Electric Lawn Mowers Evolve

For many years as the majority of homeowners have been mowing their lawns using gas power, a few forward thinking trendsetters have been out there trying out electric mowers. Over ten years ago I remember one of my neighbors pushing around what seemed like an overweight, underpowered (always undercharged) lawn mower thinking to myself, why are they doing that? This particular neighbor had a messy house and they didn't take great care of their garage so that may have contributed to my negative perceptions, in those days I was a huge fan of mulcher bagless recycler mowers for their environmental freindliness (and ease of use). Despite their now obvious benefits, electric mowers never really inspired me until now...

Enter 2008, a year wars, recessions, and high gas prices. As oil rose to $100+ per gallon and celebrities (and presidential hopefuls) began releasing movies about global warming, technology responded. Electric vehicles like the Tesla took center stage and more people added solar and wind to their properties than ever before. While mass adoption of electric vehicles has not yet reached it's potential, electric lawn mowers have flourished and evolved.

No longer is an electric mower out of place or viewed as wimpy. Now they are trendy and understood, even appreciated with greater perspective. While most people can't afford a $109K Tesla Roadster, they can afford to splurge a bit for an EV mower and even justify the purchase; they make more economic sense and have the added benefit of being much cleaner than traditional gas mowers. Just two weeks I had a family member ask me for help emptying the gas from her mower (for winter storage). Between the fumes and pollution harming the environment, the akward neighbor stares as we struggled to empty the gas into our rocks, and the brain damage (if not just the headaches) we both suffered, I've come to appreciate electric mowers like never before.

So what are the options? Electric mowers, as an industry, have grown to be so effective that you might have even seen them on TV infomercials. The Neuton electric mower is one that I have seen several times now, considering the price of TV advertising (compared to online or print) it seems that the economies of scale and viability of this product are at an all time high. One of the coolest parts of electric mowers that I've seen is the ability to store them vertically and fold them to save space! This just wouldn't work with a conventional gas mower as oil would get everywhere. What's even cooler are artifically intelligent robot mowers that will seek and destroy your tall grass... more about those another time.

Neuton Electric Lawn Mower
Neuton makes two models of mowers along with a plastic "garden cart" electric wheelbarrow for transporting up to 200lbs, replacement batteries, and a nifty edge trimmer that attaches directly to their mowers (similar to a weed whacker with a plastic string that cuts plants). The mowers range from $349 to $449 (verses ~$200 for a gas mower) and claim to be "the most powerful mower with a removable, rechargeable battery you can buy". Spare batteries are just $89 to $99 bucks if you're concerned with the size of your lawn and are worried the battery won't last. By our calculations between the 24 volts and 36 volt options (depending on your mower) the batteries will last 3 to 5 years as long as you don't let them freeze or sit on the charger too long. A Neuton representative told us it's best to just charge them once a month and keep them inside when not in use if you live somewhere cold in the winter like Colorado. The battery technology is sealed lead acid.