Dewalt debuts new electric lawnmower at trade show

8,086 Views | 80 Replies | Last: 2 yr ago by torrid
The Collective
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If we are really worried about carbon footprint, we wouldn't be manicuring our lawns.
titan
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S

Batteries catching fire or similar mishaps had always been a concern aboard submarines, and it took many tries to kind of get it stable and reliable. But now that they did, what is that the domestic sector seems to be having so much trouble stabilizing them on land use? Missing something here. Is it the type of battery used.
oh no
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what a great idea. just scorch your lawn in a fire and you wont' have to mow again for months.
Ribeye-Rare
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That battery fire was hot, but probably not as hot as the heat the higher ups at Dewalt put on the poor *******s who happened to be the product managers for that mower.

When something negative so publicly happens to a product, "understanding" is usually not in the boss' vocabulary, regardless of fault or ability to prevent. Somebody's head probably rolled.
Gigem314
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The Fife
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Sea Speed said:

Tom Doniphon said:

Quote:

I have a Ryobi electric riding mower.

Shocking.


I'm hard right compared to Georgia and I've got all electric lawn tools. They go months without being used at times and it is beyond annoying trying to get them to start after sitting. If you have 10k sq ft lot or less, it is a no Brainer to use electric. I'm sure you can still get by on larger lots with an extra battery. The only small engine I run these days is my chainsaw. Even switched to electric pressure washer.
Similar story here regarding politics and tools and on a half acre. The riding mower is gas powered, a Toro from the mid-'90s that just keeps on going. Other stuff besides the power washer (gas) are all corded electric. They're always ready to get up and go no matter how long they've been sitting!

edit: I probably have an advantage due to the lack of trees (thanks, Hugo!). There are some smaller ones that I planted but they don't require much in the way of maintenance.
cecil77
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Do you electric mower guys lose the ability to cuss creatively?
The Debt
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The Collective said:

If we are really worried about carbon footprint, we wouldn't be manicuring our lawns.

Most people with riding lawnmowers have too much land to have a manicured yard.
80sGeorge
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10 yr old me says that looks heavy as ****e, old man me says that's freakin awesome.
slaughtr
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I don't know why anyone with a regular, suburban home would still have a gas powered mower. My mower, trimmer and blower are all electric and run on the same batteries. They have never failed to start, I don't have to go get gas or stink up my garage with gas. The mower mows my lawn at least 3 times between charges. Plus, they were cheap as hell at Home Depot. It's a no brainer. Yes, I understand if your home lot is measured in acres.
cevans_40
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The Collective said:

If we are really worried about carbon footprint, we wouldn't be manicuring our lawns.
Wrong. And don't blue diamond your own posts
Phatbob
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I've got quite a few Ego products. They have completely replaced all my 2 cycle small engine yard appliances. Now it takes 1/2 the space in the garage and 1/2 the time, since I don't have to figure out why the hell the damn things won't start since the last time I used them 6 months ago and it took me an hour to start them then.
rocky the dog
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Quote:


Elections are when people find out what politicians stand for, and politicians find out what people will fall for.
Rockdoc
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Hey they burn just like Teslas. How about that.
slaughtr
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Rockdoc said:

Hey they burn just like Teslas. How about that.


I've used electric yard tools for 5 years. No fires. How about that.
Ag_of_08
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MouthBQ98 said:

The current generated by Lion seems to be unstable or unpredictable and perhaps difficult to design for outliers. If you don't design for cooling and over voltage in the system it would appear it can run away occasionally and if it doesn't have a big overbuilt (weight, cost) safety margin built in, you get metallic components heated very quickly to the couple thousand degrees or so it takes to set off a lithium battery fire, and then that sucker is really going to go.


The problem with lithium( I've been running li-po batts for nearly 20 years at the edge of their performance capacities in RC stuff...just my observations) batts in these applications is the cell count, and their tendency to drop cells and nuke the whole pack. Lithium, especially lipo and liion, have hard cut off points for minimum voltages before they puff up and tend to go off. liFEPO4 is a little better, they don't burn, but are much lower energy densities.

What we usually see in 4-12s applications is one cell will suddenly go bad and lose voltage, but the amperage/voltage draw is still there. Especially in a parallel configuration( often used for storage expansion AND higher amperage potential), your suddenly throwing massive amperage draw, AND one pack has undervolted, so it cause a cascade of catastrophic overheating/undervolting, which leads to *poof*. *poof* also releases some really, really toxic chemicals in the first few minutes I goes.


An example I watched happen in person about 2 months ago at an event: a very large truck( 40ish inches long, 38# with batteries) turned into an absolute fireball at 45mph or o, and had burned so hot it melted the resin out of the carbon Fibre parts before we could get to it. The radio telemetry showed the pack voltage dropped by roughly 25% in the matter of 15-20 seconds. We think, looking at what was left, that a cell in one of the 2 4s 6.5ah packs dropped, and it appears it started the fire first, then lit the second pack off when it had to try and take the voltage demand. That's a 6.5ah battery.... with a 2ft tall fireball that we could barely get out. Look at the specs on a tesla or other EV battery and scale it from there.

I dont hate EVs, the batteries are just nowhere near ready for mainstream use.
Ag_of_08
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And they're small packs, with good low voltage protection, and are in applications where the battery isn't being pushed hard. I hope you're smart enough not to leave them charging when you're not home.
MouthBQ98
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Yeah, I meant to type over current, which is what causes the extreme heat condition as the capacity of the conductor elements are overwhelmed. A sudden voltage drop while trying to meet the same load would do that.
Rockdoc
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slaughtr said:

Rockdoc said:

Hey they burn just like Teslas. How about that.


I've used electric yard tools for 5 years. No fires. How about that.

Sorry I hurt your feelings.
The Dirty Sock
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My st. augustine lawn laughed at my electric weed eater. so I bought a climate change version and I'm now kicking my lawn's ass. **** you greta.
Mowdy Ag
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I'm on 6 acres and use gas (JD X584) for 95% of it - mostly little bluestem. I use an EGO for the other 5% (Thunder Turf - a buffalo / blue grama / curly mesquite blend) - tighter spaces immediately around the house.

I like using the EGO for the light stuff but it would die a quick death in the little bluestem. ...and it always makes me nervous when I charge the battery - no actual problems experienced so far but this fire business is concerning.
usmcbrooks
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DallasAg 94 said:

GeorgiAg said:

I have a Ryobi electric riding mower. I'm not trying to "save" the environment, it's just awesome to not have to deal with oil, gas, oil changes and more noise.
You spent $3K on an electric riding lawn mower for your house because you didn't want to put gas in a mower?
That's like buying a $600.00 cooler to protect a $3.00 bag of ice.
The Debt
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DallasAg 94 said:

GeorgiAg said:

I have a Ryobi electric riding mower. I'm not trying to "save" the environment, it's just awesome to not have to deal with oil, gas, oil changes and more noise.
You spent $3K on an electric riding lawn mower for your house because you didn't want to put gas in a mower?

Jokes on you; have you seen how high my POTUS has made gas rise? - GeorgiaAg
one MEEN Ag
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Ag of 08,

My day job's responsibilities are expanding into addressing battery failures. I know a bit about batteries from grad school research projects, but nothing compared to someone who has 20 years experience dealing with these things. Would you mind if I picked your brain about failures you've seen? You don't have the ability to PM.
GeorgiAg
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The Debt said:

DallasAg 94 said:

GeorgiAg said:

I have a Ryobi electric riding mower. I'm not trying to "save" the environment, it's just awesome to not have to deal with oil, gas, oil changes and more noise.
You spent $3K on an electric riding lawn mower for your house because you didn't want to put gas in a mower?

Jokes on you; have you seen how high my POTUS has made gas rise? - GeorgiaAg
I have a diesel truck, so jokes on me too.
one MEEN Ag
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usmcbrooks said:

DallasAg 94 said:

GeorgiAg said:

I have a Ryobi electric riding mower. I'm not trying to "save" the environment, it's just awesome to not have to deal with oil, gas, oil changes and more noise.
You spent $3K on an electric riding lawn mower for your house because you didn't want to put gas in a mower?
That's like buying a $600.00 cooler to protect a $3.00 bag of ice.
I'l have you know my RTIC was half of that AND I get my ice from Buccees, so that rate is halved as well.
The Banned
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Phatbob said:

I've got quite a few Ego products. They have completely replaced all my 2 cycle small engine yard appliances. Now it takes 1/2 the space in the garage and 1/2 the time, since I don't have to figure out why the hell the damn things won't start since the last time I used them 6 months ago and it took me an hour to start them then.


Yep. Got a few Kobalt appliances that have been going for 8-9 years. They do a decent job for light work and are absolutely zero maintenance. They are awesome in that regard. Would never buy an electric riding mower as that should mean you have a sizeable yard and heavier jobs that are better suited for a real mower.

Also, the small appliances are great because of the small, detachable batteries. Far, far less risk of something like this happening.
cevans_40
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GeorgiAg said:

The Debt said:

DallasAg 94 said:

GeorgiAg said:

I have a Ryobi electric riding mower. I'm not trying to "save" the environment, it's just awesome to not have to deal with oil, gas, oil changes and more noise.
You spent $3K on an electric riding lawn mower for your house because you didn't want to put gas in a mower?

Jokes on you; have you seen how high my POTUS has made gas rise? - GeorgiaAg
I have a diesel truck, so jokes on me too.
so your jokes literally write themselves?
cevans_40
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The Banned said:

Phatbob said:

I've got quite a few Ego products. They have completely replaced all my 2 cycle small engine yard appliances. Now it takes 1/2 the space in the garage and 1/2 the time, since I don't have to figure out why the hell the damn things won't start since the last time I used them 6 months ago and it took me an hour to start them then.


Yep. Got a few Kobalt appliances that have been going for 8-9 years. They do a decent job for light work and are absolutely zero maintenance. They are awesome in that regard. Would never buy an electric riding mower as that should mean you have a sizeable yard and heavier jobs that are better suited for a real mower.

Also, the small appliances are great because of the small, detachable batteries. Far, far less risk of something like this happening.
Right. They would just burst into flames while charging in an enclosed area like your garage.

Much better than this scenario.
ttu_85
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PhatMack19 said:

Any publicity is good publicity? This happened a week ago. It's weird this hasn't been bigger news. I guess we see what they want us to see.




Wow looks like some college football programs
Teslag
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No comment. I have a gas Hustler Raptor that I bought in April. If your small engine powered stuff won't start stop putting ethanol fuel in it.
09 ag
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Yes, importing millions of unskilled laborers has been wonderful for this country. This way we can individually save $5 a month on lawn care and $1 off each hamburger. All we have to provide in return is billions of dollars in free healthcare, and education. The added benefit is the thousands of drivers with paper plates that we now share a roads with.
The Banned
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cevans_40 said:

The Banned said:

Phatbob said:

I've got quite a few Ego products. They have completely replaced all my 2 cycle small engine yard appliances. Now it takes 1/2 the space in the garage and 1/2 the time, since I don't have to figure out why the hell the damn things won't start since the last time I used them 6 months ago and it took me an hour to start them then.


Yep. Got a few Kobalt appliances that have been going for 8-9 years. They do a decent job for light work and are absolutely zero maintenance. They are awesome in that regard. Would never buy an electric riding mower as that should mean you have a sizeable yard and heavier jobs that are better suited for a real mower.

Also, the small appliances are great because of the small, detachable batteries. Far, far less risk of something like this happening.
Right. They would just burst into flames while charging in an enclosed area like your garage.

Much better than this scenario.


Open car port. Lots of wind whipping through it. Should give the neighbors a show.
The Fife
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one MEEN Ag said:

usmcbrooks said:

DallasAg 94 said:

GeorgiAg said:

I have a Ryobi electric riding mower. I'm not trying to "save" the environment, it's just awesome to not have to deal with oil, gas, oil changes and more noise.
You spent $3K on an electric riding lawn mower for your house because you didn't want to put gas in a mower?
That's like buying a $600.00 cooler to protect a $3.00 bag of ice.
I'l have you know my RTIC was half of that AND I get my ice from Buccees, so that rate is halved as well.
But if you got a Yeti it'd make its own ice!
2wealfth Man
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EV's combusting in Florida after IAN flooding

https://nypost.com/2022/10/06/electric-vehicles-catching-fire-in-florida-after-hurricane-ian/
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