ACT swaps out diesel ride-on mowers for electric, after trial shows they’re up to the job

The ACT government says it will now use electric ride-on lawn mowers to manage the upkeep of public grassed areas in suburbs, open spaces and arterial roadways, following a successful trial of the fossil-fuel free machines.

Chris Steel, the ACT’s minister for transport and city services, says the government’s rapid response mowing team – which focuses on higher priority areas such as line of sight safety issues – is now equipped with four new electric ride-on mowers.

“Following a successful trial of one electric mower last season, the ACT government has this season replaced four diesel powered mowers with electric mowers which will support the ACT government’s commitment to achieve zero net emissions from Government operations by 2040,” said Steel.

The Australian Capital Territory leads the nation on the switch to electric vehicles for road transport, with EVs accounting for more than 20 per cent of all new car sales in the first half of the year. That compares to an average of eight per cent of new car sales for the country in 2023.

The territory is also leading the push to get fossil gas out of homes and businesses – so kicking diesel out of government owned heavy machinery is an obvious next step.

As is the case with cars, there are fully electric, lithium-ion battery powered and cordless alternatives for lawn mowers and other popular power tools such as the ubiquitous suburban leaf blower that – although a little more expensive to buy at the outset – do the same job, but with less pollution, less noise, and much lower ongoing maintenance and refuelling costs.

“The four replacement electric mowers will join the existing fleet to mow over five thousand hectares of grass each mowing cycle,” the government says,

“The electric mowers require minimal maintenance, with no grease points or belts and tubeless tyres which help to achieve excellent cutting results and rider comfort.

“Charge time for these mowers is approximately six hours, providing eight hours of run time. The mowers are also lighter than other machines in the fleet which reduces the chance of them becoming bogged.”

The mowers’ effectiveness will be further assessed over the next three mowing seasons – which generally run in the ACT from September until March, and can see the mowing team spend as many as 35,000 hours on the lawn mowers.