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Sure. But the issue is professional gardeners -- including those who just have a pickup truck and and a few dozen clients. It's not just "handle a job on a full

Sure. But the issue is professional gardeners -- including those who just have a pickup truck and and a few dozen clients. It's not just "handle a job on a full charge" since they need to work all day. The Stihl backpack batteries help a lot, but it's still going to be a lot of investment for a guy who just takes care of lawns for a living.

sfopdxnonstop 8y ago
Yeah it totally sucks when you were accustomed to externalizing your business costs onto others but now you have to pass those costs on to your customers. I mean sucks for the customers, not for you (you earn the same) or for the people no longer paying those costs (with their hearing loss). Me? I don't employ anyone to blow my leaves so I'm a winner in this transaction.
- andrei_says_ 8y ago
  Well this is pretty much the model of most industries, and especially with energy, the oil gas and coal industries. As for one person’s choice, I wish all my neighbors would make the same choice.
nraynaud 8y ago
don't big truck have a power outlet from the engine? I think welders are plugged into the engine. I'd share some concern about transition, in particular because I live in Arizona, but I guess things will be better in the long run.
- jhoechtl 8y ago
  And now guess how the trucks are powered? Now you use a cobustion engine to power an alternator to charge a battery. What is the net gain, if any?
  - freeone3000 8y ago
    It's a more efficient engine, with better particulate filters, a catalytic converter to reduce NOx emissions, and yearly emissions inspections to ensure all of the above is up to standards. It's a gain.
    - reitzensteinm 8y ago
      "More efficient" is not a binary thing. Taking an efficient engine that's capable of throwing two tons of steel down a highway at 100 mph and using it to charge a lithium ion battery is like killing an ant with a sledgehammer. An F150 consumes ~2 litres of fuel an hour at idle and provides 400 watts of power through its outlet. A Bosch leaf blower is 2400 watt. Petrol powered leaf blowers do not use 12 liters of fuel an hour. Sure, the emissions in some ways will be lower, but it's not an unambiguous gain and it's not anything close to an environmentally friendly way to run a leaf blower. This is clearly a niche for PHEVs or BEVs.
      - djpilot 8y ago
        > An F150 consumes ~2 litres of fuel an hour at idle Where'd you get this number? AFAICT this is not true. https://www.google.com/search?q=how+much+gas+per+hour+idling&oq=how+much+gas+per+hour https://www.google.com/search?q=how+much+gas+per+hour+idling... More like a little less than 1 liter for a 4.6L V8 motor.
        reitzensteinm 8y ago
        Your link says 0.5-0.7 gallons for the 4.6L V8, which is 1.9-2.6 liters.
      - liability 8y ago
        Ford is promising to produce a hybrid F150 that would upend your green calculus entirely.
        reitzensteinm 8y ago
AnthonyMouse 8y ago
All you need is to have a battery that takes less time to charge than discharge during normal usage. Then you have one charging from the truck or local mains power while you're using the other and whenever it runs down the other is charged and you can swap them.

sfopdxnonstop 8y ago

Yeah it totally sucks when you were accustomed to externalizing your business costs onto others but now you have to pass those costs on to your customers. I mean sucks for the customers, not for you (you earn the same) or for the people no longer paying those costs (with their hearing loss). Me? I don't employ anyone to blow my leaves so I'm a winner in this transaction.

andrei_says_ 8y ago
Well this is pretty much the model of most industries, and especially with energy, the oil gas and coal industries. As for one person’s choice, I wish all my neighbors would make the same choice.

nraynaud 8y ago

don't big truck have a power outlet from the engine? I think welders are plugged into the engine. I'd share some concern about transition, in particular because I live in Arizona, but I guess things will be better in the long run.

jhoechtl 8y ago
And now guess how the trucks are powered? Now you use a cobustion engine to power an alternator to charge a battery. What is the net gain, if any?
- freeone3000 8y ago
  It's a more efficient engine, with better particulate filters, a catalytic converter to reduce NOx emissions, and yearly emissions inspections to ensure all of the above is up to standards. It's a gain.
  - reitzensteinm 8y ago
    "More efficient" is not a binary thing. Taking an efficient engine that's capable of throwing two tons of steel down a highway at 100 mph and using it to charge a lithium ion battery is like killing an ant with a sledgehammer. An F150 consumes ~2 litres of fuel an hour at idle and provides 400 watts of power through its outlet. A Bosch leaf blower is 2400 watt. Petrol powered leaf blowers do not use 12 liters of fuel an hour. Sure, the emissions in some ways will be lower, but it's not an unambiguous gain and it's not anything close to an environmentally friendly way to run a leaf blower. This is clearly a niche for PHEVs or BEVs.
    - djpilot 8y ago
      > An F150 consumes ~2 litres of fuel an hour at idle Where'd you get this number? AFAICT this is not true. https://www.google.com/search?q=how+much+gas+per+hour+idling&oq=how+much+gas+per+hour https://www.google.com/search?q=how+much+gas+per+hour+idling... More like a little less than 1 liter for a 4.6L V8 motor.
      - reitzensteinm 8y ago
        Your link says 0.5-0.7 gallons for the 4.6L V8, which is 1.9-2.6 liters.
    - liability 8y ago
      Ford is promising to produce a hybrid F150 that would upend your green calculus entirely.
      - reitzensteinm 8y ago

AnthonyMouse 8y ago

All you need is to have a battery that takes less time to charge than discharge during normal usage. Then you have one charging from the truck or local mains power while you're using the other and whenever it runs down the other is charged and you can swap them.