Rechargeable mowers continue to improve as battery technology improves. Charge times are going down and run times are going up. Neuton CE6 and Black & Decker's new 2011 model (self propelled even) are our choice for the best mowers available for our commercial service. Mostly because these models have interchangeable batteries that we can change out and keep mowing during our mowing days.
The pollution stats on gas mowers, blowers and trimmers are really startling. Check out the EPA site for those numbers as I don't really want to get into just how dirty they are on this forum. But bottom line...they're really dirty.
As for the issue of battery recycling...Black and Decker's battery prices include the costs of recycling and all you have to do is take the battery back to the recycle facility.
Then there's the issue of charging the batteries and using electricity (which is produced at coal burning plants). We address that by charging our batteries with renewable solar power from solar panels mounted on our trucks. So our mowing service has a carbon footprint of zero.
So, I guess you can tell. I'm all for electric over gas if done right. Check out our service as well at
www.cleanairlawncare.com