PLATFORMS Signal 39
Greenworks MaximusZ packs five motors into an $8,799 electric riding mower with a proprietary charger
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Greenworks' MaximusZ is a battery-powered riding mower using two wheel motors and three blade motors to cut a 54-inch swath, promising four acres per charge at a price competitive with gas equivalents.
It demonstrates that electric outdoor power equipment is reaching professional-grade horsepower and cutting width at price parity with gas machines, but proprietary charging and display quality remain friction points. For engineers, the five-motor architecture, separate motors per blade plus per-wheel drive, is a notable packaging approach that trades mechanical complexity for electronic control.
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The MaximusZ uses five motors: two for wheel drive and three for individual blades, delivering 41 horsepower and an 8 mph top speed.
An 80-volt battery system combining four 6.0Ah and two 16Ah packs provides a claimed 56Ah total capacity and a 3.5-hour charge time via a proprietary charger.
At $8,799 it undercuts a comparable Stihl gas rider ($9,499) while matching its cutting width and speed, though the 4.0-inch LCD and eight-second boot time are notable compromises.
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The MaximusZ splits its five motors across two functions: two drive the rear wheels independently for zero-turn steering, and three each spin one of the cutting blades. This is a departure from the traditional single-belt-drive architecture of gas riding mowers, where one engine drives both the wheels and a spindle through mechanical linkages. By decoupling blade and wheel drive into separate electric motors, Greenworks eliminates belts and associated maintenance, but adds the cost and control complexity of five motor controllers.
The 80-volt battery architecture uses six packs, four 6.0Ah and two 16Ah, for a combined 56Ah. Greenworks claims this yields four acres of mowing per charge, with a 3.5-hour recharge time. The charger is proprietary, which the reviewer explicitly criticizes; an SAE J1772 or NACS connector would have leveraged existing EV charging infrastructure. For operators with multiple battery-powered tools, this is another incompatible power platform in Greenworks' already fragmented lineup.
Priced at $8,799, the MaximusZ sits below a comparable Stihl RZ 552 at $9,499 and well below a Toro 6000 Series at $18,899, while delivering 41 horsepower and a 54-inch cut. The competitive positioning hinges on lower operating costs, no gas, no oil changes, no carburetor cleaning, plus a dumper bed and tow hitch that extend utility beyond mowing. Whether the total cost of ownership advantage holds over years of battery degradation remains untested in this review.
Several compromises stand out for a near-$9,000 machine. The 4.0-inch LCD is described as dim and easily scratched, the eight-second boot sequence is noted as annoying, and the deck height adjustment uses a pedal-and-pin mechanism that the reviewer calls crude. These are areas where the electronic sophistication of the drivetrain is not matched by the user-interface design, suggesting that Greenworks' engineering investment concentrated on the powertrain rather than the operator experience.
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