Electric Everything, Part 6 — Lawnmowers, Chainsaws, & More

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This is the 6th in a series on electrifying everything. That means switching to electric and powered by batteries for things that until now were corded or powered by gasoline. Most of the items in this article can be seen in your area or found in your nearby COSTCO or Home Depot.

As you enter my COSTCO in Orem, Utah, just beyond the supersized TV monitors is a huge display of battery electric garden tools. Included in the display are lawnmowers, leaf blowers, and string trimmers from greenworks (see Figure 1). All the tools are run with the same interchangeable batteries that can be used in all the tools. The self-propelled bagging lawnmower complete with two batteries is only $500.

Figure 1: Greenworks home electric tools at COSTCO. Orem, Utah. April 24, 2023. Photo by Fritz Hasler.

Around the corner, I was surprised to see a portable 100-watt solar panel kit which is set up to charge 12-volt batteries. Just the thing you would need to power lights, computers, etc. for an extended camping trip!

Figure 2: 100-watt solar panel kit at COSTCO. Orem, Utah. April 24, 2023. Photo by Fritz Hasler.

Down the next aisle on your left, there's a 2000-lumen LED battery electric rechargeable work light with tripod. Just the thing to light up your workplace or campsite.

Figure 3: 2000-lumen LED rechargeable work light with tripod at COSTCO. Orem, Utah. April 24, 2023. Photo by Fritz Hasler.

Down the aisle to the right is another battery electric item for sale — a folding ebike for only $600. Considering that I paid $6000 for my full-suspension mountain ebike, this seems like a really good deal.

Figure 4: Ebike for $599.99 at COSTCO. Orem, Utah. April 24, 2023. Photo by Fritz Hasler.

Outside at the main entrance of the Home Depot in Orem, Utah, there are four RYOBI riding electric lawnmowers on display, on sale for only $4,999 each. You can see that having a big yard is no longer an excuse for not buying an electric lawnmower.

Figure 5: Four RYOBI battery electric riding lawnmowers. Home Depot, Orem, Utah. April 25, 2023. Photo by Fritz Hasler.

Also on display at Home Depot are a multiplicity of power tools that are powered by the same interchangeable battery.

Figure 6: RYOBI display of battery electric power tools. Home Depot, Orem, Utah. April 28, 2023. Photo by Fritz Hasler.

Until now, any serious chainsaw has been powered by a gasoline motor. Now you can get a decently sized chainsaw powered with the same batteries used by all the other battery electric power tools from this brand. I don't know about you, but I always had trouble getting my 2-cycle gas chainsaws to run. Also, what a bother and mess mixing oil with the gasoline and refilling the tiny tank. However, you do still need to keep the mini chain-oil tank filled.

Figure 7: Milwaukee battery electric chainsaw. Home Depot, Orem, Utah. April 28, 2023. Photo by Fritz Hasler.

One of my four main bike routes on my ebike here in Lindon, Utah, is up Provo Canyon on the Provo River Parkway Bike Trail. The other day, I ran across Brian there on his electric Onewheel pulling his two daughters Aspen Sky (5) & Lily Sequoia (3) in a wagon (see Figure 8). With his hands free on the one the Onewheel, it is a simple matter for him to pull the wagon. All you need is the athletic ability and skill to handle the Onewheel perfectly.

Figure 8: Dad Brian on electric Onewheel pulling daughters Aspen Sky & Lily Sequoia in a wagon. Provo River Parkway Bike Trail, Provo, Utah. April 26, 2023. Photo by Fritz Hasler.

Another of my four main bike routes in Lindon Utah is on the 20-mile-long Murdock Canal Bike Trail that runs by my backyard. It connects to the Provo Canyon Provo River Parkway and runs through Orem, Lindon, Pleasant Grove, American Fork, Cedar Hills, Highland, and Lehi, Utah. There it connects to the Jorden River Parkway, which takes you the remaining 26 miles on a separated bike trail to downtown Salt Lake City. In a previous article, I was telling about my own experience at 83 riding a bike, so I was pleased to meet Eldon, age 86, who has been riding a recumbent ebike now for two years (see Figure 9). After breaking his hip two years ago, he could no longer balance a bicycle. His recumbent bike with a 500W Bafang motor will do 40 mph on the throttle, but for safety he never goes that fast.

Figure 9: Eldon riding battery-powered recumbent ebike. Murdock Canal Bike Trail. Lindon, Utah. April 28, 2023. Photo by Fritz Hasler.

As I arrived at church today in my Tesla Model 3, there was a new Rivian pickup truck and a Tesla Model X parked together across from the chapel entrance (see Figure 11). In my congregation, we now have two older Tesla Model 3s, a Chevy Bolt, two Chevy Volts, a new Ford Mustang Mach-E, a new Rivian pickup truck, a new Tesla Model X, and a new Tesla Model Y.

It is common now to see up to 3 or 4 Teslas at once at intersections in Lindon, Utah, and Salt Lake City. I often find myself following a Tesla Model 3 (Just like mine) or Model Y or see one following right behind me. I see Rivian pickup trucks frequently on the road and saw my first Rivian SUV yesterday. The new 12-stall max-250kW Tesla Supercharger in Draper (South Salt Lake) is often full. More often than not, the Amazon Prime delivery trucks that I see in Lindon are the new Rivian electric versions.

Figure 10: Tesla Model X & Rivian Pickup Truck. LDS Lindon Ward Chapel, Lindon Utah. April 30, 2023. Photo by Fritz Hasler.

The world is electrifying. Let's keep electrifying everything.

Arthur Frederick (Fritz) Hasler, PhD, former leader of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization & Analysis Laboratory (creator of this iconic image), and avid CleanTechnica reader. Also: Research Meteorologist (Emeritus) at NASA GSFC,Adjunct Professor at Viterbo University On-Line Studies,PSIA L2 Certified Alpine Ski Instructor at Brighton Utah Ski School.

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