First electric lawn mower. Electric vs Gas Lawn Mowers: How to Decide

Electric vs Gas Lawn Mowers: How to Decide

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In the market for a new lawn mower, but not sure which type is best? Let us help you navigate the debate on electric vs. gas lawn mowers.

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With more lawn mower models on the market than ever before, and so many sizes, styles and features to consider, making buying a lawn mower isn’t as simple as it once was. And now, electric mowers are making a big splash in the lawn care industry.

Not long ago, mower motors required too much juice for a cord or batteries to be practical. Not anymore. Modern refinements and innovations allowed corded and battery-powered electric lawn mowers to burst onto the scene with gusto.

Gas-powered mowers ignite a mixture of air and fuel, compressing it in a cylinder, then igniting it with a spark to create a miniature explosion which is harnessed to power the machine. Electric mower motors, however, feature magnets interacting with electromagnets, energizing metal coils to move rotors and create power. Electric mowers can be powered by batteries or a 120-volt receptacle via extension cord.

Lawn Mower Considerations

Motor Power

Lawn mower manufacturers can be disingenuous about the real world power levels of their products. It’s not uncommon for electric mowers, for example, to have their “max torque” specs touted as evidence they match gas-burning models in power output. This is deceptive.

Max torque gives an inflated perspective of a mower’s true power because it measures engine torque under little or no load. The fact is, horsepower is the only reasonable unit of measure for lawn mowers, which I suspect is why electric lawn mower manufacturers don’t share this figure. The real-world horsepower of most electric mowers is half, or less than half, the horsepower of a similarly sized gas-powered machine.

Run Time

It’s hard to measure exactly how much run time you’ll get from a tank of gas in your average fuel-burning mower, because much depends on the speed you run it and the density of the grass you’re cutting. It’s a safe bet, though, that a tank of gas will last longer than a fully charged battery on any equivalent electric model.

Most electric mower manufacturers give a maximum run time estimate, which for push and self-propelled mowers is almost always an hour or less. Riding electric mowers might run two hours, tops, on a single charge. Plug-in mowers don’t require batteries and will keep running continuously unless there’s a power outage. In that case, a generator with sufficient voltage capacity can keep you going.

The Environment and Noise

While power and run time certainly favor gas-powered mowers, noise and environmental considerations support electric. Battery-powered mowers have zero carbon emissions, so running one won’t contribute to climate change. Even the best gas-powered mowers can give off a significant amount of emissions.

Noise is also a factor worth considering. Many municipalities regulate the acceptable amount of yard noise. Big, beefy gas-powered mowers can easily exceed these guidelines, but battery-powered mowers almost certainly won’t.

Note: Some users find vibration is more severe and bothersome with gas burning mowers than electric.

Laws and Regulations

In some states, the laws will dictate which mowers you can and can’t buy. California passed a law in 2021 banning the sale of gas-powered lawn equipment. That will take effect as soon as 2024. However, to help ease this transition, California has set aside 30 million for a rebate program to offset the cost of new zero-emission equipment for professional gardeners and landscapers.

Manufacturers are starting to follow suit. John Deere unveiled its very first electric riding mower in 2023, with additional models to come. Honda announced in 2022 that it will stop making gas-powered mowers all together.

Operating and Maintenance Costs

Although it’s tempting to believe battery-powered mowers will always cost less than gas-burning mowers long-term, this isn’t necessarily the case. Although you’ll almost certainly spend less on electricity charging your batteries or running your corded mower then on gas and lawn mower oil for your fuel-burning machine, there’s more to the equation.

Lithium ion batteries don’t last forever and eventually need replacement. They’re not cheap, either. If your electric mower comes with a generous warranty, you might be lucky enough to get a replacement battery (or batteries, if your mower takes two) for free when yours bites the dust. Otherwise, you could be looking at a 200 to 400 expense.

Ease of Use

Electric mowers are usually simpler to use and maintain than their gas-powered counterparts. They don’t need gas, oil changes or new air filters, and you don’t have to make sure the carburetor and spark plugs are clean and functional.

Electric Lawn Mower Cons

Gas Lawn Mower Cons

How To Choose the Right Mower

Battery-powered mowers work best for people with small lots who want to minimize maintenance, noise and carbon emissions. But if noise and exhaust don’t bother you, and you just want to mow and be done with it as quickly as possible, you’re probably better off going gas-powered.

Whether you go with gas or electric, it’s important to choose the right model for your needs. If you’ve got an acre or less to mow, a self-propelled walk-behind mower is probably your best bet. If you’ve got a larger lawn or simply don’t like walking and mowing at the same time, a riding mower will make your life much easier.

detailed considerations like engine power, blade speed, deck width and other features come down to personal preference and available budget.

How to Use an Electric Lawn Mower

Now that your dream mower is in front of you (or in your shopping cart), it’s time to rev your electric engine. You’ll want to review your manual for all the details on your specific mower model, but let’s start with a step-by-step guide on using your electric lawn mower. And don’t forget to check out our safety tips below – because safety is always a priority here at Greenworks.

Why Choose an Electric Lawn Mower?

If you want a smoother and more consistent mowing experience, an electric lawn mower takes the top prize. Cordless electric lawn mowers are hassle-free – charge the battery, click into place and you’re ready to mow. With an easy push-button start, no required maintenance and easy-to-store maneuverability, you can say goodbye forever to the hassle of gas mower pull cords and mid-mow refueling. Bonus: you can use your electric mower batteries on an arsenal of additional yard tools – your garage is a one-stop shop for anything you need!

How Do I Mow with a Battery-Powered Lawn Mower?

Great news: while electric mower models can vary, the basic mower anatomy is similar. Although mowers from other manufacturers may vary, c heck out our best practice guide to start mowing with a battery-powered mower. 1. Celebrate your sustainable and efficient electric lawn mower purchase.

Getting started with your new battery-powered lawn mower couldn’t be easier. No pull cords that hurt your shoulder and no dumping gas all over your driveway or yourself. Mowing your lawn has never been this easy – or enjoyable! 2. Charge your batteries.

Whether this is your first or fiftieth time using your electric lawn mower, you’ll need to make sure your batteries are charged and ready for mow time. Securely place your batteries into the designated charger and you’ll be powered up in no time. While your batteries are charging, you can get organized on the other fun parts of having an electric mower. 3. Decide if you want to mulch, bag or side discharge.

• If you’re in the mood to bag your lawn, ensure your side discharge flap is flush with the mower. Take out the bagging plug before you clip in your bagger. Easy peasy!
• If you’d like to mulch your lawn, check that the side discharge flap is flush and the mulching plug is in place. You’re good to go!
• If you’re side discharging, unhook your lawn bag and stick in the plug. Next, attach the side discharge vent – ensure your grass clippings will discharge to the side, not in your face.

Set your cutting height.

You can easily adjust the grass-cutting height for all four wheels with the lever located near the back wheels. And with up to seven height options, you’ll love the versatility and customization of simply moving the wheels up and down.

Insert charged batteries.

Open the lid to the battery compartment and gently slide the fully-charged battery – or batteries, depending on your model – into place. You should hear the batteries click securely into place.

Great news – you can’t do this wrong because the batteries only can slide in one way. Insert the safety key into the correct spot next to the batteries (if applicable) and you’re ready to rev.

Start up your electric mower.

Batteries? Check. Mulch/side discharge/bag in place? Check. You’re ready to turn on your mower. Simply push and hold the start button, pull the start handle– and voila! Your battery-powered lawn mower will purr into action.

Explore your mower’s features.

It’s time. You’ve finally made it to the lawn! While you are basking in the joy of mowing with your new battery-powered lawn mower, take a moment to test drive some of the fun features that your model may have, like the self-propel and turbo options.

While you mow, you can glance at your battery indicator to check how much power you have left. Most models have a battery indicator next to the start button, so keeping tabs on your mower‘s available power is easy.

Close it down.

Once your lawn is looking crisp and pristine, you are ready to power down your mower. Spoiler alert: you just need to push the on/off button. It’s that easy! Find a cozy spot in your garage or shed for storage and you’re good to go. If it strikes your fancy, you can even fold it in half and hang it.

Safety Tips for Your Cordless Electric Mower

Safety first, friends. We know you – and your new electric mower – are powered up and ready to start mowing. But before you do, we need to touch on a few critical lawn mower safety tips:

• Protective eye gear: In a perfect world, we’d all have safety goggles at the ready – but if you don’t have a pair handy, make sure to put on protective eye gear like sunglasses or goggles. Add a baseball cap to help deflect any wayward pebbles or sticks that can launch your way – plus a hat will protect your face from the telltale “I just mowed my lawn” sunburn.
• Take a look at your shoes: Yes, your shoes. Most of us don’t think twice about wearing flip-flops during warm weather – but that’s a big hazard for mowing your lawn. Closed-toed shoes are a must, whether they’re gardening clogs, Nikes or anything in between.
• Check your batteries: We’re talking about the battery compartments in the front of your electric lawn mower. Before you lock and load your batteries, look closely at the battery bays to ensure there isn’t any moisture, standing water or leftover lawn debris hanging out in there.
• Pay attention to the weather: We have all been there – rushing to get in a quick lawn mowing before rains. But don’t head out with your lawn mower into potentially dangerous weather – it’s not worth the risk! Thunder and lightning can begin much earlier than rain – so keep an eye on the sky and if it’s too close of a call, hold off on mowing until better weather has arrived.
• Be a responsible mower: We know you will be – but it’s worth the reminder. Avoid mowing through standing water or close to where the kids or family pets are playing. And as tempting as it might be to elevate your mow time into a workout, keep a steady walking pace instead of running behind your mower. You’ve already nailed it on being environmentally responsible with your electric lawn mower – now just keep an eye on your surroundings.

Looking for more details on how to choose an electric lawn mower ? Check out the Greenworks mower buying guide and learn more about zero turn vs riding mowers and push mower vs. self-propelled.

John Deere Just Debuted an All-Electric Riding Lawn Mower

Courtesy John Deere

Looking for a new riding lawn mower? John Deere has just released the Z370R, a zero-turn electric riding lawn mower. Learn about it here.

When it comes to buying a lawn mower, there’s a growing trend of electric replacing traditional gas-powered models. Electric lawn mowers have a number of advantages over gas: less noise, easier maintenance, no exhaust smell and of course more eco-friendly. Several mower manufacturers have released electric machines of both the push and riding style, and John Deere is now adding its name to that list. Currently, the John Deere Z370R Electric ZTrak is available for pre-order. Here’s what you need to know about this machine.

What’s John Deere’s New All-Electric Lawn Mower?

Courtesy John Deere

The John Deere Z370R is a zero-turn electric riding lawn mower. That means it’s fully battery-powered and doesn’t need any gas or oil. Like all electric machines, the lack of combustible fuel also eliminates the need to winterize—apart from parking the mower in a sheltered space and bringing the batteries indoors. Plus, one of the benefits of an electric vs. gas lawnmower it that it’s quieter than its gas-fueled counterparts, so you’re less likely to disturb the neighbors during your morning lawncare routine.

It’s zero-turn functionality means it turns as sharply around corners and tight spaces, thanks to front wheels that rotate 360 degrees.

The Z370R charges with a regular extension cord plugged into a 110-volt outlet, so there’s no need to remove batteries or store a charger. The 3.56 kWH battery capacity, 42-inch mower deck and 2-acre maximum mow per charge are fairly average among other reputable electric mower brands. What isn’t average is the battery’s 5-year warranty, or the waterproof casing built over it to allow stress-free hose washes.

Like other John Deere mowers, this machine comes with MulchControl technology, which allows you to switch between normal mowing and mulching easily on the fly.

When Will It Be Available?

According to John Deere’s website, if you pre-order the Z370R today you can expect it to arrive at your local dealer for pickup within 7 to 10 months.

Where Can I Get It?

The Z370R is currently available for pre-order on the John Deere website. At 6,400, this mower is at the more expensive end of the electric mower spectrum. Time will tell if the robust design and claims of cleaner, faster cuts justify the cost.

Robert Maxwell is a writer, videographer, photographer and online strength coach based in Northern Ontario, Canada. He grew up on a rural self-sufficient homestead property where he learned the skills to build his own home from the ground up, do all his own vehicle repairs, and work with wood, stone and metal to find practical DIY solutions to many everyday problems.

Professional landscapers are reluctant to plug into electric mowers due to cost

Austin Acocella, co-owner of Acocella Landscaping in Westchester County, N.Y., is holding onto his gas-powered mowers. He says electric ride-ons are too expensive for him to switch right now. Matthew Schuerman hide caption

Austin Acocella, co-owner of Acocella Landscaping in Westchester County, N.Y., is holding onto his gas-powered mowers. He says electric ride-ons are too expensive for him to switch right now.

SCARSDALE, N.Y. — Electric lawn mowers have taken the U.S. consumer market by storm over the past few years. And they’ve done so quietly — about 20 decibels more quietly in some cases.

Once restricted to lawns no larger than the length of an extension cord, mowers on the market today run on lithium ion batteries that can last 45 minutes or more without charging and cost about as much as gas-powered versions. And in 2021, according to market research company FactMR, electric lawn mowers made up 37% of all sales.

But professional landscapers, who have to run their machines all day, day after day, have yet to join the trend in large numbers. Electric heavy-duty ride-on mowers make up just 11% of the total market for all heavy-duty ride-on mowers.

For homeowners, I feel like it’s great, said Austin Acocella, co-owner of Acocella Landscaping in Scarsdale, N.Y. The battery just doesn’t last long, especially for the stuff that I do.

He has checked out commercial-grade mowers with batteries that can last six or more hours, but hasn’t wanted to pay the upfront costs. A 52-inch-wide ride-on model, the Rival from Mean Green Mowers, starts at nearly 30,000. That is more than three times a comparable gas-powered machine – though the manufacturer says the customer will break even given significantly lower operation and maintenance costs.

In the future I would love to buy them, but right at this second, I just can’t because of inflation and just everything that’s going on, Acocella says. I just can’t swing it yet.

Acocella and his employees began using hand-held electric devices – leaf blowers, weed whackers and hedge trimmers – last year when one of his clients, the town of Larchmont, required it. He’s begun to use them on other properties as well because they are lighter, much quieter, and don’t emit pollutants. But with the exception of the hedge trimmer, he says, they need frequent battery changes and are not as powerful.

I need something that’s going to last long or something that’s easy, Austin says. Like I have a gas can, it’s on a truck that I just fuel up and I go. How many batteries do I need to have in order to get through the day?

Mean Green Mowers, a 10-year-old electric lawn mower company based in Ohio, sells commercial-grade ride-on lawn mowers with long-lasting batteries. Jen Stroker (left), regional development manager for the company, and Raymond Rocco, co-owner of C.R. Power, which sells the products, demonstrated the Rival model in a Port Chester, N.Y., park recently. Matthew Schuerman hide caption

Mean Green Mowers, a 10-year-old electric lawn mower company based in Ohio, sells commercial-grade ride-on lawn mowers with long-lasting batteries. Jen Stroker (left), regional development manager for the company, and Raymond Rocco, co-owner of C.R. Power, which sells the products, demonstrated the Rival model in a Port Chester, N.Y., park recently.

Bans on gas-powered gear

Yet landscapers are being pressured to change – sometimes by clients and sometimes by governments. Last fall, the California Legislature passed a law requiring that all new landscaping equipment sold in the state be emissions-free beginning Jan. 1, 2024.

The state and national landscaping associations objected, arguing that electric equipment wasn’t advanced enough to operate for long periods of time, and in some cases, did not work as well as gas equipment. As proof, they cited a study from the California State University at Fullerton to show that zero emissions equipment hadn’t caught on among professionals. The study found that less than 6% of equipment used by landscapers were zero-emissions, compared to more than 50% of the gear used by homeowners.

But Assemblymember Marc Berman, the bill’s author, disputes the industry’s characterization of zero-emissions equipment.

This equipment is ready today, said Berman, a Democrat from Palo Alto. There are at least eight brands that produce zero emission equipment in each major equipment category for commercial equipment.

After that bill was passed, New York State Sen. Pete Harckham introduced a similar bill in Albany. Though it did not pass in the regular session, Harckham told NPR he plans to re-introduce it but has not decided on when the mandate would take effect.

Both the California legislation and the New York proposal only address the sale of new equipment, meaning landscapers and homeowners can continue using their existing gas-powered tools.

Numerous cities and towns across the country have gone further and restricted the use – as opposed to just the purchase – of gas-powered leaf blowers. And this month, two municipalities in Marin County, Calif., – Fairfax and Sausalito – banned the use of other gas-powered equipment as well, including mowers, to be phased in over the next 18 months.

Mixed environmental impact

Electric lawn mowers won’t help much in terms of climate-changing emissions – people just don’t mow their lawns nearly as much as they drive. The California Air Resources Board, for example, estimates that phasing out gasoline-powered lawn equipment will save an average of 0.66 million metric tons of CO2 a year, while the state produced 418 million tons in 2019 – the last year data was available.

But the agency found that gasoline-powered engines produce substantial amounts of other pollutants, such as nitrogen oxide, which can lead to respiratory difficulties and smog. In addition, researchers have raised concerns about the impact of the equipment’s noise and vibrations on operators’ health.

Large, commercial-grade equipment is used on a significant proportion of green spaces around the country – not only public properties and office parks. The California State University survey found, for example, that half of the state’s residents with lawns hired landscapers to take care of them, either partially or fully.

Drawbacks of mandates

Still, even some supporters of green landscaping oppose mandating electric equipment, arguing that it may cause small landscapers – an important employer of immigrants and limited-skill workers – to go out of business.

If you just ban the use of equipment, you’re really putting the entire onus on the landscapers to come up with the money that they need to purchase the equipment, said Jamie Banks, the founder and CEO of the non-profit Quiet Communities, Inc. It’s not just purchasing the tool but also purchasing enough batteries and enough chargers that they can meet their work production needs.

And some of those batteries are expensive – as much as 1,500 for a backpack-style one to power a leaf blower. California lawmakers have so far allocated 30 million for subsidies to offset the higher landscapers will have to pay for new electric equipment. But the National Association of Landscape Professionals said the amount breaks down to just 15 for each piece of gas-powered equipment that landscapers in the state need to replace.

Berman, the state legislator, said that he is hoping to get more subsidies in the budget for the coming year.

Quiet Communities and another nonprofit, the American Green Zone Alliance, have been working with towns, school districts, and other entities to adopt zero-emissions equipment for their own properties, but to do so voluntarily. So far, they say they have recruited about 20 locales and institutions across the country to take part in their program.

I think the writing is on the wall, Banks said. It’s just, how do we get there in a way that’s, you know, fair, most efficient and so forth.