DULUTH, Ga. - A new line of battery-powered lawn care products is being developed for professional users through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between PowerQwest Inc. and Evercel Inc. to develop and market the line of products using Evercel's rechargeable nickel-zinc batteries.
The MOU calls for both companies to contribute technical and marketing expertise with a product launch goal for no later than 2003.
The new line of products will consist of professional grade, zero emissions lawn and garden yard tools. Designs for the products include a universal 36-volt power system, energy efficient DC motors and a series of interchangeable tools, including a mower, blower, line trimmer and others.
"Putting our batteries in a line of PowerQwest products clearly fits in with our strategy of offering premium battery performance to best-of-breed OEMs (outdoor equipment manufacturers)," said Robert Kanode, president and CEO of Evercel. "This product line will also meet a very real market need - a lighter-weight, quieter and non-polluting line of lawn care devices to meet the demands of professionals and serious do-it-yourselfers. This means gas-powered performance, but without the associated weight, noise and pollution."
The new line of products, tentatively called Yard's Ahead!™, will use DC motors, fast chargers and Evercel batteries. The perpetual power system™ enables the user to carry a lightweight, ergonomic power backpack that can simply be plugged into the needed yard tool. At the same time, an additional power pack can be charging to provide continuous power.
"We set a plan into action about a year ago to lead the outdoor power equipment industry in developing unique zero-emission, commercial-grade products," stated Kirk Turner, CEO of PowerQwest.
Approximately $6.8 billion is spent annually for consumer and commercial turf care products, according to the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute’s "Profile of the Outdoor Power Equipment Industry - 1997," including mowers, line trimmers and leaf blowers. Along with these sales is an increasing concern over the air and noise pollution commonly associated with gasoline powered lawn care products. A 1991 U.S. EPA study of engine emissions estimated that approximately five percent of U.S. air pollution can be attributed to exhaust emissions from lawn and garden equipment. The subject of air and noise pollution from gas-powered lawn and garden equipment has continued to gain momentum. In March of 2000, The EPA announced its second phase of federal exhaust emission regulations for hand held products. These regulations call for a 78 percent reduction of emission particles to be phased in for most products beginning in model year 2002. Efforts are also increasing at the state level to restrict or ban gas-powered equipment in an effort to further reduce air pollution and noise-related quality of life issues.
PowerQwest of Duluth, Ga., produces eco-electric products and manufactures the American Gardener cordless yard tools, PowerLine® electronics and Wicked Wave™ light electric vehicles in the U.S. PowerQwest also produces products for U.S. retailers on an OEM basis, including Sears, Wal-Mart, True Value Hardware, ACE Hardware and Menards.
Evercel, Danbury, Conn., manufactures nickel-zinc rechargeable batteries for a wide range of applications, including lawn mowers, trolling motors for boats and golf carts.
For more information about PowerQwest and Evercel visit www.powerqwest.com and www.evercel.com, respectively.