These won't work in the Lake Tahoe area where we get wet heavy snow and can get a lot of it. I have seen electric blower owners struggle with E blowers. People in my group say they parked them and bought Honda gas powered ones.

Good for mostly dry fluffy snow.

Good luck. GOT OUT.

 

I looked closely at the electric models. They wouldn't work for me because they free-wheel when going downhill, which could be quite dangerous on my steep driveway.

Ended up getting a Honda.

 

the new york times,consumer reports and the spruce

In my opinion, the first 2 are questionable sources at best for a recommendations.... never heard of Spruce.

 

While the EGO will get the job done, the single stage machine "sucks" until you add some small roller wheels on the front bucket, then it makes plowing a breeze. One other thing to note is that the chute is less then desirable also but can be modded to adapt some other chute to work better.

 

After you do the wheels and chute mod put a Honda 390 on it.

 

Wasn't aware that Honda made an electric 390 motor to swap in

 

Never knew the Times gave reviews on this stuff. Would not trust anyone of those three to give me anything. Buy one of that battery powered ones and see how long you like it. You will be hanging a for sale sign on not long after it is fresh out of the box.

 

NY Times bought out Wirecutter a couple years ago. Wirecutter was a popular reviewer of all kinds of things.

 

In my humble opinion I have learned over my 76 years you get what you pay for. And I never ever want to buy a tool twice to do the same job.

Now I do not believe that most if not all electric motor driven snow blowers will perform as well as an ICE (internal combustion engine) snow blowers in heavy wet or deep snow. A neighbor of mine has an electric snow blower and I am constantly clearing out his driveway apron for him after the snowplow goes down the road with my ICE Snow Blower. Just saying.

 

A

 

Unfortunately, neither of those publications contacted me about the best electric snowthrower. 🤣

That said, the best electric on the market right now is the Toro Power Clear 60 volt MAX. It is a power-propelled single-stage. It operates exactly like the gas-powered version meaning it clears right down to the pavement, and the auger pulls it through the snow.

If you get more than a few inches of snow at a time, get heavy, wet snow like Buffalo or "snowcrete" like they do in Lake Tahoe, stick with a good 2-stage gas machine. Toro PowerMax HD, Ariens Professional or Honda are always the best choices...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYwYvoEryE4

 

^^^Paul (Toolboxhero) is a real expert. And I'd wager a majority of the active members here have more expertise about snowblowers than those three sources.

You don't mention what exactly you consider to be "medium to heavy" snowfall or how large of an area you are clearing but it's unlikely any electric would be adequate for what most people consider to be "heavy" in NY, certainly not a single stage.

 

I too will put my 2¢ in for a quailifed ICE powered snowblower reccommendaton. It will really come down to what kinds of snow you usually get and what you will do if you do get a heavy wet snow that an electric blower cannot handle. Too, are you mechanically inclined and will you do the maintenance that a gas engine demands?

If you must go electric, consider what other tools you might want to buy. Once you choose a battery platform, you are locked into that mfr. A friend of mine has a big zero turn Greenworks, and maybe a dozen batteries. Every time I see him, he has another tool made by this mfr. Until we get a company like Dewalt that makes 'pretty good' tools for every application buying the 'best' electric chain saw, snowblower, hammer drill, etc. will force you to buy different battery configurations.

One more thing. I've been reading Consumer Reports since I was a kid, and the Wirecutter since the Times started it. You have to know what their criteria are for judging items. For example, CR rated Costco tops for hearing aids...largely because an overwhelming percentage of their respondents are happy w/ those aids. However, Costco only sells the mid range Phonak aid... and their price is very low. There are better hearing aids out there, though for a higher price. Best? How do you define that word? I'm not happy w/ the Wirecutter's picks for items I know and use. Their flashlight suggestion is not something I would choose (I did buy one). You really need to dig deep and read how they chose the item. New Yorkers don't have garages. ICE machines in NYC don't make much sense. Obviously, an electric blower is best for them.

 

The only way to effectively use a small electric snowblower is if you have one (or two) ICE machines as a backup for when it gets serious...

 

I have the Toro 110 corded electric for my decks and I love it. It is truly awesome. For my decks that is. I wish it could handle 2 to 3 feet of our Sierra cement on gravel but no chance.

 

Betweeen the proprietary batteries, speed controlers, etc; the overall plasticy construction, most only being single stage, cost of batteries, time to recharge (unless you pay for 2x sets of betteries, I have a really hard time associating "best" and "electric" unless all you get is a dusting. Here, with 300" snowfalls, that dog just won't hunt . . .

Having said that, for pretty much any blower, stick with known stable brands with a good support network/structure. Avoid offshore cheap junk from alphabet soup brand names that you have never heard of unless you want to pitch the thing if/when there is an issue.

 

GX 390 come on guys

 

I wouldn't buy an electric snow blower yet, as I believe that generally the energy density for batteries just isn't "there" yet. For light two-inch snowfalls, sure, a battery electric will do fine. But if/when you get eight inches or more of heavy wet snow that electric is going to fold up at the end of the second row. Then like the others said, you'll wish you had an Ariens, Toro, or if budget allows, a Honda.

 

I take the view that, when analyzing the ability of each to meet their mission brief, snowblowers are more sensitive to horsepower and torque (or their e-equivalents) than are lawnmowers and other OPE that are available in both petrol and electric versions.

It's not accidental that the experienced members of this community recurringly mention wet, heavy snowfall as the Achille's Heel of battery-powered snow throwers and/or blowers.

Sans living in an area where light snowfall is a decades-long trend, I'd want to know that I won't be disappointed in whatever snowblower I selected to deal with whatever Mother Nature brings me. That trumps all other considerations. I never want to run out of machine before I've run out of snow.

The Honda that I own was d*mn expensive and sometimes more than what I need for a particular job, but for those snowfall events where only it will do, I'm reminded every time why it was money well-spent.