OPE in California

I wish my own OPE and that of my neighbors was all electric.

I was skeptical until I used some myself but the tools I used were nearly silent and had plenty of power and runtime for your typical suburban home.
 
For small development sized yards, ev mowers make sense, safer than storing fuel in an attached garage or storage room.
 
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I have a few electric OPE tools. They are pretty darn good and have plenty of powa! The issues are much like EV's, run time and cost.

But at $300, my Ego 56V blower is comparable in capability/power to a $99 Poulan 26cc gas blower or a 21cc Echo. Haha, for at least 2/3 the way through the 13 minute battery. In other words The Ego competes for about 8-9 minutes. At which point power decreases.

When you have a modest workload, the electric ones work really great. When you are dealing with larger yards or longer driveways, best have a bunch of $200-$400 batteries on hand. Or just use gasoline!
 
I'll let others be the pioneers on electric OPE. The thought of tossing an otherwise good piece of electric equipment in the trash in a few years because the battery went bad makes my stomach churn. I'm sure it will be cheaper to buy a new and improved unit with new batteries included than it will be to buy a replacement battery for a 3-5 year old OPE. Perhaps it's due to marketing or government subsidies on new units? I don't know, but it always seems to work out that way.
 
I'll let others be the pioneers on electric OPE. The thought of tossing an otherwise good piece of electric equipment in the trash in a few years because the battery went bad makes my stomach churn. I'm sure it will be cheaper to buy a new and improved unit with new batteries included than it will be to buy a replacement battery for a 3-5 year old OPE. Perhaps it's due to marketing or government subsidies on new units? I don't know, but it always seems to work out that way.
Batteries are easily rebuildable. Most have common cells inside the casing.
 
Batteries are easily rebuildable. Most have common cells inside the casing.
The average homeowner is not going to rebuild a battery pack.
Let's face it, there are otherwise good appliances in the landfill that could have been repaired if not for the cost of the repair. When the cost to repair a 3-5 year old item approaches the cost to replace with new, the old item most likely goes into the landfill.
 
The average homeowner is not going to rebuild a battery pack.
Let's face it, there are otherwise good appliances in the landfill that could have been repaired if not for the cost of the repair. When the cost to repair a 3-5 year old item approaches the cost to replace with new, the old item most likely goes into the landfill.
Sounds just like gas OPE then.
 

The California Air Resources Board approved a measure that will require most newly manufactured small off-road engines (SORE) such as those found in leaf blowers, lawn mowers and other equipment be zero emission starting in 2024. Portable generators, including those in recreational vehicles, would be required to meet more stringent standards in 2024 and meet zero-emission standards starting in 2028.

Californians can continue to operate their current CARB-compliant gasoline-powered SORE equipment; there will be no ban on using older models or used equipment purchased in the future. Older models on store shelves can also be purchased even if they are gasoline-powered.

Today, a commercial operator using one backpack leaf blower for one hour generates the same smog-forming emissions as a car driving 1100 miles.

Incentive funds will be available to commercial purchasers of new zero-emission equipment through CARB's Clean Off-Road Equipment Voucher Incentive Project (CORE), which was created to accelerate deployment of cleaner off-road technologies. The Legislature has allocated $30 million to be dedicated to sole proprietors and other small landscaping businesses in California to help them purchase zero-emission small off-road equipment, including leaf blowers, lawn mowers and string trimmers.

It is going to be a big challenge to build an affordable zero emissions portable generator, I would think. Fuel cell? Battery powered? Solar? Other?


 
Why is it whenever you look at the TV, with about something happening in California there's always multiple lanes of stopped traffic on their freeways. But they worry about emissions from lawnmowers and weed wacker's? If you look at a photo showing the smog in LA from 1980, it's looks the same as it does today. At what point is someone in control going realize the emissions from small engines used once a week or less, are not the big problem. Idling cars and trucks are. Public transportation seems to not exist out there, everyone has to have a car, or two.,,
 
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