Greenworks unveils electric bikes, home batteries, robot vacuums, AI lawn mowers, and more
Not just electric power tools, anymore! Greenworks has taken to CES 2023 to unveil over a dozen new products spanning a wide range of home and outdoor categories, from video doorbells to electric mobility and even AI-controlled robotic lawn mowers.
In addition to Greenworks’ already diverse line of electrically powered tools for home and garden work, the company has now entered the home energy space.
The newly unveiled “Greenworks Life. Power. Hub™ Home Energy System” is a home battery similar in concept to a Tesla Powerwall. It is designed to store power either from the grid or from home energy generation methods such as solar panels, then deliver that electricity to appliances in the home as necessary.
Such home batteries have multiple uses, from saving money on electricity by charging up during off-peak hours to providing a way to use a home’s previously generated solar electricity at night when the sun isn’t shining.
In addition to a home battery system, Greenworks also unveiled several other home products including camera systems and a video doorbell. The Greenworks Indoor & Outdoor Camera system can connect up to 16 cameras with features such as night vision, remote pan-tilt, and two-way communication with family and pets. Outside of the home, the Greenworks Video Doorbell can be used to remotely view entryways and receive alerts when visitors or delivery workers arrive. The video doorbell includes two-way communication with night vision for viewing after dark.
Back inside the home, Greenworks showed off a pair of vacuum products. The 24V Deluxe Stick Vacuum can be useful for manually cleaning up spills and dirty spots, while the Greenworks GRV-5011 2-in-1 Robotic Vacuum and Mop offers a robotic alternative that takes care of the cleaning for you, both wet and dry.
A number of products for the garage were also unveiled, including the Greenworks Level II EV Smart Charger. It requires installation by a certified electrician, but once installed it can integrate with the Home Energy Life battery system. The company says it is compatible with EVs including those from Tesla, BMW, Nissan, Ford, Kia, Mercedes, Chevrolet, Porsche, Honda, Fiat, and more. So basically, pretty much all of them.
New Greenworks 24V & 80V 3-Port Stack-Rack Chargers make it easy to organize and charge three batteries in less than an hour, keeping the batteries topped up at a full charge. The new Greenworks 1.5kW Fast Charger was unveiled for use with riding mowers & UTVs (more on those in a moment).
Greenworks electric bikes, e-scooters, and e-UTVs
The company showed off a line of mobility products powered by Greenworks batteries. As the company explained:
Greenworks is proud to introduce lithium-battery powered transportation for the entire family (E-Scooters, E-Bikes, and UTVs) with extreme power, range, and style. Greenworks mobility solutions are perfect for the city, commutes, and far-ranging outdoor adventures. Power your transportation and leisure activities with expanding e-Mobility & recreational power solutions.
The first new e-mobility vehicle is a 24V electric scooter that shares the same 24V batteries as used on over 100 Greenworks power tools. It looks similar to most Xiaomi and Ninebot-style scooters, but gets its power from Greenwork’s own energy storage solutions.
Upping the power and voltage are the new Greenworks 80V 20” and 26” Fat Tire All-Terrain E-Bikes. The company describes them as having “Extreme power, performance, durability, and style for an optimal riding experience on the trails and around town.” The bikes look like they sport front suspension, disc brakes, multi-speed drivetrains, and 4″ fat tires for mixed-type riding.
For those that prefer to keep their e-bikes on the streets, the new Greenworks 80V 27.5” Commuter E-Bike is likely a better bet thanks to its narrower tires and lighter weight design.
Greenworks also showed off an electric UTV rendering though didn’t provide any specific product details yet. It looks like a light duty UTV that would be ideal for groundskeeping and other outdoor tasks. It certainly doesn’t seem like it will rival the larger UTVs coming to the market like the Polaris XP Ranger Kinetic, but it could significantly undercut the price while offering a lower power yet more accessible alternative.
If you ever needed to charge up those e-mobility products or just about anything else, the company launched new power stations known as the Greenworks 24V and 80V 4-Port Power Inverters.
Greenworks electric lawn mowers
Greenworks unveiled the new Greenworks Optimow AI™ Robotic Mower. The robotic lawn mower uses the latest GPS-RTK navigation technology and AI camera systems to allow it to mow multiple yards up to 2.5 acres by using systematic line-by-line cutting. The mower is said to be accurate to within 1 inch, even without needing to use a boundary wire.
The smaller Greenworks Optimow 50H Robotic Mower was listed as a more consumer-level model designed for yards up to 1/2 acre. It uses GPS and GSM for connectivity, though it does use a boundary wire.
Many of the new products won’t be available until this coming spring, and we are still waiting on pricing information. In the meantime, you can learn more on Greenworks’ site while you keep an eye out for a greener way of keeping your home and lawn in check this year.
Electrek’s Take
Sweet Moses, that’s a lot of new stuff! I used to think of Greenworks as the go-to company for an electric leaf blower or hedge trimmer. But now they seem to have their sights set on making everything but the kitchen sink. And you can bet that if a sink needed a battery, they’d be working on one.
The home power storage and EV charger are both interesting additions to a growing market, but the e-mobility products have really caught my eye. A scooter that uses the same batteries as your hedge trimmer or an e-bike that can share a battery with your riding lawnmower? Sign me up!
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According to a Tesla Semi customer, the electric truck program is suffering more delays and a price increase that is described as “dramatic.”
Tesla Semi has seen many delays, more than any other vehicle program at Tesla.
It was initially unveiled in 2017, and CEO Elon Musk claimed that it would go into production in 2019.
In late 2022, Tesla held an event where it unveiled the “production version” of the Tesla Semi and delivered the first few units to a “customer-partner”: PepsiCo.
More than 3 years later, the vehicle never went into volume production. Instead, Tesla only ran a very low volume pilot production at a factory in Nevada and only delivered a few dozen trucks to customers as part of test programs.
But Tesla promised that things would finally happen for the Tesla Semi this year.
Tesla has been building a new high-volume production factory specifically for the Tesla Semi program in a new building next to Gigafactory Nevada.
The goal was to start production in 2025, start customer deliveries, and ramp up to 50,000 trucks yearly.
Now, Ryder, a large transportation company and early customer-partner in Tesla’s semi truck program, is talking about further delays. The company also refers to a significant price increase.
California’s Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee (MSRC) awarded Ryder funding for a project to deploy Tesla Semi trucks and Megachargers at two of its facilities in the state.
Ryder had previously asked for extensions amid the delays in the Tesla Semi program.
In a new letter sent to MSRC last week and obtained by Electrek, Ryder asked the agency for another 28-month delay. The letter references delays in “Tesla product design, vehicle production” and it mentions “dramatic changes to the Tesla product economics”:
This extension is needed due to delays in Tesla product design, vehicle production and dramatic changes to the Tesla product economics. These delays have caused us to reevaluate the current Ryder fleet in the area.
The logistics company now says it plans to “deploy 18 Tesla Semi vehicles by June 2026.”
The reference to “dramatic changes to the Tesla product economics” points to a significant price increase for the Tesla Semi, which further communication with MSRC confirms.
In the agenda of a meeting to discuss the extension and changes to the project yesterday, MSRC confirms that the project went from 42 to 18 Tesla Semi trucks while the project commitment is not changing:
Ryder has indicated that their electric tractor manufacturer partner, Tesla, has experienced continued delays in product design and production. There have also been dramatic changes to the product economics. Ryder requests to reduce the number of vehicles from 42 to 18, stating that this would maintain their $7.5 million private match commitment.
In addition to the electric trucks, the project originally involved installing two integrated power centers and four Tesla Megachargers, split between two locations. Ryder is also looking to now install 3 Megachargers per location for a total of 6 instead of 4.
The project changes also mention that “Ryder states that Tesla now requires 600kW chargers rather than the 750kW units originally engineered.”
Tesla Semi Price
When originally unveiling the Tesla Semi in 2017, the automaker mentioned prices of $150,000 for a 300-mile range truck and $180,000 for the 500-mile version. Tesla also took orders for a “Founder’s Series Semi” at $200,000.
However, Tesla didn’t update the prices when launching the “production version” of the truck in late 2023. Price increases have been speculated, but the company has never confirmed them.
New diesel-powered Class 8 semi trucks in the US today often range between $150,000 and $220,000.
The combination of a reasonable purchase price and low operation costs, thanks to cheaper electric rates than diesel, made the Tesla Semi a potentially revolutionary product to reduce the overall costs of operation in trucking while reducing emissions.
However, Ryder now points to a “dramatic” price increase for the Tesla Semi.
What is the cost of a Tesla Semi electric truck now?
Electrek’s Take
As I have often stated, Tesla Semi is the vehicle program I am most excited about at Tesla right now.
If Tesla can produce class 8 trucks capable of moving cargo of similar weight as diesel trucks over 500 miles on a single charge in high volume at a reasonable price point, they have a revolutionary product on their hands.
But the reasonable price part is now being questioned.
After reading the communications between Ryder and MSRC, while not clear, it looks like the program could be interpreted as MSRC covering the costs of installing the charging stations while Ryder committed $7.5 million to buying the trucks.
The math makes sense for the original funding request since $7.5 million divided by 42 trucks results in around $180,000 per truck — what Tesla first quoted for the 500-mile Tesla Semi truck.
Now, with just 18 trucks, it would point to a price of $415,000 per Tesla Semi truck. It’s possible that some of Ryder’s commitment could also go to an increase in Megacharger prices – either per charger or due to the two additional chargers. MSRC said that they don’t give more money when prices go up after an extension.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the 500-mile Tesla Semi ends up costing $350,000 to $400,000.
If that’s the case, Tesla Semi is impressive, but it won’t be the revolutionary product that will change the trucking industry.
It will need to be closer to $250,000-$300,000 to have a significant impact, which is not impossible with higher-volume production but would be difficult.
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