EGO POWER PLUS
FEATURE
POWER UP Enabling quick, easy and efficient charging of battery power products has been the goal of kit manufacturers, and it looks as though they’re achieving it
W
hen battery-powered tools Initially, Husqvarna had just a few charging were first introduced, the options for its range of battery power products focus was arguably on – two fast chargers, 330w and 500w options, ensuring that they could along with an in-vehicle 12v option.“Since match their petrol counterparts in terms then, we have added a range of lower wattage of power. Now that they’ve caught up, for chargers for a slower overnight charge, along the most part, there’s another concern that with a rail charger (8 x 80W chargers into one any electric product manufacturer will standard three-pin socket) which is a fantastic understand – range anxiety. Battery tools option for those with a large fleet of batteries might be able to carry out the work, looking to charge them all overnight. but for how long? And how This is a very elegant and many batteries is it cost-effective way of going to take? managing a large “Range anxiety fleet of batteries.” is generally most With any people’s barrier to charging investing in any solution, battery-powered Walker says product, that “they whether it be must be a chainsaw or able to offer a car. So, ensuring flexibility, you offer the right reliability, charging solutions and be James Walker, national key is as important as the futureproofed.” account manager, quality of the battery That’s also been Husqvarna UK products themselves,” says at the centre of Kress’ James Walker, national key cordless range from the start account manager at Husqvarna UK.“We of its development. Rather than know every business and every end-user has needing a multitude of batteries, an operative a different idea of how battery products will would need just two – one for using and one best fit into their business. With our charging for charging, says Jim Kirkwood, director solutions, we are trying to offer as much of product management at Positec (UK & flexibility as possible, not tying the end user Ireland) Ltd, Kress’ parent company. to one solution that does not fit their business Around a decade ago, chairman Don or way of working.” Gao asked battery manufacturers what they
Range anxiety is generally most people’s barrier to investing in any battery powered product. Ensuring you offer the right charging solutions is as important as the quality of the battery products themselves
56
Pro Landscaper | January 2024
were doing for the landscaping market, with a specific list of requirements of what they would need – mainly, a battery that charges quickly to 100%. “With a car, you might run it down to 20% and charge it up to around 80% – those are the two barriers. But with landscaping, they need to charge a battery to full and use it all,” says Kirkwood. When Gao couldn’t find what he was looking for with the manufacturers, he invested in a research project at a university in Canada instead. This eventually led to the launch of Kress’ range for commercial landscapers earlier this year. Its CyberSystem can charge one of its large backpack batteries to full in as little as eight minutes.“The quickest anybody else could charge a similar size battery would be an hour and 19 minutes. So, it’s completely different in terms of that,” says Kirkwood. Then there’s the recharge cycles. Whereas some batteries might be limited to 1000 or 1500, Kress can last for at least 3000 recharge cycles. It’s why Gao has put an eight-year warranty behind the CyberSystem, says Kirkwood.“He recognises that he needed to be bold. For all intents and purposes, it looks like the same sort of battery; it’s still 60V, and in terms of run time, it’s in a similar realm to what other people’s batteries are; but the reality is that both the charging speed and the overall life of the battery are game changing.” Kress’ CyberTank allows users to charge the batteries, but in the long term, Kress is looking at a ‘vehicle to grid’ approach.“When you charge your car, you might not use all that
prolandscapermagazine.com