Currently they bring their own fuel to worksites. What happens when there's no outlet for them to plug into? There are large numbers of landscaping scenarios where this will be the case. Do they bring a diesel generator?
All of my yard tools, including my lawnmower, are electric. For reasons of both cost and power, I went with corded rather than battery powered. Battery tech is constantly improving and maybe at some point it will get to the point where it is viable for a yard like mine but for people who are doing a large number of properties per day, it's going to be quite a while.
Seems like the better interim solution would be making the small engines used by these tools emit less. This would of course increase the complexity and cost but seems like a better tradeoff than extension cords with large voltage drops, diesel generators, or lugging around half a dozen times more batteries than devices.
The Ford F-150 aims to solve that problem (and I guess other EVs will have / has similar capabilities).
> With an electric motor mounted on each of its axles, the vehicle will offer more torque — in effect, faster acceleration — than any previous F-150 and will be capable of towing up to 10,000 pounds. Its battery pack can power a home for about three days during an outage, according to Ford.
For contractors and other commercial truck users, the Lightning will be able to power electric saws, tools and lighting, potentially replacing or reducing the need for generators at work sites. It has up to 11 power outlets.
Which are evidently going to be banned under this same bill a few years later in 2028. What happens then? Follow the work truck with a second box truck that's absolutely full to the brim of batteries?
It seems like commercial should be granted an exemption here. It's just not realistic to run battery operated hand tools like it is if you are only maintaining one single family home sized lot for all the reasons you mentioned. Plus gardeners can repair and maintain their own gas powered tools themselves, can't do that with electronic equipment that is built to be disposed of rather than fixed.
While you jest, a generator running at a relatively constant speed and load (loads can be extracted to capacitors) should reduce noise, maintenance, and emissions (albeit, overall weight would increase and mechanical efficiency would decrease)
Modern battery technology is way better than it used to be. Today, you can use the same battery you use to power your cordless drill to power radios, vacuum cleaners, circular saws/table saws, chainsaws, trimmers, and even lawnmowers. DeWalt's 20V MAX system in particular is pretty neat.
Electric equipment is just not practical or realistic for these landscaping operations where you are working 50-60 hours a week. They would have to replace batteries constantly as they get worn out from being constantly depleted and charging. Not to mention you would have to run your chargers off a generator in the truck bed anyhow, negating any green benefit since these things are noisy and pollute just as much as a hand tool. If they didn't need power offered by commercial grade gas equipment, they would be using cheaper handheld blowers rather than heavier and more expensive backpack models. Plus brands like STIHL are practically bulletproof in terms of reliability.
> Not to mention you would have to run your chargers off a generator in the truck bed anyhow, negating any green benefit since these things are noisy and pollute just as much as a hand tool.
One big engine is cleaner, more efficient, and quieter than a bunch of small 2-stroke engines.
A big engine they have to run 100% of the time they are parked to keep the juice flowing. A blower is only running when it's being ran which is just one portion of the job.
The obvious solution is to use something like the hybrid Ford F-150, which will only run the engine as-needed while still providing continuous 7.2kW power for battery charging or directly powering tools.
That's going to be a tough sell for landscapers currently getting by with a 25 year old F150. If the state is forcing these costs onto working people like this, they should also subsidize the cost to get newer legal equipment. The state of california already offers funding for wealthy people to buy Teslas, they should do something for day laborers too.
Landscapers currently getting by with a 25 year old F150 can continue to also get by with their existing tools. They won't need a new F-150 to serve as a generator until they are well into the process of retiring their gas-powered tools in favor of electric tools. And there will even be a grace period of several years where they can start migrating to electric tools and buy a separate generator. Because these rules are about what's legal to sell new, no what's legal to have and use.
(Also, based on CARB's definition of "Small Off-Road Engines" which is what the law applies to, diesel generators of any size will not be affected.)
