We have had an Ego cordless power for 4 or 5 years now.

My partner is the main one who uses it, he is brutal to it, and it just keeps on working. No oil changes, no spark plug replacements, no buying fuel, no yanking on the rope yelling Start You Ba$tard... You just drop in the battery and mow. By the time the battery is exhausted, I'm exhausted. We get about 45 minutes mowing to a charge, and this is coarse grass, not fine lawn.

We were so impressed with it, we bought other Ego stuff - pole pruner, chainsaw, brushcutter, nylon line trimmer.

I have to boast about one bargain - the pole saw kit (power unit, pole saw head, extension pole, charger, battery) sells for about AUD$690 here.

A hardware store in a town in our region was going downhill, and got bought out by Bunnings, the big hardware chain here. The store stocked some items that were brands Bunnings didn't sell, so while the store was closed for refit to become a Bunnings, all its odd stock was shipped out to other Bunnings stores in the region and priced for quick sale - generally half original price but often less. The items were stuck on aisle ends and clearance racks at the front of the store to get them moving out quickly.

One store I went to had a few Ego tools at great prices, including two pole saws. One was under half price at $290. The other had a damaged box and labelled that the battery was missing - it had been stolen out of the box. The price had been reduced to $20. I asked staff if that was right or a mistake, they said a new battery would cost over $250 so they had dropped the price to allow for buying a new battery at full price. (Ego isn't stocked by Bunnings, so the buyer would have to source one elsewhere.) As I already had a battery for the mower, I snapped it up. I got the motor unit, pole saw attachment, strap, charger and extension pole for just $20, still with 5 year warranty. I then went to another Bunnings store across town (this town has 3 Bunnings stores) and they had Ego batteries marked down from AUD$250+ to $58. They were the smaller battery, 2.5 amp hour, but fine for the lighter tools. So I got one of those.

we recently bought a cheaper cordless mower from Aldi - not sure if they are unique to Australia or sold world wide? It's a Ferrex brand, 118 volts, takes two 56 volt packs, comes with only one charger so you have to charge one after the other, but it was only $395 and as they didn't sell well, have been reduced to $359 in stores that till have stock. The box is labelled "electric mower" instead of "cordless mower" which was silly and would have cost them sales. The batteries are fiddly to insert and release, but otherwise it is amazing - more powerful than our Ego mower, and self propelled too.  (our Ego is not self propelled.) We bought it as a gift for a relative who has health issues and was having difficulty starting her petrol mower. She loves it, though she does have some trouble inserting the batteries - you have to push them in against a strong spring. A bargain.

I have an EGO and love it! I got the trimmer too, so I can use its battery if the mower runs out of juice. I think wanting a 50+ minute run time is going to be an issue, so I'd research all brands to see if any last that long. Or buy two items so you have two batteries. EGO has a string trimmer, leaf blower, and a saw. It's not worth it just to buy an extra battery - they are super expensive so might as well get another tool.

If my grass isn't too long, I can get 40 - 45 minutes. If the grass is long I have to go slower plus I think mowing tall grass puts a little more stress on the battery so I have to change the battery at about 30 minutes. Then I finish while the first battery is charging and can use it in the trimmer.

The other nice thing about the EGO is that it folds up and takes very little space to store.

This is the brand I grew up with:

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they were VERY funky in the 70 .. bit of an ABBA meets Blake’s 7 vibe with a touch of space disco … The 70s were before my time, but such an odd decade!! I don’t think a lawnmower has ever been marketed like this before or since …

(don’t worry this was just a normal 1970s uk tv ad)

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Nowadays part of Husqvarna Group.

I'm leaning toward the Ego mower but struggling to justify the $800 price point. I really like the dual blade design,  a number of brands are doing that now. I could go with  the Ego and a 7 amp hour battery and save some $$.  With my now missing mower it took me 50 minutes or so to do the lawn so the 7AH battery might just do it.

Decisions, decisions.

Hi  Matt. I have been a long-time skeptic of electric mowers due to the poor examples offered in the past.  My mom had a 3.5HP Briggs & Stratton mower for years. It is about as small of an engine as you can get.  In spite of that, her shoulder was getting to a point where she could not pull the rope to start the engine. 

My initial search was for an electric-start gas powered mower; however I wasn't able to find anything which wasn't a huge commercial machine. 

I was at Lowe's and noticed a lithium ion powered electric mower which was just about the right size; but it was gimmicky and had a lot of "fluff" which I was sure would make it not last. Things like two small motors and blades, as opposed to a single blade and motor. But it got me thinking. 

Finally went to Home Depot and saw a Ryobi electric push mower. It is really simple with one motor and blade. It has two 40V batteries. One is in use, and the other has a storage point on the front of the mower.  It is literally as simple as a plastic deck, four wheels, a handle; motor and battery. 

Talked to the people at the store and explained that I was skeptical but liked the idea and wanted to confirm that I could return it, even after using it, if I was not satisfied with the performance.  They confirmed that I could indeed return it if I was unsatisfied with it in any way. 

Before giving it to my mom, I charged it up and tested it in my yard. It was able to cut basically anything you would reasonably expect a push mower to cut; and had no problems mulching small twigs, pine cones, and other debris common in the yard here. All in all I was very impressed with it! 

Mom really loves it because she doesn't have to pull a rope to start it. It has a pushbutton to turn it on. This mower is a few years old now. Batteries are in the 80 to 100V range now if I am not mistaken. They probably go longer than hers do. The 40V mower goes about 20 minutes per charge. So with two fully charged batteries, you have about 40 minutes of run time. That is with "average" toughness grass to cut. It won't go that long if you are pushing it hard in tall or wet grass, of course.

I would recommend an electric mower, but caution you to look for the simplest design you can find which fits your needs. There is a lot of hype and marketing puffery out there so be sure to look past that at the actual product. 

Sincerely,
David 

Only buy from authorized retailers, which pretty much limits you to Lowe's and Ace Hardware in the US. I read somewhere that if you don't use an authorized dealer for the purchase, EGO will not warranty it. I am not 100% sure if this is true but worth looking into if you find one elsewhere. I got my mower and string trimmer from Ace, and just ordered a blower from Lowe's today.

The Ego I've decided on has a 5 year warranty on both the mower and battery. Historically the Egos have held up well, they are a poly carbonate body, not rust prone steel and from all reports very durable. With the 7.5 amp hour battery run time is about an hour, with my ICE mower it took me 50ish minutes to do the lawn. There is a Toro super recycler that just came out that is $100 more with an aluminum deck. Have not found any reviews, I'm tempted but the cost is putting me off.

Now I just have to commit to spending the $$$.

Like with anything else there are good mowers and crappy mowers.  I spent a lot of hours doing research and narrowed down my choices based on performance.

Well I got my Ego this evening, bit the bullet.  Did a quick charge on the battery and cut part of my front lawn at dusk.  The LED headlights did help, but as noted in one of the reviews you really cannot cut in the dark with this mower, not that I'd want to.

I was unsure about the rear wheel drive, had a gas powered mower 20+ years ago with rear drive and hated it.  With the electric mower simply lifting my thumb off the drive button allowed me to swing around easily.  Cut quality is excellent, noise level is great compared to a gas mower. Jury is still out on the weight of the unit, my old mower was heavier and this one seems to bounce a little more.  Not enough to spend an extra $100+ for the metal Toro but if I get my lawn rolled to even it out it would not be an issue.

I'll do the rest of my lawn tomorrow and see how it looks in the daylight.

I did the balance of my lawn yesterday.  I did not get the quoted run time on the battery but my lawn was quite long.  Jury is out on the 50-60 minute claimed runtime, will have a better idea after a few "normal" mows. 

As for cut quality- my lawn has not looked this good in ages.  I'm a believer in the double blade setup.  As I mentioned it was over grown but instead of bagging I mulched as that was what the installed blade was for.  The mulch was fine with no mess left behind.  The clippings I looked at were very small and will get easily into the lawn to feed it ongoing. I'm impressed.

I will still have to get used to the rear wheel drive, the thumb control works well, just have to get the timing right. The Ego does have a slight glitch noted in many reviews of occasionally locking the rear wheels and needing to roll forward an inch or so to release them after releasing the drive button. Have to be aware of it in tight quarters, but I don't have too many areas like that.

All in all I'm impressed.

Bill, sounds encouraging, glad you like yours too. What model did you get?  I got the 2135sp, wanted the 2150 but could not justify the price.

I'm very interested to hear how you find this mower, especially on steep terrain.

We live on steep land, conventional petrol powered zero-turns are notorious here for being dangerous on the hilly slippery sections, I don't completely understand why but it is something to do with the hydrostatic transmissions letting the machine run away downhill. A neighbour has one of the Cub Cadet zero turns with steering wheel and says it is much safer than his old Dixon.

If the electric Zero Turns have done away with the hydrostatic trans, then the run away shouldn't be an issue any more, right?

We currently have an Australian made Greenfield tractor-type ride on mower, 25 Hp Briggs engine, 34 inch single spindle deck. They are quite different to the American mowers that are sold here, most of which have a poor reputation under our harsh conditions. A lot of Australian grasses are tough, like cutting wire, and we Aussies tend to have less manicured lawns, more like rough pasture than fine lawn. It means our mowers take a beating and Aussie mowers like Greenfield are built tough. Ours is one of the last "proper" Greenfields before they were taken over by a rival company, but I'd love an electric ride-on mower, if it were up to the job.

trouble is a good conversion probably will cost as much as a cheap new ride on. You can get a 48 volt Ryobi ride on for under $5000 at Bunnings.

Or do you mean a walk-behind mower? Lots of people have done that.

But it is easier to get a cheap battery mower with a failed battery, they are almost worthless but a new battery only costs about $100 for an EnviroMower, for example. (2 x 12 volt sealed lead acid battery.) I have done it in the past, mower cost about $10 or $15 at a recycle shop (tip shop.) They are a reasonable little mower but gutless compared to an Ego.

The Aldi ones I mentioned above - our local store STILL has two that haven't sold in weeks, they are now down to $299.

So far I've been pretty happy with my Ego. Due to unforeseen trips my grass has been long each time I mow so I think that is why my run time has been less than optimal. I'm getting the rated 50 minutes but not getting the lawn done in that time as I had been in the past. Luckily the charge time is quick and tossing the battery on the charger and doing a bit of trimming gets  me to a full charge and gives me a bit of time for a cooling drink.