The future is electric. But if you doubt the superiority of machines powered by electric motors rather than internal combustion engines, look no further for confirmation than electric lawn mowers.
A few years ago, I bought an EGO electric lawn mower from Home Depot. At a price of $500, it was a little more expensive than a high-quality gas-powered mower by $100-200. But it was well worth the extra expense.
I used to hate my gas-powered mowers. I love the EGO.
Why is the EGO so much better?
No oil changes! No trips to the gas station to fill the gas can.
Let’s start with no oil changes. With gas powered mowers, an annual rite of spring was changing the oil. What a pain! I had to turn the heavy mower upside down to drain the old oil, with the inevitable spills on the newspapers spread over the driveway. And then the trip to the gas station to drop off the container of used oil. With the EGO mower, no more oil changes!
Stores easily and compactly in the garage.
The absence of fluids in an electric mower—neither oil nor gasoline—also means that the EGO can be folded and stored vertically, a real space-saver in the garage.
And no more trips to the gas station with a portable gasoline can. In fact, with an electric car and an electric mower, I never go to the gas station anymore, and the ups and downs of gas prices are irrelevant to me.
But the operation of the EGO mower is where the advantages really come into play. Instead of breathing nasty exhaust fumes and ruining my hearing with the loud noise of a gas-powered mower, cutting the grass has become a quiet and pleasant experience. In fact, the EGO is so quiet that I could run the mower within a couple of feet of our beloved yellow lab, Annie, before she got up to move from her favorite spot.
So quiet it doesn’t bother the dog. And no exhaust fumes.
If only those lawn service companies that come to mow the neighbors’ grass on Saturday mornings used electric mowers! Come to think of it, why aren’t they required to go electric?
As confirmed by Consumer Reports, the EGO does a good job cutting the grass. And if you’re really fastidious about the cut of your grass, EGO now has a high-end “Select Cut” model for about $700.
Plenty of battery power to finish the job.
Range anxiety with a battery-powered device? Not an issue. I can mow our front and back areas with battery capacity to spare. If there were ever an issue with battery power, I can use the smaller batteries supplied with other EGO power tools, such as the leaf-blower, edger, or chain saw.
Separate propulsion and cutting controls.
One of the features I really like about the EGO is that the power to the cutting blades and the self-propulsion wheels can be controlled separately. So I can disengage propulsion when I’m mowing downhill, and I can engage the wheels but not the blades when I’m going up the stone path from the back yard to the front.
Mow in the dark!
And because the mower is electric powered, it also comes with a headlight. I actually used it once when I had to mow the front yard quickly in the waning daylight before company arrived.
In short, electric lawn mowers, like electric cars, are clearly better machines due to the inherent superiority of electric motors. Equal or superior performance, with added convenience. No maintenance. Quiet operation, and no pollution.
If you haven’t joined the electric revolution yet, get started with an electric mower. Of course, you can also help the environment in other ways by reducing the size of our lawn, as we have, in favor of natural grasses, plants, and flowers that attract bees, butterflies, and other beneficial insects and creatures.
The future is electric. Go electric!