I was researching cordless electric lawn mowers recently and was very encouraged to see that Briggs & Stratton has rebranded themselves in a future-forward way by providing battery packs for Snapper cordless electric lawn mowers.
So, in this way they are offering the ‘engine’ of the future. Still powering our lives, but now with a quieter, cleaner, more convenient energy source.
This reminds me of other success stories where companies adapt to changes in technology to keep delivering products and services to consumers. I was thinking about writing an article praising Briggs & Stratton for their ability to adapt and change with the industry. Instead, my article took an unexpected turn as you’ll read below.
Interested to learn more about their battery options, I visited the Briggs & Stratton website. I couldn’t find any information about available battery packs. Instead, I found an article that was very critical of electric lawn mowers. This is odd coming from a company that sells batteries for electric lawn mowers.
Here are some of the misinformed, false, and misleading claims made on the Briggs & Stratton anti-electric mower page:
MYTH #1: “Gas-powered mowers provide double the power to cruise through thick, wet grass or uneven lawns with ease.”
FACT: While it’s certainly true that riding mowers and high capacity gasoline push mowers can offer much more cutting power. It’s not universally true that all gas mowers will be better suited for cutting a basic lawn. There are probably some cheap underpowered gas lawn mowers that don’t offer the power of some professional-grade cordless electric mowers.
MYTH #2: “3x the run time. Gas has the power to keep going – no matter the size of the lawn, the type of grass, or whether you’re using features like mulching or bagging.”
FACT: Gasoline powered lawn mowers run out of gas. So, you need a smelly, messy, and dangerous gas can to refill them if you want to keep going. If you run out of gas, you’ll need to leave the job site and drive to a gas station. With battery powered mowers, you purchase the number of batteries you need to get the job done. They are quickly and easily swapped out with no mess. Instead of driving to a gas station, your fuel source is as close as the nearest electric outlet. In fact, electric cordless mowers are the only mowers that let you mow indefinitely because you can be charging batteries while you mow so the fuel source is never depleted.
MYTH #3: “2x the lifespan. Gas mowers are built to last. While battery mowers have come a long way, the battery can lose up to 6% run time annually and may need to be replaced in as soon as 2.5 years.”
FACT: If your gasoline engine has mechanical problems or wears out, you’ll likely be looking at a significant expense to have it repaired. Also, gasoline engines require regular maintenance by a professional with special tools. Battery packs are relatively inexpensive to purchase and can be replaced in seconds by the consumer with no tools, training, or expertise. In this regard, electric cordless mowers can last almost indefinitely since their power source is easily replaceable unlike gas engines.
Other selling points listed for gasoline powered mowers include: push button start, no need to change oil, stores upright.
The push button start engines require Briggs & Stratton batteries to start the gas engine. These need to be charged and presumably deplete over time.
Rather than criticize battery powered lawn mowers, Briggs & Stratton should point out the benefits of both gas and electric powered motors – while slowly adapting their production and operations over to increasingly support battery powered lawn care devices.