Electric VS Petrol Lawnmowers | The Gadget Show

Jon goes full throttle in a petrol vs. electric lawn mower challenge against guest presenter and EV advocate, Grace Webb.

Bosch AdvancedRotak 36-660 Best Price: £449

Honda HRG 416 PKEH Best Price: £425

#Thegadgetshow #lawnmower

[MrZimmaframe]

OK SO, After owning both an electric mower and a petrol one I can tell you what they don't tell you.

1. last year when it was very hot in the summer time, my electric mower stopped twice in the heat, because both batteries got too warm while in use. Meaning I had to literally put them both in my freezer for 15 minutes just to finish off half of my lawn, this hasn't ever happened to any of my petrol mowers. (I ended up grabbing my petrol mower to finish the job).

2. Electric mowers are predominantly made of plastic, so after a few years of use they becomes brittle and more likely to chip or crack if you hit anything in the grass like pebbles or wood. Plus some electric mowers have a plastic bolt to hold the blade in place, if that breaks it can be a headache to get the rest out. This isn't usually an issue with petrol mowers as they for the most part are metal decks, unless they're very cheap, and can be plastic..

3. At the end of October when you put your mower away for the year, do not leave your batteries low/uncharged. Because when you come back to use the mower in the new year it may not take a charge, and at £100 (£99.95 2ah, £239.95 4ah) a pop, that would be a lot of petrol lol, or the price of a cheap mower.. Also top off your batteries before storing them. Now petrol mowers can have a similar issue in that the fuel left in a tank can gel and go bad, or contain water as modern petrol contains Ethanol which is hydrophilic, meaning it attracts water, causing rust or clogging up carbs, so I always run my mowers until dry before storing, and haven't had an issue since.

4. Run time, when I first got my mower I could nearly do all my lawn on one battery depending how long the grass was, after 3-4 years I would say I use maybe 1.6 batteries worth to finish it. Run time on my petrol mower has pretty much stayed the same.

5. Maintenance for electric mowers are pretty much making sure batteries are charged up before storage, and maybe oiling a wheel if it starts to squeak lol. Petrol mowers require changing the oil ever year or 50 hours, which ever is first, and a new air filter and spark plug every few years. This can be a pain for some people, but it is quite inexpensive to do so. There are placed you can take your mower and they will do it for you, for a fee.

6. Parts, usually with standard petrol mowers parts are easy to come by, being used across a range of mowers. Not so with the electric mower after a few years, parts/mowers get discontinued and it can be a pain to track down something you need. Also if the main circuit board on the mower breaks, usually it means you need to buy another mower.

7. Price/cost, currently the electric Bosch sits at £599 for 1 mower, 2 2ah batteries and a charger, the Honda is £345, so that is a difference of £254, that is a big difference in price, plus factor in a new battery or charger being another £99.95/£239.95 if you forget to charge it before storing it.

Personally I would go with a petrol mower if you have a large garden, a mains powered mower if you have a very small garden, and the electric mower for small to medium ish lawns.

I like the lower noise levels of an electric mower, and low maintenance. But I do like the fact that I can mow all day, long or short grass, with a petrol mower if I needed to. Just a few pounds worth of petrol in a can, no stopping or waiting for a battery to cool down or charge up.

Also electric tool brands do change battery platforms over the years, leaving you high and dry, (this happened to me with a Mountfield electric mower when the battery charger melted something inside (apparently a common issue by the number of second hand ones that say "charger not working" or "no charger included"), and the batteries are tired after 4 years, to which they have since changed battery type and charger.

[badmuppet]

The moment when you lose any remaining trust in a gadget show review. Obviously told to pick the battery over petrol at all costs so even when the battery completely overheats, it still wins lol. Refuse to view this trash anymore!

[mordeth]

Let's not forget durability and longevity. You can expect at least ten years out of a good quality petrol mower if maintained correctly, yet five years would be average for a battery mower (if you're lucky) And remember, you're going to have to replace batteries (and most likely chargers) which are expensive and difficult to recycle.
I actually have petrol utility mowers, that are over twenty years old and used vigorously on a rather rugged 6 acre property, and they have proven to be very tough and reliable.
I'm willing to wager anything that you would never get that longevity or reliability from any battery mower.
Remember, not everyone lives on a 400 square metre block with nice grass.

[emadheydaribeni]

Missing disclaimer: "This video is sponsored by Bosch."

[DjDolHaus]

Cut quality - higher rpm will cut better with a blunt blade, spend 5 minutes putting a half decent edge on the blade and it'll improve drastically.
Clipping collection - A slight difference in cut height will make a huge difference in how often you'll fill the box.
Stripes - A roller will always work best but if the mower isn't heavy enough then those stripes will vanish quickly.

It's horses for courses really, if you've got a small lawn that takes less than 20 mins to cut and you're not looking for putting green perfection then the battery operated mower is probably a decent option. If you've got a slightly bigger lawn then go for a corded electric mower. If you've got a meadow to maintain then petrol is your only real option. If you don't want to deal with clippings then get a mower with mulching capability and mow more regularly but be warned that this can propagate weeds because you're not removing seed heads from the lawn.

[elijones]

As a lawnmower enthusiast all my life I can safely say don’t pay attention to this video. The battery mower is far fair inferior to the petrol machine although there are much better battery mowers out there e.g ego. Also the test of refueling and racing the mowers is rubbish, as time to pour fuel in can be equated to time to charge battery, but you didn’t include that did you. It takes around a hour probably.

[CrazyBikerGuy]

Biased again, sometimes you get a good comparison but seems the majority of these new episodes is biased.

[richwilliams]

What about reliability? A Honda mower will outlive anything. Using a honda petrol self propelled mower from the late 80s. Id like to see a battery mower last 10 years let alone 30 plus. My old petrol mountfield was 14 years old before the coil went on it, but that was due to storage leaked water onto it over winter.

[benjones]

Honestly the Bosch is crap had one went back to petrol

[iancadwallender]

I have this honda, and use it professionally.Can cut up to 12 small to medium lawns a day.That rubber strip on the honda is not for stripes, it is to stop stones ect from hitting the user.It does flatten the grass a bit, but its a roller you need for stripes.Neither of them a stripe machines.That was a useless test.

[NickFje]

Petrol lawn mowers are way better but electric mowers also have a place and will work wonders for some.
I love how quiet and lightweight they are and it is also nice to avoid some of the maintenance that is associated with a petrol mower.
I sold my electric mower today and got a petrol instead and I can cut the grass 3 times faster with no stalling at all. It will also cut 25% more grass in the width and cutting it way shorter and more evenly at the same time.
The 40 volt electric motor in the one I sold would struggle or stop very easily even on the highest cutting lenght.

My new 600$ petrol mower has a 3, 5 kW engine and even the 2000$+ electric mowers sold here is not even providing me with half of that power.
Almost all electric models provide 0, 8 - 1, 6 kW worth of power.

This is less than what a 170$ petrol model can give.

Electric is the future but battery technology needs to improve before it is worth it in my opinion.
Graphene should become more mainstream for power tools (Cat already use them) and they will charge faster, give more stable voltage and the batteries will not get as hot which could increase the life span of the battery.

[jote]

I had an stiga battery mower. Bought also a stiga leafblower (same battery). After about 4 years of use, both of the batteries died. I had to buy a new battery (cost about 300 euro's) but stiga didn't sell this type anymore. So i had to throw away a good working lawnmover and a good working leaf blower. So whats best for environment? Next mower will be a petrol mower.

[rolanddashti]

Judgment base in racing and stripes! Funny…just imagine your battery is flat and you got wait a couple hrs to charge it. Also these batteries life are few yrs and then you need to pay a $100 for new one

[TheRealD]

...with his judging I think Farmer Giles just wanted to trim her ladygarden.

[BradHarrisx]

Can I just say - if you’re in the market for a mower please don’t use this video as inspiration.

Having used both petrol and battery powered mowers, it’s a no brainer. Get yourself a petrol mower and you won’t be disappointed.

[tutacat]

Ironically Jon was wearing a PCB shirt

[decado]

Just about to return my 36v Ryobi mower and swap it for a petrol, it's been bloody nightmarish to be honest. The thing can barely handle medium grass, continually runs out of battery or overheats - have replaced the mower once already, the batteries and charger 3 times. Blah!

[chrismurray]

The petrol would already be in the Honda.

[paulhawkes-lnli]

I bought a battery mower within a month got a petrol one . The battery one could not cope with long grass.

[stevo]

You need a honda with rear roller for decent stripes plus it only has 1 handle for height. And having a battery mower won't make a difference to how sharp the blade is 😅