Cub Cadet introduces electric riding mowersCub Cadet introduces electric riding mowers

Image source: Cub Cadet

The agronomic geniuses at Cub Cadet know, probably better than any of us, the pain of struggling to get the mower to start in the spring, after it has spent the winter with the ethanol-blended gasoline turning to gum in the carburetor, ensuring an incorrect fuel mixture on that brisk-but-dry spring day when the grass has gotten too long to continue ignoring and is also dry enough to cut.

That's why they've brought the miracle of lithium-ion battery electric power tools and cars to the garden tractor arena, with the introduction of the LT42 e electric garden tractor-style mower, which joins the CC 30 e electric riding mower and the RZT S Zero electric zero-turning radius riding mower in Cub Cadet’s family.

The $3,999 LT42 e features a 3 kilowatt-hour battery pack that powers the mower for an hour and a half of cutting time over as much as two acres of land. The twin blade cut a 42-inch swath and the mower’s top speed (probably not while mowing) is 5.5 mph.

Cub Cadet recommends that you keep the LT42 e plugged in over the winter so it is ready to go in the spring, but you needed to keep your electric-start gas-powered riding mower plugged in to the battery tender over the winter anyway, if you wanted it to start after sitting all winter.

Image source: Cub Cadet

The 240-volt Rapid Recharge system can refill the battery pack in four hours, and you can also charge it using a regular 120-volt wall socket if that’s all that is available.

The LT42 e has a low-battery warning that provides time to disengage the mowing blades and drive straight back to the garage for a charge, so you aren’t faced with pushing the 420-lb. mower to the nearest electric outlet.

Image souce: Cub Cadet

“The Cub Cadet LT42 e combines the newest in battery technology with the high-level performance Cub Cadet is known for,” said Trevor Oriold, business segment director for Cub Cadet. “From superior cut quality in a powerfully quiet package to the low-maintenance upkeep, it’s innovation without compromise in a way that will change how you mow.” 

If it can do this without running out of juice 90 percent of the way through the job like my line trimmer always seems to do, it will be a welcome innovation to lawn care.

Image source: Cub Cadet

Dan Carney is a Design News senior editor, covering automotive technology, engineering and design, especially emerging electric vehicle and autonomous technologies.