There is something going on in the lawn care industry, a seismic shift that is happening as quietly as the sound of an electric-powered engine: homeowners, local governments, universities, and other large institutions are transitioning from using gas-powered lawn maintenance equipment to machines run on batteries.
Several independent dealers surveyed say they are offering more battery-operated lawn mowers, leaf blowers, trimmers, and other outdoor equipment than ever before.
“Absolutely,” said Ray Womble, Jr., the owner and operator of J.E. Womble & Sons, a full-service hardware store in Lillington, N.C.
One national research firm has found that the battery-powered lawn equipment sector is growing at a rate three times faster than gas.
Daniel Mabe, who leads the American Green Zone Alliance, a company that advocates for zero-emission landscape maintenance, says the shift to electric products may not be getting as much attention yet, but it is well underway.
“It’s just exploding,” Mabe told the Washington Post. “We’re on the precipice of a revolution.”
The numbers tell this evolving story: in 2015, American manufacturers shipped 9 million electric lawn machines, according to one estimate by Stanley Black and Decker. Last year, 16 million machines were in stock at dealerships, a 75 percent jump is only five years.
Makita, maker of lawn mowers and other outdoor power tools, announced that it intends to stop making gas-powered equipment worldwide by March 2022. It sells 47 battery-powered models in it’s inventory. A year ago that number was 30.
“We’re just responding to customer demands,” Makita spokesman Wayne Hart told the Post.
What are Ray Womble’s customers telling him why they now prefer the electric-powered outdoor equipment?
“They are tired of having to depend on gasoline and it’s low quality that causes service problems and the convenience of the product. Plus, these new electric machines have as much power as gasoline.”
One state has taken an even bolder step. California has passed a law that will ban the sale of new gas-powered lawn equipment there by 2024. It affects lawn mowers, leaf blowers, trimmers, chain saws and any other equipment that uses gasoline to power its engines. The goal is to significantly cut down on air pollution there.
Manufacturers, professional landscapers, and government leaders are watching a model take shape in the small community of Mountain Brook, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham. The mayor there is steadily overhauling all of the lawn care equipment his city uses to cut grass and maintain landscapes in public parks and golf courses and at schools and government buildings.
“My hope is that in five years we can be 90 percent electric,” Mountain Brook Mayor Stewart Welch told the Post.
While residential and commercial customers have started to embrace the electric craze, there are still issues to be worked out: things like the cost of converting fleets from gas-powered to electric, battery life capacity, and other logistics. Lawn care organizations want to slow the speed of the electric craze so that they can work out those issues, but they recognize that it’s in motion.
“We think battery is going to be the future,” Britt Wood, CEO of the National Association of Landscape Professionals told the Post. “We’re just not there yet.”