The Benefits of Electric Power

Electrification is Everywhere

Electric power is supercharging our everyday lives. From common items like headphones and smart watches to household heating and water systems, more and more of the objects around us are powering up as the electric revolution begins. 

The automotive industry is a great example of this transition right now, with electric vehicles capturing headlines and attracting tons of consumers. Ford is investing billions in the development of new battery technologies and the F-150 Lightning is so popular the company closed the wait list for it. GM committed to a full electric conversion by 2035 and new manufacturers like Rivian are generating huge buzz as their first cars roll off the line.    

Just like the car industry, the transition to electric power is the most prominent shift in landscaping equipment today. Clients are demanding it and local governments are requiring it as consumers and communities pursue greater environmental sustainability in their everyday lives. Technology is rapidly developing to meet these needs, and at Scythe we are excited to usher in the electric era. 

Powering Our Mission

From the very beginning, we set out to build a commercial-grade battery-powered mower. It is part of our mission to provide landscape contractors with the tools they need to more sustainably care for our green spaces, and replacing the gas-guzzling mowers used today with zero-emissions equipment makes a huge impact. 

But it is also part of our mission to grow the businesses that maintain our green spaces, and a battery-powered mower can positively impact their bottom line, as well. Here are a few of the benefits that all-electric Scythe M.52 offers your business that gas-powered machinery can’t provide. 

M.52 can significantly lower your energy costs

High fuel prices topped the list of contractors’ concerns in the Lawn & Landscape 2021 State of the Industry Report, overtaking labor shortages for the first time in years. Fuel prices have only continued to rise since that survey was published, making electric options even more attractive. 

The energy costs to run M.52 are over 80% cheaper than a gas-powered mower. Using the average energy prices from 2021, you can see how the savings per mower per day can really add up. 

Electric power also provides more predictable energy costs. It tends to be much less volatile than gasoline, which can see huge price fluctuations because of supply constraints and geopolitical conflicts like we are seeing today. The stability that electricity prices provide can help you better forecast your energy costs. 

M.52 can reduce your maintenance costs, too

Gas-powered mowers have hundreds of moving parts, creating many points of failure and even more service needs. With electric drive and deck motors and only 1/10th the moving parts of a gas-powered machine, Scythe M.52 doesn't have any oil, filters, or belts to change. Contractors only need to keep the blades sharp, wheels inflated, and battery charged. 

M.52 is better for the environment

Running a gas-powered mower for an hour produces the same amount of pollution as driving a car 300 miles, and crews are typically running mowers eight hours a day. The EPA estimates that gas-powered mowers account for up to 5% of all US air emissions, meaning the transition to electric power can have a huge positive impact on the environment. 

Especially compared to modern cars, gas-powered mowers are extremely polluting. Modern cars have things like catalytic converters, exhaust sensors, and more to improve efficiency and reduce noxious emissions, but these technologies haven’t been integrated into mower engines. Gas-powered mowers from today have the same kind of emissions as cars from the 1950s. 

M.52 is also significantly quieter than a gas-powered mower, reducing noise pollution and the customer complaints that come with it. The sound of an electric mower is around 75 decibels, which is roughly equivalent to a passing car. At 95 decibels, a gas-powered mower is like a motorcycle roaring by. 

M.52 is better for your crew, too

Regular exposure to the heavy pollution that gas-powered tools produce can cause a range of health problems, but the zero-emissions M.52 eliminates the pollution your crew is normally exposed to from gas-powered mowers. Overheated exhaust systems also increase the risk of fire dangers, which you don’t have to worry about with M.52.

Additionally, sustained exposure to noises above 85 decibels (like the sound of a lawn mower) can cause hearing loss, so switching to electric equipment can further protect your crew and create a better working environment for them. 

Making M.52 Work for You

While the benefits of electric power are many, they cannot come at the expense of performance. That is why we are working diligently to build a powerful machine that can stand up to the demands of the job regardless of its power source. 

• All-Day Mowing: With nearly a third of the battery capacity of a Tesla Model 3, Scythe M.52 gets a full day of mowing on a single charge. Battery technology is rapidly increasing and that capacity will continue improving significantly in the years to come.
• Patent-pending blade + deck design: We have engineered the machine to optimize energy efficiency. Scythe M.52 has a patent-pending blade and deck design that maximizes cut quality while minimizing energy usage, something no one in the industry has done yet.
• Pay-as-you-mow Pricing: Another common hesitation is the high price of electric equipment today, but our usage-based pricing model makes electric mowers a no-brainer for contractors. Rather than making a huge investment upfront for a manual electric mower, you only pay for the acres you mow with Scythe M.52. This approach also incentives us to build a machine with maximum uptime, lowering overall maintenance costs and keeping the mower out in the field. 

Supercharge Your Business

With Scythe M.52, electric power is only half the story. Add in the mower’s advanced robotic technology and you get the most comprehensive autonomous solution in commercial landscaping. M.52 can help lower your operating expenses, reduce your carbon footprint and multiply what your crew can do, so make your reservation today at GetScythe.com. 

The Scythe Approach

Offering a deep dive into its design, this is the second in a four-part series explaining the pillars of our approach in developing Scythe M.52. Together these choices result in the most comprehensive autonomous mowing solution with better performance, greater durability, and increased productivity for landscaping crews.