I bought the 30" Ryobi Z30Li this spring. Comes with two 80-volt 10Ah Li-ion suitcase batteries.
They have 30", 42", and 54" models. (They also have steering wheel tractor equivalents in the same 3 deck sizes at same prices as the ZTs. As someone else mentioned, this spring they dropped the price of all 3 models $2000, so prices are:
• Z30Li @$2999 (comes with two 80-volt batteries)
• Z42Li @$3999 (comes with two 80-volt batteries + two 40-volt batteries)
• Z54Li @$4999 (comes with three 80-volt batteries + four 40-volt batteries)
Turning and travel speed are single joystick controlled vs. lap bars. This is my first zero turn, so I have no experience to compare joy stick to lap bars. There was a learning curve on the joy stick, but by the 3rd mowing, I really had the hang of it - I'm pretty efficient with it now, and it is now 2nd nature.
One nice feature: The control algorithm automatically goes into an anti-burn-turn mode whenever you force it to a tight turn, as in doing a 180° for the next row. The firmware forces both wheels to keep turning - typically one moving forward, the other in reverse to varying degrees, *never* allowing it to spin around one stopped rear wheel. It's not a useless gimmick - it works extremely well - you can quickly and easily fine tune your turn with precise movement of the joystick to end up perfectly lined up to begin the next row - part of the learning curve, but it quickly becomes quite natural. Again, the algorithm continuously keeps both wheels independently moving either forwards or backwards as needed to control the effective radius of your turn, while never allowing a true zero (burn) turn. You have to experience it to appreciate it.
Someone mentioned the electricity for battery charging costing as much or more than gas for an IC mower. Not true - it's a *fraction* of the cost electricity vs. gas - see the video I linked at the end of this post in which a guy actually measured it.
I don't ever see myself getting an EV, but electric mowers for me make sense.
As also mentioned by others, the batteries are guaranteed for 5 years (only 3 years if you fail to register the mower/batteries with Ryobi).
I'm really liking it - much quicker than my 21" electric Kobalt (Lowes) self-propelled walk-behind. At 73 years old, I recently developed a back problem and could no longer handle the walking with a walk-behind. I took a gamble with the Ryobi zero-turn rider, and it causes zero back pain, and I get my approx. 1/3 acre yard cut in 45 to 50 minutes rather than 2 to 2-1/2 hours with the walk behind.
I run my two (simultaneously installed) batteries down to between 30 and 50% of charge in a complete mow depending on how thick the grass is each time. I always run blades at highest speed for best cut and mulching quality (3 blade speeds are selectable). I could get slightly less battery discharge by using lower blade speed, but I put a high priority on grass lift and quality of cut. While the 2 suitcase batteries easily lift out if needed, they generally stay in the mower all the time - there's a charging port built into the side of the mower.
I did purchase the optional double-blade kit - complete set of 4 blades (2 blades x 2 spindles) @$41. Does a very good quality of cut and mulching (I don't bag). The double-blade kits are readily available for the 3 different sizes of mowers. I'm really glad to have that option. (4-blade set for 42" @$70; 6- blade set for 54" @$63)
I'll figure on having to get new batteries maybe at 6 years (again: guaranteed for 5). I probably won't be happy at the price of replacement batteries (currently at $900 each!), assuming they are available (throw-away mower?). But at 73 y.o., how much longer will I be cutting the grass? Seriously!
OK - comparing cost for electricity to charge a Ryobi to cost of fuel for a gas or diesel:
In the below video, to cut his 3-1/2 acres, the guy charged the two 80-volt 10Ah plus 40-volt 12Ah batteries of the 42" Ryobi Z42Li from 0% to 100% charge (more than enough to cut his 3-1/2 acres) for a total cost of $0.50 at a rate of 22¢/kWh. He said it used $60 in diesel @a little over $6 per gallon to cut the same 3-1/2 acres with his 60" diesel mower. Lets conservatively say that it would take $25 of gas (@around $3/gallon) with a gas mower. In most places, electricity runs around 10 to 18¢/kWh, lets say 15¢/kWh, so that would be around 35¢ for the charge.
So that's conservatively roughly $25 in gas compared to 35¢ in electricity - a factor of 70 times more for the gas than electricity.
35¢ vs. >$25 to cut 3-1/2 acres.
The video (the guy mis-speaks a couple of times saying "kW" when he should have said "kWh" - but he does the math correctly):
They have 30", 42", and 54" models. (They also have steering wheel tractor equivalents in the same 3 deck sizes at same prices as the ZTs. As someone else mentioned, this spring they dropped the price of all 3 models $2000, so prices are:
• Z30Li @$2999 (comes with two 80-volt batteries)
• Z42Li @$3999 (comes with two 80-volt batteries + two 40-volt batteries)
• Z54Li @$4999 (comes with three 80-volt batteries + four 40-volt batteries)
Turning and travel speed are single joystick controlled vs. lap bars. This is my first zero turn, so I have no experience to compare joy stick to lap bars. There was a learning curve on the joy stick, but by the 3rd mowing, I really had the hang of it - I'm pretty efficient with it now, and it is now 2nd nature.
One nice feature: The control algorithm automatically goes into an anti-burn-turn mode whenever you force it to a tight turn, as in doing a 180° for the next row. The firmware forces both wheels to keep turning - typically one moving forward, the other in reverse to varying degrees, *never* allowing it to spin around one stopped rear wheel. It's not a useless gimmick - it works extremely well - you can quickly and easily fine tune your turn with precise movement of the joystick to end up perfectly lined up to begin the next row - part of the learning curve, but it quickly becomes quite natural. Again, the algorithm continuously keeps both wheels independently moving either forwards or backwards as needed to control the effective radius of your turn, while never allowing a true zero (burn) turn. You have to experience it to appreciate it.
Someone mentioned the electricity for battery charging costing as much or more than gas for an IC mower. Not true - it's a *fraction* of the cost electricity vs. gas - see the video I linked at the end of this post in which a guy actually measured it.
I don't ever see myself getting an EV, but electric mowers for me make sense.
As also mentioned by others, the batteries are guaranteed for 5 years (only 3 years if you fail to register the mower/batteries with Ryobi).
I'm really liking it - much quicker than my 21" electric Kobalt (Lowes) self-propelled walk-behind. At 73 years old, I recently developed a back problem and could no longer handle the walking with a walk-behind. I took a gamble with the Ryobi zero-turn rider, and it causes zero back pain, and I get my approx. 1/3 acre yard cut in 45 to 50 minutes rather than 2 to 2-1/2 hours with the walk behind.
I run my two (simultaneously installed) batteries down to between 30 and 50% of charge in a complete mow depending on how thick the grass is each time. I always run blades at highest speed for best cut and mulching quality (3 blade speeds are selectable). I could get slightly less battery discharge by using lower blade speed, but I put a high priority on grass lift and quality of cut. While the 2 suitcase batteries easily lift out if needed, they generally stay in the mower all the time - there's a charging port built into the side of the mower.
I did purchase the optional double-blade kit - complete set of 4 blades (2 blades x 2 spindles) @$41. Does a very good quality of cut and mulching (I don't bag). The double-blade kits are readily available for the 3 different sizes of mowers. I'm really glad to have that option. (4-blade set for 42" @$70; 6- blade set for 54" @$63)
I'll figure on having to get new batteries maybe at 6 years (again: guaranteed for 5). I probably won't be happy at the price of replacement batteries (currently at $900 each!), assuming they are available (throw-away mower?). But at 73 y.o., how much longer will I be cutting the grass? Seriously!
OK - comparing cost for electricity to charge a Ryobi to cost of fuel for a gas or diesel:
In the below video, to cut his 3-1/2 acres, the guy charged the two 80-volt 10Ah plus 40-volt 12Ah batteries of the 42" Ryobi Z42Li from 0% to 100% charge (more than enough to cut his 3-1/2 acres) for a total cost of $0.50 at a rate of 22¢/kWh. He said it used $60 in diesel @a little over $6 per gallon to cut the same 3-1/2 acres with his 60" diesel mower. Lets conservatively say that it would take $25 of gas (@around $3/gallon) with a gas mower. In most places, electricity runs around 10 to 18¢/kWh, lets say 15¢/kWh, so that would be around 35¢ for the charge.
So that's conservatively roughly $25 in gas compared to 35¢ in electricity - a factor of 70 times more for the gas than electricity.
35¢ vs. >$25 to cut 3-1/2 acres.
The video (the guy mis-speaks a couple of times saying "kW" when he should have said "kWh" - but he does the math correctly):
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