Product Review: EGO Electric Lawn Mower
Executive Summary
Pros
- Convenience
- Power
- Reliability
- Five-Year Manufacturer’s Warranty
- Reduced noise
- Performance
- Environmentally conscious
- Easy to start and use
- Batteries are interchangeable among all EGO products
Cons
- Price
- Not ideal for larger yards
- Not intended for commercial applications
Introduction
I’ve been in the market for a new lawn mower for the past three years, ever since my old gas-powered Snapper began it’s descent into a less than reliable grass-cutting machine. I’d previously given serious consideration to investing in an electric lawn mower for the sheer convenience of a maintenance-free, gas-free yard tool, but in the end I passed on the idea because at the time they were considered to be under-powered, offered an unacceptably short battery life and required excessively long charging times.
Last year I discovered the EGO Power Plus electric lawn mower. When I discovered the EGO line of lawn care equipment, I was intrigued by the technology. This was the first electric lawn mower on the market powered by a 56 volt lithium ion battery, and the 30 minute charging time made the EGO an attractive option. Still, I was skeptical of the idea of an electric lawn mower in general – could it really do as good of a job as the gas engines that have been around forever?
I was definitely interested in the EGO electric lawn mower, but the $499 price tag scared me off a bit. It was a lot to invest in an experiment. After all, if it didn’t work like it was supposed to, I would basically be stuck with it. So instead, I opted to purchase the EGO Power Plus Hedge Trimmer to see how the technology worked out and continued to nurse along the old Snapper for another summer.
The hedge trimmer turned out to be a great value and well worth the $199 retail price. It functioned as advertised, and I found to be as powerful as any other hedge trimmers I’ve used in the past. With a cutting capacity of up to 3/4″ branches, it may very well be even more powerful than some gas trimmers on the market. This spring, based on my experience with the EGO Hedge Trimmer, I made the decision to invest in the EGO electric lawn mower.
My experience with the EGO Power Plus 56v Electric Lawn Mower
As luck would have it, I was recently afforded the opportunity to test out the EGO electric lawn mower for the purposes of this review. In full disclosure, I am not at the time of this writing affiliated with EGO, its parent company, or Home Depot, where these products are sold. I was not paid for the review and I will receive no compensation whatsoever in the event a person makes a purchase based on this review.
Initial Impressions
The item arrived packaged neatly and is about 90% assembled right out of the box. It probably took longer to empty contents of the box than it did to start it up. The lawnmower arrives packaged in its folded, compact position. Simply extend out the handle, install the battery and grass catcher if desired and fire it up.
The product is light. At 62 pounds, the EGO’s weight is consistent with that of its smaller gas powered counterparts, and as much as 40% lighter than some of the bigger gas models on the market.
Appearance
It looks cool. The EGO electric lawn mower nicely utilizes a combination of grays, blacks and bright greens that definitely offer an aesthetic upgrade over the traditional fire-engine-red that lawn mower manufacturers have utilized for decades. The battery is housed under a clear acrylic green shield that gives this electric lawn mower a futuristic look.
Function
For the purpose of this review, I didn’t go easy on this electric lawn mower and I worked it a lot harder than I normally would.
The mower deck is easily adjustable using a lever on the left side of the unit. My 13 year old daughter was able to adjust the deck through the five settings with relative ease. We set the deck to the lowest possible cutting height.
This was the first cut of the season for my lawn. As such, there were various piles of leaves and small branches that had accumulated over the course of the previous winter. Normally I would clean those items up before mowing, but in the interest of truly testing the product thoroughly, they were left alone. To make it even a little bit tougher, the grass catcher and mulcher attachment were intentionally left off the machine.
EGO Electric Lawn Mower 6
The EGO electric lawn mower worked as well as any of it’s gas powered counterparts. It cut right through the thick grass, leaves and sticks as well as I could have hoped it would. It bogged down in spots where the leaves were especially dense, but that experience is consistent with other gas lawn mowers I’ve used. The 20″ mower deck powered right through and left a evenly cut patch of grass in its wake.
At 62 pounds, it is light enough that a 13 year old girl can use it with ease. It’s light enough that the fact that it’s not self-propelled isn’t a drawback.
Noise Factor
The machine starts with the simple push of a button and pulling back of the safety bar. When it starts, it makes a whirring noise akin to that of a standard vacuum cleaner. I estimate it’s roughly a third to half as noisy as a traditional gas-powered lawn mower (although EGO claims it’s only 20% quieter). From about 30+ feet away, it simply sounds like a high powered fan. If you’re inside of your house, you can barely hear it.
Battery Life
My lawn is small and requires about 20-30 minutes to completely mow all the grass with a standard lawn mower. The EGO electric lawn mower completed about 90% of the job before the red indicator light came on to suggest that the battery’s charge was close to depletion. This was largely due to the mower deck’s lowest possible setting and the additional workload from the excessive leaves and sticks in the yard. I swapped the battery with the one from my trimmer and easily finished the job. In more standard circumstances, the lawn mower would have completed the task on a single charge, and in fact it has in subsequent uses.
That said, the 2nd battery was a nice luxury to have. It should also be noted that the EGO Power Plus Rapid Charger worked as advertised, charging the 4.0 Amp Lithium Ion Battery the mower came with to capacity in about 26 minutes.
Convenience
As advertised, the handle folds up swiftly and the unit can be stored upright. If you lean it against a wall, it barely consumes two square feet of floor space.
The low maintenance aspect of electric lawn mowers is one of the most attractive aspects of this product. There are no fluids to change, no gas to mix, and no filters to replace. The only wear item is the blade, which is understandable.
Smell
Since the EGO electric lawn mower uses lithium ion technology, it is odorless in operation. The lack of gas fumes may not matter to some, but for me it was a very positive attribute of this product.
Conclusion
If you’re in the market for a new lawn mower, consider going electric. Between the convenience, the noise and environmental aspects, and the fact that the technology has finally been developed to generate the power and battery life necessary to make the products viable, electric lawn mowers are worthy of consideration. And despite the $499.99 price tag, while higher than some lower end mowers, the EGO Power Plus Electric Lawn Mower is a excellent value.
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