Our 20 year old MTD push mower with a Briggs engine was getting in pretty rough shape. Our lawn is slightly over 2 acres so we mow most of it with our John Deere 455 Diesel. But we still need a push mower to trim under trees with low hanging branches in our apple orchard where the big mower can't get, and is too much to trim with the little string trimmer.
So we bought a 24V Earthwise electric mower. It said on the box that it runs on Renewable Energy. For most people I suspect it would run on coal. But for us, with our off-grid home, it really does run on Renewable Energy. I used it for the first time a couple days ago and was pleasantly surprised at how much power it has. It's easily on par with a gas mower.
This is some photos of it:
https://plus.google.com/photos/110979388690716770927/albums/5883203901607747009?banner=pwaThe battery is a 24V unit and not two 12V batteries in series like some have. The battery is roughly 6" x 10" x 13" tall, and weighs 31 lbs. The charger output is 30V, 2A and it takes about 17 hours to charge it up if it's been fully discharged. For best battery life the instructions say to not discharge it below 50% (three lights), to charge it immediately after use, and to unplug the charger once the lights on it turn green.
It has a battery capacity indicator on the back of the mower that shows how much battery power is remaining and it operated for close to 2 hours on a full charge the first time I used it to trim around apple trees and my wife's flower beds. I discharged it to below 50% (recommended for the first three charge/discharge cycles), but normal running time to 50% SOC is about an hour.
It has noticeably more torque than a gas mower in tall grass. The total weight of the mower is about 65 lbs, so it's a little heavier than a comparable gas mower. But most of the weight is in the battery.
The motor appears to be a quite powerful neodymium permanent magnet unit similar to what is used in model airplanes, except on a larger scale and it runs at 3,500 rpm. The mower is manufactured by American Lawnmower Company in Shelbyville, Indiana, and while they have been building lawnmowers for over 100 years, the unit is made in China.
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Chris