FarmElectric driver-optional tractor
Monarch MK-V
by Monarch Tractor (Zimeno Inc.)
The MK-V was a battery-electric tractor for vineyards and fruit farms that could be driven by a person or run without one. The company collapsed in 2025 and 2026 and its assets went to Caterpillar. Electrek, 5 Apr 2023
EndedMonarch handed its affairs over for the benefit of its creditors, and Caterpillar acquired its assets (reported April 2026). The stage below shows how far it got.
- Evidence
- Company-reported only
- Human help
- Not disclosed
- Last milestone
- 15 April 2026
01Can I get it?
Yes, in places
- Where it works today
- Not stated in our sources.
- Published price
- No published price in our sources.
- Human help
- The maker hasn't said whether people help it remotely.
02Track record
What has actually happened
Every milestone is dated and links to the page it comes from. Lines marked company-reported rest on the maker's own word.
On sale · sets the stage
Monarch said it had shipped about 500 tractors in total.
TechCrunch, 19 Nov 2025Company-reported
03Safety and incidents
What has gone wrong
Three federal lawsuits by dealers questioned whether the tractors worked as sold. One dealer complaint said the tractors could not run on their own indoors. Pleasanton Weekly, 23 Mar 2026
How we placed it
The rule, not an opinion
Stages are worked out by published rules from the dated milestones above. We never rate robots, and no maker can pay to change a stage.
- 5
Regulator-cleared or mass market
A regulator has cleared it where approval applies: FDA clearance or approval for a medical robot, a permit to run with no one aboard for a self-driving vehicle, or an FAA approval for routine drone flights. Or: Widely sold: sales in the hundreds of thousands, or a product category you can buy in ordinary shops.
- 4
Paying customersThis robot
Delivered to customers who pay for it, beyond a trial, or a paid service the public can use.
Placed by: Monarch said it had shipped about 500 tractors in total (19 Nov 2025).
- 3
Pilot
Working with a named customer in a real setting, as a trial.
- 2
Pre-orders
Orders, reservations or deposits taken, with nothing delivered yet.
- 1
Demo only
Shown in videos, staged events or a factory, with no units working for customers.
What we couldn't confirm. Caterpillar did not comment to TechCrunch, and the price it paid was not disclosed. The MK-V price was not confirmed from a source we opened.
Sources
- 01Electrek, 5 Apr 2023
- 02TechCrunch, 15 Apr 2026
- 03Pleasanton Weekly, 23 Mar 2026
- 04TechCrunch, 19 Nov 2025
Cite this page
Robotics Verdict. “Monarch MK-V (Monarch Tractor (Zimeno Inc.)): how far has it got?” roboticsverdict.com/robots/monarch-tractor. Checked 19 October 2026.
More in Farm robots
- Farm spraying dronesDJI, Hylio, XAG · Cleared or mass market
- Milking robotsLely, DeLaval · Cleared or mass market
- ARAEcorobotix · Paying customers
- Autonomous 8R / 9R tractors and autonomy kitsJohn Deere · Paying customers
- Bonsai autonomy and Amiga robotsBonsai Robotics · Paying customers
- BurroBurro (formerly Augean Robotics) · Paying customers