Switching Gears: From Gas to Electric
What’s it like to transition from a gas mower to an electric mower? Ralph Nudo, who lives near DeKalb, Illinois, said “seamless” was the best way to put it.
Ralph's journey towards electric lawn care started with his 2017 Chevy Volt. Impressed by its low maintenance and high fuel efficiency, he gradually added more electric tools to his collection, which now includes an electric string trimmer, chainsaw, hedge trimmer, and leaf blower.
When a pulley stripped out of Ralph’s John Deere X300 gas mower he went to his nearby dealer, DeKalb Implement Company, for a replacement part but walked out with a preliminary order for the just-released John Deere Z370R electric mower.
How it's going?
Transitioning to the Z370R electric mower was smoother than Ralph anticipated. Despite being his first zero-turn mower, he quickly adapted. "My satisfaction level with the mower has been very, very high. It does a great job," Ralph shared, noting that the battery life consistently leaves him with over 50% charge even after mowing his one-acre lot.
The quiet operation has also been a pleasant surprise. "My wife mentioned that she could hardly hear me in the back when I was mowing and she was in the house with the windows open," Ralph said.
Big advantages
Reduced maintenance has been the biggest advantage. "For me, the driving force behind this was initially the combination of lack of maintenance and ecological reasons," Ralph explained. An electric mower eliminated the need for oil changes, spark plugs, and belts.
"It’s really easy to clean because there’s no belts. You're not going to need oil, oil filters, gas filters. You're not going to have to worry about any of that stuff," Ralph said.
The built-in charger, which allows the mower to be plugged into any outlet, and the elimination of oil gives the Z370R a “real advantage over gas mowers,” Ralph said.
As for making the switch to electric lawn care, "there's really no downside that I've come across yet," he said.