Gas powered generators to be outlawed for sale in California starting in 2024.

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
On the upside:

We're getting closer to not having to listen to people whine about ethanol problems in small engines.
Hint: It's not the ethanol.
 
Oh in essence California has in a round about way. They have banned "owner operator" truckers which has a lot to do with the cargo ships off shore not being unloaded, not enough trucks to haul the goods. And you bring up another point in mind. Here in Florida for example there are emission laws. But yet about 1/4 or more of the diesel pickup trucks, probably more have deleted all emission controls as if 800-1000 lbs of stock torque isn't enough!! No vehicle inspections, and I've never seen a cop pull one over. I mean they smoke far more than most newer Big rigs out here. Problem isn't emissions, it's enforcing the laws already in existence.
Has this law been finally adjudicated?
 
Legislation is the only way to make people change. We will grumble and then we will get used to it and then the world will be different.

When you really think about it electric garden tools makes total sense. They even make electric riding mowers.
Tell that to the lawn service companies that mow 5-10 acres per day, the battery energy density and recharge time is just not there to make this practical, and there is also that little matter of the currently $15,000 commercial lawn mower will suddenly be $80,000. Electrics, weed whackers, so forth do exist now, the problem is they have FAR less cutting power and run time than their gasoline powered counterparts.
 
Run time is not a big issue. Just have several charged up batteries ready to go, as I do here.

I do more than an acre with battery stuff here.

-Don- Auburn, CA
Exactly! Most trucks today have an inverter, simply keep a battery on charge
 
I had a battery operated weed wacker and even with three batteries I couldn't get the whole lawn done. I gave it away and bought a Stihl and now I can trim the whole lawn in 15 minutes. Not only does it not run out of juice, it's more powerful so the job is easier.

China builds one coal fired power plant a week, if the Liberals think banning weed wackers is going to save the planet they need their head examined.
 
Follow the money. Odds are high that this policy will give the state some kind of carbon credit that allows them leeway with some other more favorable emitter, or to trade on the carbon market. This is less about saving the planet or doing anything good for the citizens of CA and more about payola.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
 
I see a new enterprises popping up in every boarder-town just out of California: "GAS GENERATORS FOR SALE".
 
Run time is not a big issue. Just have several charged up batteries ready to go, as I do here.

I do more than an acre with battery stuff here.

-Don- Auburn, CA
Sure as a DIY'er with plenty of time it CAN be done with battery powered trimmers now, the issue is that the amount of cutting done per unit of time is so much lower with the battery powered models. A professional gas trimmer can likely trim 3-5 times more area in the same amount of time as the battery operated units, likely much more than that in overgrown situations where the battery powered units completely bog down. It all comes down to the amount of available horse power being fed to the tool. In some cases it can make sense, home owner chain saws for example where the run time is in short spurts, and it is only being used for cut smaller limbs, and Lithium ion battery power works great, less so for members of the timber and tree removal industries making many much bigger cuts. With a chainsaw you can't just keep adding bigger batteries without weighing down the saws which are already built to be as light as possible, often using exotic materials like Magnesium cases, for the smaller ones it works as you are balancing out the weight for the gas motor and fuel tank, but this simply does not scale with existing technology.
 
A professional gas trimmer can likely trim 3-5 times more area in the same amount of time as the battery operated units,
Sure not for the pros. But with stuff such as weed whacking, I find the big issue to be the lines breaking much more so than running out of battery.

-Don- Auburn, CA
 
Our yard guys are professionals, and I don’t live in CA (though it is one of my favorite places to visit). They do a lot of commercial and big residential areas - apartments, condos, HOAs with common maintenance plus a few private houses like mine because they work close by. They do my yard with 3 people in 10-15 minutes. Multiply that by 8-10 hours a day, and a small electric motor just won’t make it. For weed whackers and blowers, I believe they could come up with enough batteries, but I am betting all commercial mowers sold in CA will soon be 25.01 hp. And in regards to keeping owner-operator truckers from loading, the legislation does not do that. It just says if you want a trucker to act like they are an employee, you have to pay them as an employee. I am all for it!
 
Exactly! Most trucks today have an inverter, simply keep a battery on charge
Oh really? What trucks are you looking at? Have you ever noticed what trucks the lawn service folks are using? (Hint -- they're far from new) And, how long does it take to get a (how large?) battery charged from full discharge? And how many batteries CAN they keep that way?

Don't get me wrong, my weed chopper is battery operated but I don't use it half the day every day, or maybe several of them at once. I love it, but it doesn't scale up to professional needs, at least not yet.

Some "solutions" sound easy until you get into the nitty gritty. They may solve it all some day, but it'll take time.
 
Last edited:
China builds one coal fired power plant a week,
While China cannot yet get rid of coal completely, they are doing a great job with improvements in the last few years, with it paying for itself in great reductions in health costs. They are the world's leader in solar.

So see here.

And here.

China started fixing their problems a bit late, but they are now doing a great job, IMO.

No excuse for us to be so far behind China & and Europe, in such improvements, IMO.

I cannot even buy an E-RV in the USA. But they have them in Europe! The far behind USA doesn't yet have the charging infrastructure they have in Europe (or China).

Beijing China (just one city) has about the same number of EV charge stations as the entire USA!

We have some catching up to do! Unless we want to start late as China did filling up hospitals with smog related illnesses.

-Don- Auburn, CA
 
Last edited:
To keep this RV related, what do you think this will do to the RV generator market, and will it effect motorhomes with small Onan generators being sold in California? (most if not all RV gas generators are under 25 HP)
 
And in regards to keeping owner-operator truckers from loading, the legislation does not do that. It just says if you want a trucker to act like they are an employee, you have to pay them as an employee. I am all for it!
That doesn't make sense.
Are you saying they should all be teamsters
 
That doesn't make sense.
Are you saying they should all be teamsters
It does make sense. The issue is whether some truckers are employees or or independent contractors. If the meet the test if what is employee, then they should be considered employees and not independent contractors. Temasters is just as union.
 
I had a battery operated weed wacker and even with three batteries I couldn't get the whole lawn done. I gave it away and bought a Stihl and now I can trim the whole lawn in 15 minutes. Not only does it not run out of juice, it's more powerful so the job is easier.

China builds one coal fired power plant a week, if the Liberals think banning weed wackers is going to save the planet they need their head examined.
I understand what you're saying and agree somewhat. I know the gas fired whackers have more power but I have a RYOBI whacker, 18 volt. I use a 6 amp hour battery. It's over 1/2 full when I'm done. don't know what you had or how much you have to whack but I guarantee you would take all if not more than 15 mins to do my yard with ANY weed whacker. Don't take me wrong...I despise Newsome, his family, his pets and anything and everything associated with him but, say you're in a zero lot line neighborhood there is someone, home owner, lawn care someone whacking their lawn almost every day any time. I for one hate listening to the damn 2 cycle pieces of crap....but thats just my opinion..
 
Back
Top Bottom