First Name | Alan |
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Last Name | Day |
Email Address | alan@ladybuglawn.com |
Affiliation | Ladybuglawn |
Subject | Electric vs. Gas Landscape equipment |
Comment | While the goal of reducing emissions by eliminating gas powered landscape equipment is worthwhile, the alternative technology just does not exist that would be powerful enough and cost effective enough for commercial maintenance applications. For example: we have typically in each of our commercial landscape maintenance trailers two each gas powered: blower, mower, hedge trimmer and string edger. Eight pieces of equipment that on average are used about six hours a day each, that's 48 hours of run time needed. Equipment that is powerful and can deal with 105 degree heat, cold near freezing, rain, UV, wet heavy leaves, wet lawns very efficiently. For the alternative equipment battery life is all over the place and often what's listed is best case, not taking into account that heat, cold, exposure to rain and UV, heavy power drains like wet leaves or wet grass all reduce battery life and battery power (battery power is not constant like gas power) very quickly. So for our eight pieces of equipment used about six hours a day each we would need on board at least how many batteries? Dozens ... with a charging/holding rack that could hold them. We'd need a new trailer for our trailer to handle the extra weight and charging racks, not practical, and at how much additional cost if it was? Or we load it all onto the pickup truck and since it has to be protected from the elements and theft, we lose the storage/hauling capacity of the truck. Then we need additional separate trucks and crews for hauling, what are the costs both financially and to the environment, to all the extra trucks and trailers? Very, very significant. As for charging ... out trucks run for maybe five minutes as we go between accounts, then they sit idle/not running when they at an account for thirty minutes or more. Could all those batteries be recharged for the next day given those short run times between accounts? Or would we need a whole separate, massive, charging station at our small storage yard? By the way, we don't have extra room for a charging building (has to be indoor, can't be exposed to the elements or theft), or even electricity for that matter, at our storage yard. How would we do it and at what very significant capital investment costs? What about overall battery life? Not long I suspect with all that heavy use, in extreme conditions, a few months to a year? So now you are talking about millions upon millions of dead batteries annually, that have to be replaced frequently at large cost ... and that are potentially toxic in and of themselves. Maybe half get properly recycled ... but the other half are going to end up in the landfills. What's the cost, both financial and environmental, to that? How will this rapid forced change affect the one person commercial operation? The small operation with a couple of crews? The larger operations with fleets? How will the many significant costs, and these are not incremental costs, get passed on to the consumers? So, while the goal of reducing emissions is worthwhile it does not appear that this has been thought out, researched or studied. And it needs to be studied in the field, over time/several years in different seasons and weather conditions and on the scale needed. Please do so before implementing any mandates. |
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Date and Time Comment Was Submitted | 2021-11-12 10:56:58 |
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