Charged tests the Z380R electric zero-turn mower.

• Iconic equipment maker John Deere serves many categories of off-road vehicles, and the company is gradually introducing electric models in each segment.

• Every John Deere electric product is designed to match the performance of its ICE counterpart, and customers report substantial savings on fuel and maintenance costs.

• We tested John Deere’s Z380R electric zero-turn residential mower, and found it to be highly capable, customizable, feature-packed and fun.

As regular Charged readers know, the makers of off-highway vehicles and equipment are steadily electrifying their products. John Deere is no exception.

The company was started in 1837 when a blacksmith named (you guessed it) John Deere invented a new type of steel plow that made it easier to till prairie soil—his innovation is said to have accelerated migration to the American Great Plains in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Today, the company makes a vast variety of vehicles and equipment aimed at many market segments, and it’s gradually introducing electric models into each segment. Most of these are variants closely modeled on the legacy ICE products that they replace. Or, perhaps we shouldn’t use that term—like every company that caters to a conservative customer base, Deere wants to make it crystal clear that its electric offerings are alternatives, not replacements, and that it will continue to offer dinosaur-burners for those who want them. “Diesel engines will continue to be a top choice for many customers,” I was told.

On the other hand, the company isn’t afraid to tout the benefits of its flagship E-Power tractor: “While diesel tractors will remain core to our equipment line-up, the E-Power is an additional option fit for a variety of work…the prototypes are being tested throughout 2025 to ensure the tractor meets the demands customers require. The results so far have been surprising to some.”

It’s not surprising to us. Like all of John Deere’s electric products, the E-Power is designed to match the performance of its diesel counterpart, and the company quotes customers who have found that the electric tractor offers lower total cost of ownership and reduced maintenance. Some have noted that it’s also easier for drivers to learn to operate.

“Our goal with the E-Power tractor is to ensure it performs the same jobs as its diesel counterparts and works with the same implements, while unlocking incremental value,” said Derek Muller, Business Manager for Battery Electric Vehicle Systems. “Through our electric lineup, we’ll look to reduce operational and maintenance costs, and to deliver powerful and reliable performance and intuitive operation.”

John Deere has partnered with the Austrian firm Kreisel Electric to develop batteries and charging technology. The E-Power tractor uses multiple Kreisel battery packs (up to five), and is charged with a standard Level 2 J1772 connector.

At the 2025 bauma trade show in Munich, Deere and Kreisel unveiled several new products, including the next-generation KBE.59.750M battery pack, which uses patented cell immersion cooling technology, and is slated to enter production in 2026. The two companies plan to supply battery tech for the construction, mining and material handling sectors.

Other electric irons in the fire

Subsidiary John Deere Electronic Solutions (JDES) builds EV components, including traction motors, inverters and cooling systems. Its JDES PD400 inverter is used in some of John Deere’s off-road vehicles, as well as the Fuso eCanter light-duty electric truck, sold in Europe and Japan.

The Wirtgen Group (owned by John Deere) offers a line of hybrid and battery-electric construction equipment.

Moving down the hierarchy from the E-Power, we find that John Deere is steadily introducing electric options into its many product lines, from construction to agriculture to forestry.

In the Golf Products segment, it offers the 2775 E-Cut Electric Triplex Mower, Gator GS Electric, and 225 E-Cut Electric. It turns out that golf courses are a good use case for EVs. As Product Manager Eric Halfman explained to Charged, “There are a lot of communities that don’t allow mowing on golf courses until a certain time in the morning. We’ve got some electric greens mowers that can get ‘em out on the golf course mowing much earlier than what that local requirement might be.”

In the Electric Turf & Utility Equipment segment, Deere offers two electric options in its Z300 series of residential zero-turn mowers: the Z370R and Z380R Residential ZTraks. Another electric offering is the TE 4×2 Electric utility vehicle.

John Deere provided Charged with a Z380R mower for testing.

Zero turning radius, 100 percent more fun

The zero-turn mower was actually invented in 1949, and the first electric model, the Hustler Zeon (which used four 12-volt lead-acid batteries), appeared in 2009. Today, electric zero-turns are available from all the major mower-makers, plus a couple of electric-only outfits, and the old-fashioned tractor-style mowers are becoming rare sights.

Unlike a traditional tractor or riding mower (but like a skid steer), a zero-turn mower maneuvers not by steering the front wheels, but by separately controlling the speed and direction of each drive wheel. A gas zero-turn uses hydraulics to control each drive wheel, but a battery-powered model like the Z380R simply uses two electric motors.

The difference between using a zero-turn and using a traditional tractor-style riding mower is akin to the difference between driving a BMW and, well, driving a lawn mower. Faster and much more maneuverable, the zero-turn makes mowing fun (at least the first couple of times). And the electric zero-turn takes things a step further. The Z has just as much power as JD’s equivalent gas zero-turn, and the same maximum speed (7 mph) and cut quality. However, it’s quieter, and it delivers a smoother ride.

There is one drawback, and you’ve probably guessed what it is—zero-turns are pricier than their poor, neglected tractor-style forebears, and the electric zero-turn is pricier still. The Z370R lists for $6,399, whereas John Deere can put you into a Z300 gas-powered zero-turn for $3,499. (These are the official list prices, but Deere recommends that buyers always check with their local dealers for the best prices in their areas.)

Expanding the electric offerings

The Z370R and Z380R are the newest members of JD’s broad Z300 zero-turn mower lineup.

“We introduced our Z370R electric with a 42-inch mower deck a few years ago, and in response to growing demand for [alternative] power sources, we talked with customers and added a 48-inch deck to that offering,” Product Manager Eric Halfman told me. “Then we released the Z380R, which expanded the mower deck size to 54 inches, but a bigger mower draws more battery power, so we increased battery capacity by adding an additional battery, which enables it to operate longer as well.”

“It’s all about putting the customer in the right machine for the right size property,” said Halfman. The electric models are “not for everyone, but we’re about choice, right? We’re going to follow where our customers want to go, and we have a following out there now that’s very interested in battery-electric power.”

The performance of the electrics is “just as good, if not better than” that of their gas-powered siblings. “In many cases we’ve been better. And it’s definitely a better maintenance story.” There’s basically no maintenance required, other than sharpening the blades—there’s no oil to change, and all the lubrication points are sealed (though I think I would have a dealer look the machine over every couple of years).

Unlike an electric passenger car, the Z is not noise-free, except when the mower blade is disengaged. Once you put the blades into gear, there’s an inevitable amount of noise and vibration (although still considerably less than an ICE mower makes).

Each battery pack has a capacity of 3.56 kWh (3.2 usable), and the system runs at 58 volts. The Z370R has one battery pack, and the Z380R has two (for a total of 6.4 kWh usable capacity). Both models come with a 5-year/200-hour battery warranty.

The Z380R is billed as having enough battery capacity to “confidently” mow up to 3.5 acres, depending on the landscape (slopes, obstructions) and grass conditions (length, thickness). I mowed about an acre of complex terrain—lots of trees, slight slopes and tight turns—in less than an hour, and used less than a third of the battery.

The 700-watt onboard charger plugs into a plain old 120-volt 3-prong extension cord. I didn’t attempt to measure the charging time, Deere didn’t provide an estimate, and it doesn’t really matter. You’ll be drinking a cold one in the shade while the Z charges, and the battery will be topped up and ready to mow your neighbor’s yard the next morning. These are residential mowers—they aren’t designed for a commercial lawn service, which may need to mow a dozen yards between sunup and beer-thirty.

Capabilities, customization and comfort

This is a feature-packed and customizable vehicle. The seat, the control levers, the wheels—all can be adjusted for your lawn conditions and your personal ergonomics. To make your mowing experience more comfortable, there’s a cup holder and a USB port for your personal devices.

There’s a parking brake for extra safety, and a push mode that allows you to move the mower by hand if necessary. There are two speeds—turtle and jackrabbit (which is pretty darn fast), as well as a special towing mode. Towing capacity is rated at 250 pounds. LED lights enable you to finish your mowing even after sundown.

Depending on the nature of your lawn and your personal preferences, you may opt to simply discharge the cut grass, to mulch it or to bag it. There’s a special bagging mode and optional mulching and rear bagging attachments. There’s also an optional selection of different blades optimized for side discharge, mulching or bagging.

The mower features heavy-duty ingress protection (IP) to protect the internal components from water and dust. It’s perfectly safe to wash the whole vehicle down—in fact, there’s a washing port that allows you to connect a hose and wash the blades as they rotate.

“The rating of IP66 means it is watertight and sealed from dirt and debris,” says Halfman. “You can feel confident if it rains, and we have no restrictions on taking a hose and washing the back of the mower, which is close to where the battery is. It’s a fixed battery, which allows us to have that type of IP rating.”

This strong ingress protection may be part of the reason John Deere decided not to go with a swappable battery system, as some of its competitors have. “We started with a fixed battery solution just because it fit in with the rest of our Z300 line,” Halfman told me. “That doesn’t mean that we’re opposed to swappable or that we wouldn’t do something like that in the future.”

The electric future

The Z300 line, as cool as it is, is aimed at the consumer market. Are there any plans for electric commercial mowers? “We’ve shown some prototypes, some limited builds of some commercial machines,” Halfman told me. “We definitely are interested in what our professional landscape contractor [PLC] customers are interested in. We know that if we develop a product for a PLC, that machine is going to have to have a runtime that’s a lot longer than a residential piece of equipment, and have a quicker charging time. We’re doing research with customers to see if that could be something that we would do in the future, but there’s no target date for a commercial mower as yet.”

Of course, pros and consumers alike are sensitive to pricing, and, just as with on-road EVs, electric tractors and mowers are likely to remain niche products until the price premium over gas-burners is substantially reduced. Does Halfman see any technical advances in the pipeline that might bring prices down over the next couple of years?

“I’d have to have a crystal ball in front of me to figure out what pricing is going to do,” he told me. “The industry would love for electric products to be more price-competitive versus their gas or diesel counterparts, but that’s the nature of this technology right now.” Customers will realize some savings on fuel and maintenance, but “there is a little bit of a premium right now when it comes to buying electric mowers.”