Want an electric zero-turn lawn mower for half the price? It’s here, sort of
There’s no form of wheeled transport, whether for recreation or utility use, that is safe from the sweeping wave of electrification. Those maintenance-prone, expensive and carcinogen-spewing combustion engines are on their way out in nearly every industry, not the least of which includes lawn-care. The only problem is that the larger and fancier zero-turn electric lawn mowers are usually pretty pricey when they go electric, at least until now.
As it turns out, you only have to go halfway around the world to find a half-priced zero-turn electric lawn mower.
That’s right, the featured vehicle in this week’s Awesomely Weird Alibaba Electric Vehicle of the Week is none other than a critical piece of lawn care gear for anyone with a decent-sized piece of sod.
Sure, most of the EVs featured in this column are on the wackier side of things, from the world’s smallest electric box truck to an inflatable electric jet ski.
But once in a while it’s fun to feature a more utility-focused ride, like the electric zero-turn lawn mower below.
It’s no Forest Gump Snapper (a lawn mower my dad had and which I have fond summertime mowing memories upon), but it’s a pretty slick looking design nonetheless.
A top speed of 7 mph (11.2 km/h) might take it a while to navigate a larger property, but the inclusion of english units of measure at least point to some export interest on the part of the manufacturer.
For power, the mower seems to have a pair of 1 kW motors and second pair of 1.5 kW motors, though I can’t quite understand the Mandarin spec sheet well enough to determine which are for the drive wheels and which are for the blades. I suspect the more powerful motors are for the blades.
The included 4.8 kWh LiFePO4 battery should give it quite a long run time while also assuaging any fears over fire safety.
And it even seems to be pretty powerful, at least based on the apparent whiplash injuries followed by the centrifugally-induced vertigo symptoms the model is surely suffering in the testing video below.
How expensive are electric zero-turn mowers?
Of course the thing you’re probably most wondering about is the price. Fair enough, here’s how it works.
The Alibaba vendor has it listed at US $3,800, though they kindly offer to knock off $50 from that price if you buy 30 or more mowers. Ah yes, the old “buy 75 and I’ll give you the 76th one for free” trick.
In all seriousness, though, that’s a pretty killer price. John Deere just dropped an electric zero-turn mower at nearly twice as much.
And believe it or not, this Chinese zero-turn e-mower actually has a 50% larger battery pack. Of course the quality probably won’t compare to John Deere, but at least they won’t prevent you from repairing your machine.
In actuality, though, you’re probably not going to be able to beat JD’s price if you personally import one of these from China.
Between all of the freight charges, customs fees, arrival charges, and other ransoms involved in importing large products from China, you’ll almost certainly wind up paying well over double the sticker price in the end.
I once bought a $2,000 electric mini-truck from China and wound up with an $8,000 lighter bank account by the time it was sitting in my driveway. It’s an awesome mini-truck that still works great nearly two years later, but let that serve as a point of comparison in terms of how much more it costs to get these products stateside.
Even so, it’s great to see how much innovation is coming out of China, and perhaps it will help force prices even lower here if companies ever start importing these things in bulk for western markets.
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First Solar just cut the ribbon on a huge new factory in Iberia Parish, Louisiana, and it dwarfs the New Orleans Superdome. The company’s $1.1 billion, fully vertically integrated facility spans 2.4 million square feet, or about 11 times the size of the stadium’s main arena.
The factory began production quietly in July, a few months ahead of schedule, and employs more than 700 people. First Solar expects that number to hit 826 by the end of the year. Once it’s fully online, the site will add 3.5 GW of annual manufacturing capacity. That brings the company’s total US footprint to 14 GW in 2026 and 17.7 GW in 2027, when its newly announced South Carolina plant is anticipated to come online.
The Louisiana plant produces First Solar’s Series 7 modules using US-made materials — glass from Illinois and Ohio, and steel from Mississippi, which is fabricated into backrails in Louisiana.
The new factory leans heavily on AI, from computer vision that spots defects on the line to deep learning tools that help technicians make real‑time adjustments.
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry says the investment is already a win for the region, bringing in “hundreds of good-paying jobs and new opportunities for Louisiana workers and businesses.” A new economic impact analysis from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette projects that the factory will boost Iberia Parish’s GDP by 4.4% in its first full year at capacity. The average manufacturing compensation package comes in at around $90,000, more than triple the parish’s per capita income.
First Solar CEO Mark Widmar framed the new facility as a major step for US clean energy manufacturing: “By competitively producing energy technology in America with American materials, while creating American jobs, we’re demonstrating that US reindustrialization isn’t just a thesis, it’s an operating reality.”
This site joins what’s already the largest solar manufacturing and R&D footprint in the Western Hemisphere: three factories in Ohio, one in Alabama, and R&D centers in Ohio and California. Just last week, First Solar announced a new production line in Gaffney, South Carolina, to onshore more Series 6 module work. By the end of 2026, the company expects to directly employ more than 5,500 people across the US.
Read more: First Solar pours $330M into a new South Carolina solar factory
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No, it’s not the new Bolt. GM’s design team previewed a new high-riding “sporty Chevrolet EV” that should be brought to life.
Is Chevy launching a new sporty EV?
This is the all-electric vehicle Chevy should sell in the US. General Motors’ design team released a series of sketches previewing a sporty new Chevy EV.
Although it kinda looks like the new 2027 Chevy Bolt EV as a higher-sitting compact crossover SUV, the design offers a fresh take on what it should have looked like.
The new Bolt is essentially a modernized version of the outgoing EUV model with a similar compact crossover silhouette. Nissan adopted a similar style with the new 2026 LEAF as buyers continue shifting from smaller sedans and hatchbacks to crossovers and SUVs.
Will we see the sporty Chevy EV in real life? It’s not likely. For one, the “exploration sketch” is by GM China Advanced designer Charles Huang.
GM Design posted the sketches on its global social media page, but the caption read “Sporty Chevrolet EV for the China Market.”
It’s too bad. The Bolt could use a sporty sibling like an SS variant. Chevy introduced the Blazer EV SS (check out our review) for the 2026 model year, its fastest “SS” model yet. Packing up to 615 horsepower and 650 lb-ft of torque, the Chevy Blazer SS can race from 0 to 60 mph in 3.4 seconds when using Wide Open Watts (WOW) mode.
Will the Bolt be next? I wouldn’t get my hopes up. And if GM does bring the sporty Chevy EV to life, it will likely only be sold in China. Like all the fun cars these days.
What do you think of the design? Would you buy one of these in the US? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
While deliveries of the 2027 Bolt are set to begin in early 2026, Chevy is offering some sweet deals on its current EV lineup, including up to $4,000 off in Customer Cash and 0% APR financing for 60 months.
Ready to test drive one? You can use our links below to find Chevy Equinox, Blazer, and Silverado EVs at a dealership near you.
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Environment
Podcast: Electricity is the base currency, Tesla Robotaxi crashes, new Porsche Cayenne EV, and more
In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss electricity becoming the base currency, Tesla Robotaxi crashes, the new Porsche Cayenne EV, and more.
The show is live every Friday at 4 p.m. ET on Electrek’s YouTube channel.
As a reminder, we’ll have an accompanying post, like this one, on the site with an embedded link to the live stream. Head to the YouTube channel to get your questions and comments in.
After the show ends at around 5 p.m. ET, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps:
We now have a Patreon if you want to help us avoid more ads and invest more in our content. We have some awesome gifts for our Patreons and more coming.
Here are a few of the articles that we will discuss during the podcast:
Here’s the live stream for today’s episode starting at 4:00 p.m. ET (or the video after 5 p.m. ET:
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