In an interview at Equip Expo 2023, Stihl President and CEO Chris Keffer said he believes the market for battery-powered wheeled equipment for professional users will take a “long time” to develop. 

Stihl unveiled its new RZA battery-powered zero-turn mower at this year’s Equip Expo. Stihl formally entered the zero-turn mower market last year.

“My opinion is battery wheeled goods have broadly penetrated consumer users,” he said. “People like you and me who may have a lawn to mow or snow blowing to do or tilling that they want to do — that has broadly penetrated the consumer market. Because of the use cases, if you're a landscaper, you're not cutting one lawn once a weekend. You're cutting 10 lawns a day, or you're cutting a bunch of trees down.

“It will depend on the application and ultimately the technology. And not everybody is going to jump into it. It's expensive to jump into and it's a rapidly evolving technology as well. So you have to stay in the forefront of it.”

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