Despite their soaring popularity, however, many people are understandably unfamiliar with electric lawnmowers.
There’s also something to be said for the power of a gas mower.
Even with a rapid charger, you’ll still have an hour or so of downtime.
Initial Expenses
The smaller your lawn, the more appealing an electric mower becomes.
You’ll spend about $300-600 for most models.
The cost of SLA batteries is lower, but so are the longevity and performance.
For your average city or suburban lawn, it’s tough to beat basic battery-powered mowers like the EGO Power+.
Maintaining the battery health of a rechargeable sealed lead-acid battery is a huge hassle.
If you don’t maintain the charge and routinely use the battery, performance suffers greatly.
SLA-battery riding mowers are more expensive than equivalent gas mowers, but not shockingly so.
Lithium-ion riding mowers aren’t cheap, but they are quiet and zero-emission.
You’ll pay about 20% more on average.
Lithium-ion riding mowers aren’t cheap, but they are quiet and zero-emission.
A $3,000 zero-turn gas mower could easily run you $6,000 when shopping for an equivalent electric model.
Ryobi
It was inexpensive for me to replace my rickety old push mower with a Ryobi electric push mower.
If you do end up shopping for a riding mower, here’s a fine-print tip for you.
Often times companies will bundle their SLA battery mowers with lithium-ion tools.
The dual battery design on this EGO model offers 80 minutes of run time, perfect for medium-size lawns.
Related:How Much Does It Cost to Operate an Electric Lawn Mower?
We did a cost breakdown comparing usingan electric mower versus a gas mowerto mow a typical American lawn.
And maintenance costs are negligible on an electric mower.
There are no air filters, spark plugs, oil changes, or other routine costs.
Where there can be some sticker shock, however, is when it comes time to replace the batteries.
On a smaller push mower, the cost to replace the battery is usually around $200.
Replacing the set of batteries that power a larger riding mower can easily cost $1000 or more.
In that case, the battery replacement cost is much more reasonable.
That’s not an exaggeration, it does cost pennies—you canrun the calculations yourselfif you’re curious.
Related:How Much Does It Cost to Recharge a Battery?
But close behind that, I can’t say enough good things about the overall experience.
Replacing a pull-start mower with a push-to-start electric model is a big comfort upgrade.
Further, electric mowers are quiet.
Unbelievably quiet, even.
You might even find yourself mowing more simply because you don’t smell like mower exhaust.
The dual battery design on this EGO model offers 80 minutes of run time, perfect for medium-size lawns.
For the foreseeable future, there will be a place forgas-powered mowersof all sizes.
It’ll get the job done with fewer emissions, lower noise, and at a lower price.
