EVwire brief: A total of 196 brand-new Monarch MK-V electric tractors, which were built under contract by Foxconn at its former GM plant in Lordstown, Ohio, are being liquidated in an online auction run by Silicon Valley Disposition (SVD).
The sale follows Monarch Tractor's own collapse. The electric-tractor startup's technology assets were acquired by Caterpillar in April, after multiple layoff rounds, three dealer lawsuits, and Foxconn's exit from the Ohio plant that built these very tractors.
Silicon Valley Disposition, Inc. is running the auction, titled "Surplus EV Tractors Inventory," from its facility at 5232 Tod Ave SW in Warren, Ohio. Bidding is scheduled for July 22 to 24, local pickup only, and the listing specifies all sales are final, with no returns, exchanges, or refunds.
196 Monarch tractors are up for grabs. That’s enough to cultivate thousands of hectares. (Source)
Hat tip to EV industry watcher Reilly Brennan (@reillybrennan), who spotted the listing and posted photos of the warehouse floor on X.
These things look sharp for farm equipment. Genuinely a shame this batch never made it to a customer.
Monarch’s electric tractors are 4-Wheel Drive (4WD) (Source)
Whatever else went wrong at Monarch, the hardware itself looks finished and ready to ship, not like scrapped prototypes. This is part of what makes this liquidation sting a little more.
The tractors feature 9 forward speeds and 3 reverse speeds (9F / 3R) (Source)
Context:
The Warren listing isn't Monarch's only auction this year. In February 2026, SVD ran a separate sale (also at the same Warren, Ohio facility) of Monarch's leftover EV tractor assembly parts, plus a third auction in Livermore, California that same month covering over 110 finished MK-V tractors and R&D gear from Monarch's own headquarters as the company vacated the building.
The Ohio tractors trace back to a Foxconn manufacturing deal that predates Monarch's collapse. Foxconn signed a contract in August 2022 to build the MK-V at its newly acquired Lordstown, Ohio plant, and the first tractors came off the line in April 2023.
Monarch’s tractors were expected to provide up to two times the torque of a traditional diesel tractor in its class
When Foxconn sold that plant to SoftBank in August 2025, ending the manufacturing arrangement, Monarch CEO Praveen Penmetsa said the company had worked with Foxconn to "build up inventory" ahead of the sale, enough to cover "customer demand for the next 12 months, along with ample spare parts," per TechCrunch.
Apparently, roughly 196 of those tractors never left the Ohio warehouse.
Monarch’s tractors could operate up to 14 hours in its XLR extended battery variant (Source)
How Monarch got here
Founded in 2018 by Carlo Mondavi, Praveen Penmetsa, and former Tesla executive Mark Schwager, Monarch raised more than $200 million chasing a "driver optional" electric tractor that could autonomously navigate wineries, fruit farms, and dairy farms.
Monarch's execution didn't go smoothly. Three separate dealers sued Monarch, with one alleging in a September 2025 suit that its tractors were "defective" and "unable to operate autonomously" (Monarch denied this in a court filing). Monarch's technology assets were ultimately acquired by Caterpillar, though neither company confirmed it directly.
Monarch's own statement only referenced an unspecified "large global equipment manufacturer," and Caterpillar didn't respond to TechCrunch's request for comment. Later filings, however, confirmed the acquisition. It’s worth flagging that caveat every time this Caterpillar detail comes up: it's well-sourced, but not a confirmed statement from either party.
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