Why not EV•••••

Lawnmowers, chainsaws, Go-carts? Etc.  

What's the question?

EV lawnmowers, chainsaws and go karts are all very popular.

I finally got an electric cordless lawn mower within the past month and it's the greatest mower I've ever had and I previously had a Dixie Chopper. 

Uh - we already have that stuff if you hadn't  noticed

Only reason I don't have an EV lawnmower is that at the time I bought my current one, there wasn't one available with good mulching performance and enough battery life to do my entire yard.  I do have an electric string trimmer and leaf blower though.  For the amount of use they get, it beats the heck out of mixing gas, etc.  And both perform just fine, battery life is pretty good on the trimmer too (blower is corded).  Snowblower is gas, as sufficiently powerful electric ones aren't available yet (my gas one has ~13.5 hp). 

Uh, yeah.  Those all exist and are heavily used.

I have an electric chainsaw and a pruning saw.  They work great for bit of work I need to around our place.

Palm Springs, for example, has a ban on gas-powered leaf blowers and so only electric/battery ones are used.

Many indoor Karting places have gone to electric models, outdoor places and the hardcore racers still use gas, but that movement towards electric is gaining speed.

As the gas powered rigs age out, hit their peak ROI, etc. they'll get replaced with electric replacements where the situation permits.

Much like horses, gas powered items aren't going to go completely away, they'll just be used for the situations where they make the most sense or by hobbyists with the interest in making those work.

I have all that stuff in Ryboi. Replaced a bunch of name brand gas powered stuff. I couldnt be happier. The only thing i dont have thats electric is a mower, because I need a riding mower, and either they dont produce them or they are way too expensive for me, which to me is the same.

I have been eyeing the robot mowers though, I think i enjoy the yard work too much though

In reply to ProDarwin :

Thank you,  I just don't see them. I know they exist.   

In reply to rslifkin :

I know that it's difficult to try a snow blower in real world conditions, but if possible try an electric even if the horsepower rating is n't equivalent to what the gas one you would be replacing it is.

The reason I say that is torque and power delivery. My mower is lower horsepower than the Dixie chopper was and the Dixie chopper is faster in a straight line but it does not take any more time for me to cut the lawn than it did with the Dixie chopper and it does a much better job. All of which was quite surprising to me and was not what I expected at all. I was planning on still using the Dixie chopper 2 to 3 times a year to give it a good cut and to use the electric the majority of the time due to ease not having to go to the gas station to fill gas cans, And because I feel that exhaust gases aren't good for the health of the grass. 

One of the noticeable differences of the electric mower is that the mulching blade is much lighter weight than the mulching blade on the Dixie chopper and it spins at a much higher RPM and the RPM that it spins at is also not conducive to throttle input, this high spinning speed and low resistance makes it so it just makes better cleaner cuts It doesn't tear the grass or pull it at all it, minces it like a scalpel traveling through it at 300 mph. 

I'm not sure what the equivalency of that would be for snow or if it will only work better on light fluffy powdery snow that falls in extremely cold conditions and if it may suck for heavy wet snow that falls when it's 31 to 34 degrees. But I suspect that a blower that has a lighter weight rotating assembly and all of the torque available and spins at a higher rate of speed due to the reduction in rotating mass may outperform a higher horsepower gas PTO based system. 

Battery tech/density is not quite mature enough for race karts yet, but it will probably happen with the next generation of batteries. 
 

Edit: electric rental karts are already in use. Race karts have performance needs that outstrip the current tech though.

In reply to AaronT :

There are a few electric race karts available now, but they run about $17k. One can purchase a 125 and a 250 shifter for that much and run in multiple classes. 

One of the hurdles with regards to karting, is sanctioning body and field size. And the reason why karting is attractive to competitors in the first place is the cost associated with barrier to entry. The issue with not the performance of the electric karts, the electric race karts already out accelerate even 250cc two stroke shifters, it's the cost of entry. If I can buy a regionally competitive spec Miata for the cost of an electric cart and go out and race in a field of 20 plus miatas wheel to wheel just about any weekend, then why would I spend that money on an electric kart where the next nearest competitor with a kart in the same class my be 1200 miles away. 

If they were the same cost as a 125 or 250 shifter cart people would be moving to them now. It is strictly a cost thing, it is not a performance thing.

Just bought an electric chainsaw. 

In reply to David S. Wallens :

Electric chainsaws are really the only aspect of implementation of electric technology that makes me sad. 

Horror movies are definitely going to lose a certain aspect without a small screaming two-stroke. I know that stealth is even more scary but it's just simply not the same when in a theater and suddenly behind you, you hear that loud shrill shriek of a two-stroke ring in your ears from the surround sound before seeing the villain. 

I chopped up 4 pine trees the other day with my electric chainsaw. My yard is always trimmed with an electric trimmer. My driveway is cleaned with an electric blower. All of them 60 volt Craftsman stuff. They are many times better than the gas crap they replaced. 

The only yard equipment I still own that is gas is the mower. It still starts on the second pull without fail and 10 years ago when I bought it there wasn't an electric mower that didn't require dragging a cord. When it comes up for replacement I'll take a hard look at the battery equipment and see how good they are. At a guess, I'll be needing to cut more grass by then and I'll still be looking at gas or diesel mowers with a 60+ inch deck.

Just got an electric weedwacker the other month, I wont go back to gas.  Being able to just pick the thing up and go and not fart around with getting the gas one started was enough. A bonus is that its quiet enough that I can go outside and use it while my kids are napping inside the house without waking them up. 

Probably going back for a blower that uses the same battery pack in the next few days (kobalt 40v)

I have a little over an acre, so the mower will have to wait for battery tech to catch up a bit. Plus I have a john deere tractor I got for free that only needed a $20 fix.

One of the funnest GoKarts I ever drove was an electric.  Wicked torque.

I had a battery lawnmower before that said it was good up to 1 acre.  It didn't last for all of my 0.18 acres.  They took it back.  I'm sure there are great ones, but I'm a little gun shy about trying another one.  My new neighbor has one.  I could pull the "hi, welcome to the neighborhood, I know we just met, but can I borrow your lawnmower" trick.

Had an electric (plug in) chainsaw.  I never felt safe with it but it's probably fine.  A gas chainsaw is an inertia thing.  If it hits your kevlar chaps, it gets tangled and instantly stops.  An electric is all about torque, so while it may not go through the kevlar, it can whip around and be a problem.

I personally have never had the issue with gas equipment that most people do.  I have a couple gas saws that I know if I went out and yanked the rope they would start on the first or second pull even though I haven't used them since last March.  Same goes for my gas lawnmower, weed whacker, pressure washer, and cultivator.  They just work for me.

I'm also a complete moron with plug-in yard equipment.  I had an electric hedge trimmer and it never failed... I would cut the cord more often than I care to admit.  My dumb ass also tried mowing my lawn with an electric mower using a green extension cord.  I'm not the brightest bulb in the basket.

In reply to captdownshift (Forum Supporter) :

On the snowblower, I sometimes wish mine had even more power, but it's the most power you can get from an off the shelf walk behind blower.  I hate having to blow the driveway more than once in a big snow, so the blower needs to move 2 feet of snow in one shot, even if it's not dry and powdery. 

In reply to captdownshift (Forum Supporter) :

Your kart comments sent me searching...  Are you referring to the line of BSR karts?

I keep thinking a kart would be a fun way to go racing without having to invest in a huge towing rig I don't have space for. 

Electric karts would make working the kart heats at autox so much more tolerable.

captdownshift (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to rslifkin :

I know that it's difficult to try a snow blower in real world conditions, but if possible try an electric even if the horsepower rating is n't equivalent to what the gas one you would be replacing it is.

 

The reason I say that is torque and power delivery. My mower is lower horsepower than the Dixie chopper was and the Dixie chopper is faster in a straight line but it does not take any more time for me to cut the lawn than it did with the Dixie chopper and it does a much better job. All of which was quite surprising to me and was not what I expected at all. I was planning on still using the Dixie chopper 2 to 3 times a year to give it a good cut and to use the electric the majority of the time due to ease not having to go to the gas station to fill gas cans, And because I feel that exhaust gases aren't good for the health of the grass. 

 

One of the noticeable differences of the electric mower is that the mulching blade is much lighter weight than the mulching blade on the Dixie chopper and it spins at a much higher RPM and the RPM that it spins at is also not conducive to throttle input, this high spinning speed and low resistance makes it so it just makes better cleaner cuts It doesn't tear the grass or pull it at all it, minces it like a scalpel traveling through it at 300 mph. 

 

I'm not sure what the equivalency of that would be for snow or if it will only work better on light fluffy powdery snow that falls in extremely cold conditions and if it may suck for heavy wet snow that falls when it's 31 to 34 degrees. But I suspect that a blower that has a lighter weight rotating assembly and all of the torque available and spins at a higher rate of speed due to the reduction in rotating mass may outperform a higher horsepower gas PTO based system. 

What lawn mower did you use?

In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :

The BSR race pro and Daymaks, I feel that the C5 from Daymak is going to end up being vaporware as nobody is going to drop 60 grand on a kart. I really feel that that model specifically is an effort to gain investors to jump in on them so that they can bring down cost and build something that is 80 to 90% of the capability of the C5 in the 15 to $20,000 range, or less 

Mower wise the Ego was the pleasant surprise to me. After utilizing it I have a friend who has 8 acres who is considering getting a Mean Green, which is a substantial step up in price but also will go about twice as fast and should be able to still handle, at least the majority if not all of his property on a single charge. Mean greens are a whole different ball of wax wise though You're looking at the cost of an automobile for one. 

frenchyd said:

In reply to ProDarwin :

Thank you,  I just don't see them. I know they exist.   

Then you haven't even tried looking. The 80V Kobalt mower and trimmer in my garage were both purchased in 2017.

https://www.lowes.com/pl/Cordless-electric-push-lawn-mowers-Push-lawn-mowers-Lawn-mowers-Outdoor-tools-equipment-Outdoors/4294612706

I think the general concern with any of the EV stuff is price and battery life.  Price is coming down, but I suspect if you have a large yard, gas may still be a viable option.

My next set will be electric, maybe, if I can get everything in one eco system for a challenge car or less.

But I want to replace everything. Push mower, riding mower, weed wacker power head, hedge trimmer. Keeping the gas chainsaw though.

I just got all new 2 stroke stuff last year(minus the chainsaw, it's older than me). I buy 2 $6 cans of premix ethanol free fuel, and I get through the whole year. No problems, no start issues, no mix issues or labels wearing off of cans. Just gas up and go.

My brand new hedge trimmer is corded, I HATE that it doesn't lock on the trigger, but it's fine otherwise with my 12 gauge hundred foot cord. Cordless would be nicer though. 

My currently 3 riding mowers have cost me a total of $125 combined, that's not even a monthly payment on a single battery rider. 

I bought a Milwaukee 18v leaf blower specifically to just clean my gutters and blow off the patio.  I love that thing.