Ryobi R48110 Electric Riding Lawn Mower Is Worth a Look

Operating this electric riding lawn mower takes some getting used to, particularly if you’re accustomed to the throaty roar of a gas-powered tractor. When the blades aren’t engaged, the Ryobi is silent. Much like starting a hybrid car for the first time, you’ll question whether it’s running.

But the quietness is a definite plus because you can safely use the Ryobi without hearing protection, and you don’t have to worry about disturbing the neighbors when cutting close to the property line.

The gas pedal is on the punchy side, and because you don’t get much audible feedback, it’s easy to mash down on the pedal and suddenly take off rather than ease into acceleration as you would when driving a golf cart.

Once you get going, the Ryobi electric riding lawn mower is really fun to drive. It has plenty of pep, maxing out at 8 mph, while most rear-engine riders top out at 4 to 5 mph. Nimble and sporty with a tight turning radius, it earned solid marks in our handling tests.

As for cutting, it edges out all of the gas rear-engine riders in our tests, providing an even, uniform cut whether you mulch, bag, or side discharge your clippings. But as good as it is, you’ll get a slightly superior cut and cover more ground with each pass with a full-sized gas tractor, such as the Craftsman 27042, $2,200, or the Cub Cadet XT1LT46, $1,700.