EQUIPMENT & TECHNOLOGY
Considerations for Adopting
BATTERY-OPERATED
EQUIPMENT Echo
A rundown of what landscape contractors should consider before adding battery-powered equipment to their fleet.
E
verywhere you look these days, there are more and more technological revolutions becoming purchase considerations. The professional landscape market is no exception, and there are probably very few contractors out there that have not thought about switching their fleet to battery power. With so many batterypowered vehicles cruising the streets and autonomous robots cutting swaths through neighborhoods, it seems obvious to make the switch to battery, but what are some factors that would influence this decision?
Local ordinances Stories seem to be in the news on a weekly basis lately where a local municipality, college campus or homeowners’ association legislates a ban on gas-powered landscape equipment for their locale. In these cases, landscapers may have no choice but to have a battery-powered option in their truck or trailer as they are forced by local ordinances, but which option? There are many choices available, and several aspects should be considered before adding this technology to your inventory.
Choosing a battery platform
Landscapers should think about how often and where they plan to use battery-powered equipment before purchasing.
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One of the obvious factors in including a battery product is which platform to adopt. Competing manufacturers offer different voltages, different battery amperage and maybe even different levels of performance within their own offering. These numbers can often be confusing. Landscape pros can truly determine a real measure of the energy that can be delivered by multiplying the volts and the amps to come up with watt-hours; the higher number, the more energy contained in the battery. Also,
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