March 2007

New electric lawn mower good for consumers

Some people say they actually like to mow the yard.

Maybe what they mean is they like to spend time outdoors and mowing the lawn gets them outside. But what if you could spend that same time outside doing something you really enjoyed?

An automatic electric lawnmower now on the market promises just that. The LawnBott runs off electrically charged batteries and keeps up to a one-acre homesite in manicured condition. It can work everyday, up to two times a day, to keep up with your yard’s growth pattern. You always have a freshly cut lawn.

And it figures out how to do that all by itself using an onboard computer. What keeps the robot mower in the yard? A guide wire encircles the property and sends an electronic signal the LawnBott recognizes as its boundary.

Good for the earth

Electric lawnmowers are a great way to be environmentally friendly.

Electrically powered mowers drastically cut pollution. Various sources estimate that using a gasoline mower for just one hour puts out as much pollution as driving a car anywhere from 1,300 to 3,400 miles.

The Environmental Protection Agency also claims that 17 million gallons of fuel are spilled every year just fueling lawn equipment.

Besides reducing pollution and doing away with fuel spills, the LawnBott takes helping the environment a couple of steps further.

“Keeping the grass close to the same length all the time instead of letting it grow long and then cutting it back saves resources,” says John Tarvin, marketing manager with the LawnBott’s U.S. distributor. “When the grass gets long, the plant requires more water, fertilizer and chemicals.”

With the LawnBott’s whisper-quiet operation, there’s no annoying noise to bother you or your neighbors.

Be the first in your neighborhood to have a lawnmower with its own garage. Besides serving as a charging station, the LawnBott’s garage is also its port in the storm. When onboard sensors detect rain or excess moisture on the lawn, the LawnBott automatically heads for home to prevent damaging the grass. If there’s excess water on the grass, it will be torn instead of sharply sheared during cutting.

Good for your wallet

Using only $7 to $10 in electricity a year, operating the LawnBott is a bargain. You save both money and energy.

But what about the price of the mower itself? “Compared to the cost of a lawn service, it pays for itself in about a year and a half,” says Tarvin. “And it’s about the same cost as a middle of the line riding mower. But you don’t spend time riding it.”

Some LawnBott owners are very passionate about their machines. One has affectionately named hers Betsie. Betsie even has a video camera mounted on the top and her own website.

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