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Comment by mrfusion | Hacker News Reader

If batteries are getting so cheap why isn’t anyone making battery powered: chainsaws, full size vacuum cleaners, jet skis, ride on mowers? All of those would be revolutionary.

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"If batteries are getting so cheap why isn’t anyone making battery powered: chainsaws, full size vacuum cleaners, jet skis, ride on mowers?"

They are. The fire department I volunteer at has put the dewalt battery powered chainsaw in service on our engines (which is significant as we deal with a lot of downed trees, etc.)

I am personally (slowly) switching to battery operated tools for lighter duty mowing and trimming at my ranch (dewalt and bosch).

Further, I see that while the big brands (Polaris, Kawasaki, Yamaha) do not yet have electric quads, you can find them on alibaba, etc., to be shipped to the US.

Heavier duty use-cased - like very large chainsaws and mowers - will still have people like me using IC engines but regular homeowners and even contractors/pros will be switched over to battery for almost everything landscaping/mowing related in the next ten years. It couldn't happen too soon.

Most tool brands (milwaukee, dewalt, ryobi) are transitioning from tool companies to battery companies. Lots of cheap tools and expensive batteries.

Also, battery powered chainsaws (husqvarna is well regarded for their chainsaws): https://www.husqvarna.com/us/products/chainsaws/536li-xp/966...

battery powered riding lawnmowers (ryobi not well known for ride-on mowers): https://www.homedepot.com/p/Ryobi-38-in-75-Ah-Battery-Electr...

Battery powered chainsaws are definitely a thing and actually work pretty well, even on medium sized trees. Not needing hearing protection is a huge benefit in my opinion.

And DeWalt makes an excellent battery powered leaf blower.

Battery powered chainsaws are very popular for light duty work. Small battery powered vacuums are also very popular.

You might as well ask, if batteries are getting cheap, why isn't anybody making cordless drills?

Ride-on mower companies are entering the electric space - Ryobi and Troy-Bilt have consumer-level options, Cub Cadet have a prosumer/light pro model (RZT S Zero), and Mean Green make a full line of commercial grade electric mowers.

Electric chainsaws have been a thing for years and have moved from the trimmer size space to the prosumer/light pro space (see the Husqvarna 536Li XP).

Hoover make a full sized appearance canister/upright hybrid vacuum (Air Cordless Lift). In this space, though, I think the prevalence of smaller stick-style cordless vacuums is because the technology enables them rather than because the technology can't be scaled up. The Dyson V6/V7/V8/V10 models aren't great in terms of quality IMO but are very convenient and popular and the V10 is more than sufficient for home vacuuming tasks.

For me for a long time the example of tool that cannot be reasonably battery powered were angle grinders and SDS-mount hammer drills. DeWalt makes both of these for a few years.

batteries are getting cheaper but good long term reliable batteries will still set you back a bit. I have had an electric mower, edger, and blower. I only kept the last item. The first just didn't last well enough even with a spare battery and it was already degrading before the end of the season. The edger just didn't cut it, sorry about the pun.

There are riding electric mowers but the cost keeps most off of them and honestly unless it has thermal management I am not soaking money into one.

If anything shows how far they need to go is motorcycles. Yeah there are a few decent ones out there but if you do highway speeds their mileage plummets.

and finally comes charging, it is silly enough with phone, table, head sets, and more. now I will need a garage full of at minimum 20a 240v plugs if not higher rated. homes just are not designed around that yet

The newest Zero electric motorcycles will go around 100 miles at real highway speeds, which isn't bad compared to most small-tank gas motorcycles (although obviously lack of refueling options is an issue). I do think they're a good illustration of the cost issue, though, as they're astronomically expensive.

F Zero motorcycles, supported them buying one of the first production bikes and now it sits with a dead battery and zero no longer sells replacments shafting all it's first gen bike owners.

Wow, now that I am looking this up the pre-2012 Zero bikes used Molicell LiMn2O4 batteries instead of more common LiFePO4s (see A123) or ubiquitous LiCoO2 batteries. This gives them a deeper voltage range and makes them require some form of reengineering to replace with more modern battery technology, which really does suck.

I've been getting into Lowes' Kobalt branded series of power tools [1] built to run on 80V lithium batteries. Their 18" chainsaw is perfect for casual trimming and a tree or two every couple of months. With multiple batteries and chargers it's possible to run continuously.

The main unknown for me is how durable the tools will be over time, and how the batteries will hold up.

[1] https://www.kobalttools.com/outdoor-tools/80v

Dyson discontinued all their cabled vacuum cleaners when they released the V10.

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