devices [90,99]. The typical principles of electric sowing and electric fertilization are shown in Figure 6. When the machinery is in operation, the information of sowing and fertilizing is manually input by humans. The Beidou receiver locates and analyzes the forward speed of the seeder in real time. The controller controls the rotational speed of the seed-metering device motor and the fertilization device motor based on the feedback speed signal, achieving precise control of the sowing amount and fertilization amount.

4.3.4. Electric Field Management Machinery

Field management machinery mainly refers to the completion of weed control and pesticide application operations, which play an important role in the healthy growth of crops [100,101]. Currently, electric technology has been widely used in weed control and pesticide application.
Liu et al. [102] designed an electric goji berry weeding machine. Lu et al. [103] designed an electric weeding machine for mulberry fields. Wang et al. [104] developed an electric double row deep fertilizing and weeding machine for paddy fields. Hao et al. [105] developed an electric self-propelled pesticide applicator suitable for maize peanut strip intercropping. Lu et al. [106] designed an electric spray. Dong et al. [107] developed a spraying system for electric crop protection drones.
Overall, electric technology has great application potential in crop weeders and sprayers [108,109]. The electric unmanned plant protection machine especially has remarkable characteristics, such as a simple structure and low maintenance cost, and has a very good application prospect in crop plant protection in hilly and mountainous areas of China [109].

4.3.5. Electric Harvesting Machinery

Harvesting is the most time-consuming and labor-intensive link in the process of crop production, and realizing its electric operation is of great significance [110,111]. At present, there are two paths for the research and development of electric harvesters in China. The first path is to develop small electric harvesters. This type of machinery is usually all electric. They mainly achieve the electric drive of the walking chassis and cutting tools. For example, Zou et al. [112] designed an electric self-propelled harvester for plants used in greenhouse water body restoration. Zheng et al. [113] developed an electric rubber tapping machine and studied the characteristics and laws of electric rubber extraction. Li et al. [114] designed and tested an intelligent control system for an electric leafy vegetable harvester. Qu et al. [115] designed and simulated the control system of the electric garlic bolting harvester. Liu et al. [116] developed an electric cabbage harvester. Chen et al. [117] developed an electric leek harvester.
The second path is to develop large-scale electric harvesters. This type of machinery usually adopts a series hybrid electric mode, mainly achieving distributed electric drive of the walking chassis and major working components. For example, Zhu et al. [118] developed a series hybrid electric combine harvester based on the concept of distributed drive. Yuan et al. [119] studied the distributed drive control method of the series hybrid electric combine harvester. Wang et al. [120] simulated and analyzed the energy management strategy of the six-row series hybrid electric cotton picker. The TE100-DH series hybrid wheat combine harvester developed and produced by Zhonglian Agricultural Machinery Co., Ltd (Wuhu, China). This machine is equipped with a 3.16 kWh power battery and adopts the principle of distributed electric drive. It uses four motors to respectively drive the walking system, threshing drum, header and threshing wheel, and cleaning fan. The test results show that the adoption of the electric drive system has greatly improved the power transmission efficiency. This electric wheat combine harvester reduces fuel consumption by 10% and the failure rate of the transmission system by 20% compared with traditional wheat combine harvesters.

5. Challenges and Opportunities Faced by China’s Development of New Energy Electric Agricultural Machinery

5.1. Opportunities

(1) The development of new energy electric agricultural machinery conforms to the national development strategy needs.
In 2020, the Chinese government proposed to strive for peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and to achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. Developing new energy electric agricultural machinery is one of the effective ways to curb agricultural carbon emissions. In 2016, the “Action Plan for the Development of Agricultural Machinery and Equipment (2016–2025)” listed “clean fuels and new energy agricultural power, electronic control injection and new energy tractors” as key development host products. With the implementation of China’s “dual carbon” strategic goals, the development and demand for new energy electric agricultural machinery are becoming increasingly urgent. Meanwhile, in the past two years, several provinces in China, including Jiangsu and Anhui, have included 200 horsepower and above-four-wheel-drive hybrid electric continuously variable transmission-assisted driving intelligent control tractors in the scope of agricultural machinery purchase subsidies, which will further promote the research and application of new energy electric agricultural machinery.
(2) China’s agricultural machinery industry is huge and has a solid foundation for developing new energy electric agricultural machinery.
At present, China has become a major producer and user of agricultural machinery in the world. According to the China Statistical Yearbook, in 2023, the total power of agricultural machinery in China was 1137.426 million kilowatts, with 5.511 million large and medium-sized tractors, 15.624 million small tractors, and 5.51 million supporting agricultural tools for large and medium-sized tractors. Overall, China’s agricultural machinery industry is very large in scale and has the prerequisite and foundation for developing new energy electric agricultural machinery.
(3) The rapid development of new energy vehicles in China has great reference value.
Thanks to factors such as national policies and market demand, China’s new energy vehicles have achieved good development in recent years. China’s sales of new energy vehicles have been ranked first in the world for 10 consecutive years. The sales of new energy vehicles in China over the past decade are shown in Figure 7. Especially in 2024, 40.9% of China’s car sales were new energy vehicles. This sales data also accounts for over 60% of global new energy vehicle sales. The rapid development of new energy vehicles in China has simultaneously driven advances in battery, motor, and electronic control technologies, which will definitely be of great help to the development of electric agricultural machinery [121].

5.2. Challenges

(1) There is a lack of standards for new energy electric agricultural machinery.
Currently, China lacks standards for new energy electric agricultural machinery. There are only a few group standards related to electric tractors. We should draw on relevant standards for new energy vehicles and quickly develop standards for new energy electric agricultural machinery to ensure the research and development, manufacturing, and application of new energy electric agricultural machinery.
(2) The battery life and energy management technology need to be improved.
As is well known, high-energy density batteries and effective energy management technologies are key to ensuring efficient operation of new energy electric agricultural machinery. However, the current batteries still suffer from short range and heavy weight. At the same time, electric agricultural machinery is different from new energy vehicles in that it is designed for agricultural work scenarios, and the actual working conditions are more complex and varied. Therefore, more efficient and intelligent energy management strategies and technologies are needed.
(3) The charging infrastructure needs to be improved.
We all know that timely and effective charging is one of the basic conditions for the normal use of new energy electric agricultural machinery. However, the current inadequate charging infrastructure still hinders the development of new energy electric agricultural machinery in China. Especially in rural areas, there are few charging facilities for agricultural production scenarios. This is also a problem faced by other countries in developing new energy electric agricultural machinery [122].
(4) The recycling and reuse of waste batteries need to be taken seriously.
The recycling of waste batteries from the use of new energy electric agricultural machinery is indeed a problem that needs to be considered and must be faced in the near future.
At present, China has not yet formed a closed loop for the recycling and disposal of these waste batteries. The main bottlenecks restricting battery recycling are as follows: 1) The recycling channels are complex and chaotic. At present, there is a lack of professional recycling institutions, and some small workshops take the opportunity to recycle these waste batteries. However, they often cannot handle these batteries well, which can easily lead to resource waste and environmental pollution. 2) There are various types of batteries, and recycling and processing technologies are difficult and costly. There are various types of batteries currently used in new energy electric vehicles and electric agricultural machinery, including lead-acid batteries, lithium batteries, and hydrogen fuel cells. Moreover, lithium batteries can be subdivided into multiple different types, and each type of waste battery has different disposal methods and requires different technical means, so the difficulty and cost are very high.
We hope that government departments can strengthen the supervision and inspection of the production, sales, use, and recycling of these batteries. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a professional battery recycling channel to avoid pollution from waste batteries. In the near future, a community of responsibility will be formed among battery producers, sellers, users, recyclers, and regulators. This can ensure the green and healthy production and application of waste batteries from the use of new energy electric agricultural machinery.
(5) There is insufficient application of agricultural machinery electric power and new energy generation capacity.
Figure 8 shows the electricity consumption of agricultural machinery in China over the past decade. The power generation capacity of China in the past decade is shown in Figure 9.
In 2022, the total power of agricultural machinery in China was 1105.97 million kilowatts, of which electric motor power accounted for 17.7%. According to Figure 8, 77% to 80% of China’s agricultural machinery power is provided by diesel engines. In 2024, China’s cumulative power generation capacity is approximately 3.35 billion kilowatts. According to Figure 9, 40% to 65% of China’s power generation capacity is thermal power generation. Overall, the application level and new energy generation capacity of China’s electric power in agricultural machinery still need to be further strengthened.

6. Conclusions

Along with the development of agricultural mechanization in China, it has also brought about issues of energy security and air pollution. The research and application of new energy electric agricultural machinery is the key to developing new quality productivity in agriculture. This study systematically analyzed the development and application status of new energy electric agricultural machinery in China. We have provided some concepts and definitions of new energy electric agricultural machinery with reference to new energy electric vehicles and introduced the main types of current new energy electric agricultural machinery. The research and application status of new energy electric tractors, electric tillage machinery, electric planting and fertilization machinery, electric field management machinery, and electric harvesters were analyzed. From the analysis results, we can see that although China’s development of new energy electric agricultural machinery has made some new progress, it is still in its infancy. Most of the new energy electric agricultural machinery currently being researched in China adopts hybrid power, which is still far from our green and pollution-free pure electric agricultural machinery. There is still a long way to go in the future, and there are many urgent problems that need to be solved.
We firmly believe that accelerating the development of new energy electric agricultural machinery in China is not only an urgent task to effectively alleviate energy and environmental pressures and promote the sustainable development of the agricultural machinery industry but also a strategic choice for the high-quality development of China’s agricultural machinery industry in the new era.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, H.Y., F.D., and Z.H.; Methodology, F.W., Z.Y., and F.G.; Data curation, F.G., P.Z., and J.W.; Writing—original draft preparation, H.Y.; Writing—review and editing, H.Y., F.D., and Z.H.; visualization, F.W. and J.W.; funding acquisition, F.G. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This study was funded by the Key R&D Program of Henan Province, China, grant number 251111113100.

Data Availability Statement

The data presented in this study is available on-demand from the first author.

Conflicts of Interest

Author Fujie Ding was employed by the company Linshu Dongtai Machinery Co., Ltd. Author Jiangtao Wang was employed by the companies Henan Province Planting and Harvesting Agricultural Equipment Co., Ltd. and Henan Nongyouwang Agricultural Equipment Technology Co., Ltd. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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Figure 1. Total production and consumption of the primary energy in China and the world from 2003 to 2022 [48]. Note: The data is sourced from U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Figure 1. Total production and consumption of the primary energy in China and the world from 2003 to 2022 [48]. Note: The data is sourced from U.S. Energy Information Administration.
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Figure 2. The structure of the primary energy production and consumption in China from 2003 to 2022 [48]. (a) The structure of primary energy production; (b) the structure of primary energy consumption. Note: The data is sourced from U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Figure 2. The structure of the primary energy production and consumption in China from 2003 to 2022 [48]. (a) The structure of primary energy production; (b) the structure of primary energy consumption. Note: The data is sourced from U.S. Energy Information Administration.
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Figure 3. The comprehensive mechanization rate of major crops and total power of agricultural machinery in China from 2000 to 2022 [49,50]. Note: The data is sourced from China Agricultural Machinery Industry Yearbook and the Yearbook of Agricultural Mechanization in China.
Figure 3. The comprehensive mechanization rate of major crops and total power of agricultural machinery in China from 2000 to 2022 [49,50]. Note: The data is sourced from China Agricultural Machinery Industry Yearbook and the Yearbook of Agricultural Mechanization in China.
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Figure 4. The comprehensive mechanization rate of eight major crops in China in 2022 [50]. Note: The data is sourced from the Yearbook of Agricultural Mechanization in China.
Figure 4. The comprehensive mechanization rate of eight major crops in China in 2022 [50]. Note: The data is sourced from the Yearbook of Agricultural Mechanization in China.
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Figure 5. Historical timeline of some battery-powered electric tractors in China.
Figure 5. Historical timeline of some battery-powered electric tractors in China.
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Figure 6. The structure and principle of a typical electric drive seeder drive system: (a) hardware composition; (b) principle process.
Figure 6. The structure and principle of a typical electric drive seeder drive system: (a) hardware composition; (b) principle process.
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Figure 7. Sales volume of new energy vehicles in China in the past decade. Note: The data is sourced from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers and the China’s Auto Market Almanac.
Figure 7. Sales volume of new energy vehicles in China in the past decade. Note: The data is sourced from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers and the China’s Auto Market Almanac.
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Figure 8. China’s agricultural machinery power from 2013 to 2022. Note: The data is sourced from the Yearbook of Agricultural Mechanization in China.
Figure 8. China’s agricultural machinery power from 2013 to 2022. Note: The data is sourced from the Yearbook of Agricultural Mechanization in China.
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Figure 9. China’s power generation capacity from 2015 to 2024. Note: The data is sourced from the China Statistical Yearbook and the National Energy Administration of China.
Figure 9. China’s power generation capacity from 2015 to 2024. Note: The data is sourced from the China Statistical Yearbook and the National Energy Administration of China.
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Table 1. Types and principles of typical new energy electric agricultural machinery.
Table 1. Types and principles of typical new energy electric agricultural machinery.
TypeSchematic Diagram
Pure electric agricultural machineryEnergies 18 04211 i001
Hybrid electric agricultural machinerySeries hybridEnergies 18 04211 i002
Parallel hybridEnergies 18 04211 i003
Parallel–serial hybridEnergies 18 04211 i004
Fuel cell electric agricultural machineryPure fuel cellEnergies 18 04211 i005
Hybrid of fuel cell and power batteryEnergies 18 04211 i006
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Yang, H.; Ding, F.; Gu, F.; Wu, F.; Yu, Z.; Zhang, P.; Wang, J.; Hu, Z. Achieving the Sustainable Agricultural Development Goals by Adopting the New Energy Electric Agricultural Machinery: An Analysis of Opportunities and Challenges of China. Energies 2025, 18, 4211. https://doi.org/10.3390/en18164211

AMA Style

Yang H, Ding F, Gu F, Wu F, Yu Z, Zhang P, Wang J, Hu Z. Achieving the Sustainable Agricultural Development Goals by Adopting the New Energy Electric Agricultural Machinery: An Analysis of Opportunities and Challenges of China. Energies. 2025; 18(16):4211. https://doi.org/10.3390/en18164211

Chicago/Turabian Style

Yang, Hongguang, Fujie Ding, Fengwei Gu, Feng Wu, Zhaoyang Yu, Peng Zhang, Jiangtao Wang, and Zhichao Hu. 2025. "Achieving the Sustainable Agricultural Development Goals by Adopting the New Energy Electric Agricultural Machinery: An Analysis of Opportunities and Challenges of China" Energies 18, no. 16: 4211. https://doi.org/10.3390/en18164211

APA Style

Yang, H., Ding, F., Gu, F., Wu, F., Yu, Z., Zhang, P., Wang, J., & Hu, Z. (2025). Achieving the Sustainable Agricultural Development Goals by Adopting the New Energy Electric Agricultural Machinery: An Analysis of Opportunities and Challenges of China. Energies, 18(16), 4211. https://doi.org/10.3390/en18164211

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