Greenworks Commercial Charges into ’24
Battery-powered tools are only as good as your ability to charge the batteries. That’s the thinking behind Greenworks Commercial and its multi-product launch at this year’s Elevate show, put on by the National Association of Landscape Professionals (NALP). At the event held Sept. 11 and 12 in Dallas, Greenworks showed a wide range of equipment, and a wider range of battery charging equipment.
“How do I charge?” That’s the most important question Greenworks hears from landscape professionals looking at new battery powered tools, according to Per Kvarby, the V.P of Product Management and Marketing for Greenworks Commercial. Kvarby showed me around the Greenworks display, from the 20-feet Optimus Mobile Charging Trailer to a suitcase-size portable Shop Charger. They are all designed to work with the Greenworks 82-volt lithium batteries that power a range of tools, from the Optimus zero-turn mower to a backpack blower.
The enclosed Optimus Mobile Charging Solutions trailer, which Greenworks debuted at the 2022 Equip Expo, retails for about $65,000, and includes charging cables, plugs, portals and more for all professional tools, plus monitoring capabilities and all the standard storage options.
The Greenworks ChargeLink Energy Box is a generator-sized power pack that can be mounted on an open trailer. It has a 16.2 kWh capacity and charging capabilities for the Optimus mower and handheld tools. This charging pack will be ready in the Spring of 2024, and retail pricing is TBA.
The new 8kW Super Charger pack and Super Charger caddy packs are designed to support landscape pros with more affordable charging solutions. “We want to make sure that battery-tool performance doesn’t fall behind gas,” said Kvarby.
More Than Chargers
Greenworks also showed new tools at the Elevate conference. Its new AiConic Robotic Lawn Mowers use RTK technology to make them boundary-wire free devices. And to overcome the line-of-sight difficulties common to the RTK technology, Greenworks equipped its robotic mower with multiple cameras. If and when it loses a satellite connection, it can use its cameras to drive by sight for a few minutes at least.
The company claims its new BB361 Battery Backpack Blower is the most powerful battery-backpack blower on the market. Greenworks says the tool blows with 36 Newtons of force.At its lowest of three speed settings, it produces just 65dB, that’s within sound limits for most areas that are regulating for sound.
