Stihl Inc. plans to invest more than $60 million for battery manufacturing at its Virginia Beach headquarters through 2025 to align with the market trend toward battery-powered tools.
“The market’s already going that way,” said Stuart Morrison, Stihl Inc.’s vice president of assembly. “It’s inevitable for us to move that way.”
Stihl, a manufacturer of gasoline-powered handheld outdoor equipment, called battery-powered tools the fastest-growing market segment in the industry. The company expects battery-operated products to make up at least 35% of its sales by 2027. Stihl said it is striving for 80% by 2035.
Germany-based Stihl Group’s battery portfolio includes more than 80 products, and the company said in a news release that 30 new battery-operated products are scheduled to enter the market worldwide in the next two years.
The investment includes plans for Virginia Beach production of battery-powered blowers, pruners, trimmers and multi-attachment tools as well as the assembly of over five battery packs to power the equipment. Stihl Inc., a subsidiary of Stihl Group, converted 84,000 square feet of warehouse space to battery tool manufacturing last year.
The transition in outdoor power equipment is similar to the change in the automotive industry, Morrison said. Battery power took hold with handheld power equipment before capturing outdoor equipment overall.
Emerging regulations are also pushing all-electric. California effectively banned gas-powered landscaping equipment by requiring manufacturers to sell only zero-emissions equipment this year. And The Oregonian reported more than 100 U.S. cities have banned gas leaf blowers.
Depending on the application, lightweight or quieter battery-powered tools may be a better fit, Morrison said. Electric equipment is also lower maintenance.
Other uses, like professional landscapers using high-end chainsaws and backpack blowers for hours at a time, will need to rely on gas until the battery technology develops, Morrison said. It depends on where the technology goes over the next few years, but the goal is to make a battery that can outperform a gasoline engine.
“Technology is changing,” Morrison said. “Battery packs are becoming more powerful.”
The company wants to be “battery first, last person standing in gasoline,” he said. That means Stihl strives to be the leader for battery-powered equipment, and as competitors stop selling gas-powered tools, the company aims to differentiate itself and capture that demand too.
Stihl’s retail partners are already seeing the change to battery-powered products, including competitors’ products, on the sales floor, and Stihl is aiming to give them more options under its established brand to compete, Morrison said. The batteries are rechargeable, and Stihl selling through independent dealers, versus big-box stores, can help consumers adjust to the change with their knowledge and service reliability.
Most manufacturing at the Virginia Beach facility, occupying more than 1.5 million square feet including offices on more than 150 acres, is still gas-powered products, he said. Battery-related production first started there with a leaf blower in 2018 and depending on investment, the battery segment can open up more product lines for the plant that employs 2,700 workers.
Stihl has adapted to change over its 50 years in the city and is well-suited to take advantage of the market transition, he said.
“The plan is to have ongoing growth and expansion and definitely more opportunities,” Morrison said.
Stihl is also completing the $49 million expansion for its chainsaw guide bar manufacturing facility at 825 London Bridge Road in the next few weeks.
