Electric Lawn Mowers: A Complete Buying Guide
Electric mowers have quietly taken over the small-to-medium lawn. Battery packs hold more charge than they did five years ago, brushless motors deliver torque that used to need petrol, and the running costs are a fraction of what a two-stroke engine burns through in a season. If you are replacing an ageing petrol mower, an electric machine is now a realistic choice for most gardens rather than a compromise.
This guide explains the three kinds of electric mower, how to match one to the lawn you actually have, and what genuinely matters once you get past the marketing. No rankings, no scores — just the decisions that change how happy you will be with the machine in three years’ time.
The three kinds of electric mower
“Electric” covers three very different machines. Choosing the wrong category is the single most common reason people end up disappointed.
Corded electric
A cable runs from the mower to a mains socket. Power never fades, there is no battery to degrade, and the machine is usually the cheapest of the three. The trade-off is the cable itself: you have to mow in a pattern that keeps it behind you, and anything beyond about 30 metres from a socket becomes awkward. Corded mowers suit compact, obstacle-free lawns close to the house.
Battery (cordless)
The mainstream choice. A removable lithium-ion pack gives you petrol-like freedom of movement with electric convenience. Run time is the limiting factor, and it varies enormously with grass conditions. Most homeowners with a lawn up to roughly a third of an acre are well served here, particularly if the mower takes a battery platform you already own from other garden tools.
Robotic
A robot mows a little every day rather than a lot once a week, returning to a charging station on its own. You stop mowing entirely, but you take on setup work and a higher purchase price. If that sounds like the right trade for your garden, our guide to robotic lawn mowers covers how they work and where they struggle.
There is a fourth option worth knowing about even though it is not electric at all: the cylinder or reel mower, which cuts with a scissor action and needs no power source whatsoever.
Matching a mower to your lawn
Lawn size and run time
Manufacturers quote run time in ideal conditions: dry grass, light growth, flat ground, eco mode. Real mowing rarely looks like that. A sensible planning figure is around 60–70% of the quoted run time, and less again if your grass is thick or slightly damp.
As a rough guide, a single 4Ah pack on a 40V machine handles a small garden comfortably. Anything approaching a quarter of an acre is much less stressful with two batteries, so one charges while the other works. Buying a second pack is almost always a better upgrade than buying a bigger mower.
Slopes, obstacles and access
Electric mowers are lighter than petrol equivalents, which helps on slopes and around beds. What matters more is whether the machine is push or self-propelled. On anything with a meaningful gradient, self-propelled drive turns a chore into a walk — and it costs battery, so factor that into run time.
Check gate widths and storage height before you buy. Most electric mowers fold flat for vertical storage, which is worth having if you are working with a shared garage.
Cutting width and height range
A wider deck means fewer passes but a heavier machine that is harder to steer around obstacles. For most gardens, 16–21 inches is the useful range; go wider only if you have open ground to justify it.
Height adjustment matters more than most buyers realise. Cutting too short is the fastest way to stress a lawn, so make sure your mower reaches the height your grass type actually wants — our guide to the best grass cutting height explains where that sits, and how to measure it accurately.
Understanding batteries
Two numbers describe a battery. Voltage (V) is roughly how much power it can deliver — the muscle. Amp-hours (Ah) is how much energy it stores — the endurance. A 40V 6Ah pack runs longer than a 40V 2Ah pack; an 80V machine cuts through thick grass more confidently than a 40V one at the same Ah.
Batteries do not last forever. Expect meaningful capacity loss after three to five years of regular use, and budget for a replacement pack as part of the machine’s lifetime cost. Storage habits make a real difference: heat and full discharge are what kill lithium cells. If you are wondering whether a new pack needs conditioning before first use, we cover that in does a new lawn mower battery require charging, and winter battery care is worth reading before the first frost.
For a sense of how long the whole machine should last, see how long an electric mower lasts.
Safety
Electric mowers start instantly and silently, which is exactly what makes them worth respecting. Every model should have a two-action start — a key or button plus a bail handle — so the blade cannot spin by accident.
- Remove the battery or safety key before tipping the mower, clearing a jam, or touching the blade for any reason.
- On a corded machine, use an RCD-protected outlet and keep the cable behind you at all times.
- Wear closed shoes and eye protection. Electric mowers throw debris just as hard as petrol ones.
- Clear stones, wire and dog toys before you start — a strike will nick the blade and can crack the deck.
If mowing raises a specific health question for you, we have a dedicated piece on mowing with a pacemaker.
Noise, emissions and running cost
A petrol mower typically runs at 95–100 dB. Electric machines sit closer to 75–85 dB, and robotic mowers lower still. That difference is what lets you mow early on a Saturday without falling out with the neighbours, and it means ear defenders become optional rather than essential.
Running cost is the quieter advantage. There is no fuel, no oil, no filters, no spark plug and no carburettor to gum up over winter. Charging a mower battery costs pennies. Against a higher purchase price, an electric mower usually wins over a five-year horizon — and it removes an entire category of seasonal tune-up work.
Mulching, bagging and side discharge
Most electric mowers offer at least two of the three. Mulching returns finely chopped clippings to the lawn, where they break down and feed the soil — it is the best default for a healthy lawn, and it saves you emptying a box. Bagging gives the tidiest finish and is the right choice when grass has gone to seed or you are clearing disease. Side discharge is for overgrown grass that would clog the deck.
If you are new to mulching, what mulching actually does on a lawn mower explains when it helps and when it does not. If you plan to collect clippings, check the machine takes a collector properly — attaching a grass catcher walks through the fit.
Keeping an electric mower working
Electric mowers need far less maintenance than petrol, but “less” is not “none”. Three jobs cover almost everything:
- Keep the blade sharp. A dull blade tears grass instead of cutting it, leaving brown tips and drawing far more current from the battery. Sharpening twice a season is enough for most lawns — here is how to sharpen a mower blade yourself.
- Clear the deck. Wet clippings pack under the deck, restrict airflow and rust the housing. Cleaning the deck after every few cuts takes minutes.
- Store it dry. Battery out, somewhere frost-free. Winter storage is where most avoidable damage happens.
Our general lawn mower maintenance guide and the piece on extending a mower’s life both apply to electric machines, minus the engine sections.
Common questions
Are electric mowers powerful enough for thick grass?
Modern brushless 40V and 80V machines handle normal domestic grass without complaint. Where they struggle is grass that has been left far too long, or persistently damp growth. The fix is mowing more often rather than buying more power — see how often you should mow.
Can I use an electric mower on wet grass?
You can, but you should not want to. Wet grass clumps, clogs the deck and cuts unevenly, and it drains the battery faster. It is also the one situation where a corded mower is genuinely unsafe. Related reading: can you leave a push mower out in the rain.
How long does an electric mower battery last on one charge?
Typically 30–60 minutes of real mowing for a mid-size pack, which covers most domestic lawns. Thick grass, tall growth, self-propelled drive and slopes all shorten it.
Is a corded mower still worth considering?
For a genuinely small lawn near the house, yes. It is cheaper, lighter, never runs out of power, and has no battery to replace in four years. The cable is the whole argument against it.
The bottom line
Work out your lawn size first, then your run-time requirement, then everything else. Most disappointment with electric mowers comes from buying a machine sized for a smaller garden than the one it has to cut — not from the technology itself.
If your lawn is small and near a socket, corded is the sensible economy. If it is medium and open, a battery machine with a spare pack will serve you for years. If it is medium and you would rather never think about mowing again, look at a robot. And if you want the finest cut a domestic lawn can take, a cylinder mower still beats all of them.
