Battery or gas? Looking to the future of outdoor power equipment

If you’re like most people, you enjoy spending time outside in the spring and summer months – at parks, playgrounds, greenways and ballfields.

But when you’re visiting your favorite green space, have you considered how much work goes into its upkeep?

Even a modest flower garden in the city – let alone a sprawling recreation center in the country or suburbs – needs help to remain beautiful. Mowing grass, blowing leaves and trimming hedges are just a few of the tasks undertaken by a park’s grounds keepers or landscaping crew.

And that’s to say nothing of the work done by arborists!

Of course, such effort requires the use of power equipment. With that equipment comes two things that aren’t very popular: air pollution and loud noises.

Communities push back

In the last few years, an increasing number of communities have passed laws restricting the use of noisy leaf blowers and similar equipment. Cities don’t like the pollution emitted by small engines, and neighborhoods don’t care for the loud noises.

As a result of these new regulations, certain power equipment manufacturers began working on solutions – Husqvarna included. The question was this: How do we balance the needs of outdoor professionals with the preferences of today’s urban and suburban communities?

At Husqvarna, our solution was simple and effective: We developed a line of battery-powered equipment, including battery trimmers, hedge trimmers, electric cordless leaf blowers, and more, geared toward the commercial user.

Two birds with one stone

Fully electrical power equipment, such as Husqvarna’s battery series, produces extremely low noise levels. In fact, you probably couldn’t tell if your neighbor was operating a battery product next door. Plus, thanks to their battery-powered operation, the units product no direct emissions.

These simple features alleviate the big concerns of private and public communities. At last, green spaces can be maintained with cleaner, quieter, more efficient machinery.

However, the benefits to professionals are even more impressive.

Electrifying benefits

Husqvarna’s professional battery products are more than just a replacement for gas-powered equipment: They’re an upgrade!

Professional battery products offer the following advantages to commercial users:

• Easier starting
• Lighter weights
• Reduced vibrations
• Eliminated exhaust fumes
• No routine engine maintenance
• Savings on fuel, oil, filters and more

You can learn more about the eco-friendly benefits here. Most importantly, Husqvarna battery products now match or exceed the performance of similar gas-powered equipment.

But are professionals ready to incorporate such cutting-edge technology into their fleets?

What the future says

In 2016, Husqvarna commissioned a global study related to the future of urban parks and green spaces. Husqvarna asked 533 landscape architect students in 15 countries to share their opinions on what urban parks will look like by the year 2030.

The results were eye-opening:

• 98% report a positive outlook on the use of new technology in parks.
• 63% want to include sensors for tracking the health of green spaces.
• 47% believe robots and drones will play an important role in green space maintenance.

2030 may seem like a ways off, but the future revolution is already beginning, as more professionals choose to get ahead of the curve and embrace new technology.

What customers are saying

To complement the student study, Husqvarna conducted a survey of consumers in the United States. 1,579 consumers gave their opinions about green spaces, outdoor power equipment brands, commercial landscaping companies and more.

Here’s what we discovered* (see the infographic on the right of this page):

• 78% believe public parks should use eco-friendly outdoor power equipment for maintenance purposes.
• 72% say they support companies that use eco-friendly outdoor power equipment over those who don’t.
• Over half of respondents, 57%, would pay more for a landscaper who uses quieter equipment.

The results speak for themselves: There’s a clear demand for landscaping services that choose battery-powered equipment. As consumers discover robotics and embrace eco-friendly landscaping at their own properties, they’re demanding the same from the professionals who care for their favorite green spa

*This survey of 1579 U.S. consumers was completed online between August 29 and August 30, 2016, using Qualtrics’ online panel. A probability sample of the same size would yield a margin of error of +/-2.5%.