Last year, we looked at ride-on mowers and lawn tractors, and ultimately decided that the petrol and diesel models that were available at the time were not for us. It’s amazing how much can change in a year because we were recently contacted by Charlies Stores and asked if we’d like to try out and review Stiga’s newest battery-operated garden tractor. We were quick to accept the opportunity and are pleased to share our in-depth Stiga e-Ride C500 review.
In a nutshell, we were blown away by the incredible battery life, quiet operation, speed and overall performance of this ride-on mower. There’s a lot to like about it, especially if you’re an environmentally-conscious gardener. We put this machine through its paces across our smallholding, tackling our manicured front lawn and field.
In terms of running costs, the numbers are really impressive too. We recharged the battery from one bar (under 20%) and according to our Eve Energy smart plug we consumed just under 140Wh (0.14kWh) to fully recharge the battery. We recharged it on a sunny day, so our solar PV system did the job for us. But even without solar assistance, based on our current tariff, that means that a full battery recharge would cost around 2p (£0.02).
If you’d like more information about the Stiga e-Ride C500, you can visit Stiga’s official web page or visit Charlie’s Stores to see if they sell in your area.
12 comments
You will need to save a whole lot on running costs to offset the +£3k additional capital to layout over the more environmentally damaging option.😳
That’s true, but at some stage the price of these units will drop and I think it’s time that petrol and diesel gardening power tools are replaced with battery operated varieties. I think that an average ride-on mower for a 1000sqm cutting area will consume over 5 litres of petrol per session – that’s 150 litres over a typical lawn cutting season. Too much in my opinion. If you then have a trimmer, chainsaw and pole saw that’s also petrol, that makes things even worse.
Nice review, thank you, there isn’t much out there on electric ride on mowers so I’m sure it will be well viewed. I’m hoping to purchase one as part of a farm restructuring grant, so I certainly appreciated it.
How long, time wise, did it take you to cover the 1000m2 you cut?
Can you also tell me if your thoughts on the batteries in cold weather are your own opinion or that of the manufacturer?
Many thanks.
Morning Eddy. We’re hoping to get some good viewing numbers on this video.
In reply to your questions, it took about 10-15 to get the manicured lawn done, because of all the obstacles. The field took around 15-20 minutes. With our push mower, the manicured lawn takes 35 minutes, and the field takes over an hour. The time savings are significant.
Mulching consumes more battery than collecting the clippings.
Batteries and the cold: this is our experience and advice we’ve received from other manufacturers for other battery equipment we have, and the representative from Charlie’s Stores said it’s better to store in a ‘warm’ place over winter to protect the batteries. I will ask Stiga what their stance is and post any replies here.
Is the battery pack removable by any chance? I’m looking at the Al-Ko battery ride-on so I will ask the question of them as I would hate to compromise the batteries in a -20c cold snap as is common over here.
Because the machine we had was a loan, we didn’t want to open the battery compartment which is secured by bolts. You can definitely remove these bolts, and from photos I’ve seen on Stiga’s website, it does appear that you will be able to remove the battery pack.
Having read a bit more I don’t think there is much to worry about with Li-ion batteries in the cold, otherwise we would have a lot of new electric car owners very peed off 🙂 Although there is a drop of in performance below 0c and you probably shouldn’t charge at such low temperatures.
Lead acid on the other hand will suffer in the cold, which is why more car batteries are sold in the winter 🙂
There’s a lot more to batteries than I ever suspected, so I’m looking into this more because I really want to find out more about batteries. I agree with you about EV owners, but there are a lot of stories out there about batteries not being stable and not fully recharging when things are cold.
Not available in Canada. RYOBI sells for $4000 CDN, has a 48 volt, 75 aHR lead acid battery. That price is about $1500 CDN more than a conventional riding mower. The lead acid battery sits over the rear wheels and provides exceptional traction on my hilly half acre when pulling a loaded garden trailer. Doesn’t have a grass clippings bagger accessory. Also has a snow plow accessory. The cruise control is a handy feature. Has a USB port for powering a cell phone etc.
Very interesting Jasper. Thanks for sharing. I guess a snow plough would be standard issue for Canada.
Snow removal is a fairly regular task from December till early March. How ever a snow blower or as some call it, a snow thrower is more practical then a snow plow. One needs a lot of traction when allowing snow, especially when the temperature is close to the freezing point.
Your energy consumption is a little out; it’s got a 2kWh battery so from 20% to full would be about 1.6kWh which on something like Octopus Go in the cheap zone would be around 8p to charge and on a ‘normal’ tariff around 24p.