Battery-powered tools are wave of future at Stihl

Stihl Inc., the U.S. affiliate of the global Stihl Group, has invested more than $60 million on battery manufacturing at its Virginia Beach facility since 2018, according to Stuart Morrison, the company’s vice president of assembly. 

Battery-powered tools  — like pruners, trimmers and blowers — are expected to see the fastest growth of products in the outdoor power equipment market between 2024 and 2030, according to a forecast by Grand View Research, a California market research firm. By the end of fiscal year 2028, the big box store Home Depot expects 85% of U.S. and Canada’s sales in outdoor power equipment will run on rechargeable battery technology. 

The reason for the popularity of battery-powered tools is straightforward, according to Morrison. They make less noise. You don’t have to fool with filling them with gasoline, a smelly and potentially hazardous prospect. Because they’re lighter than gas-powered tools, battery-fueled leaf blowers and trimmers give more people the ability to attack yard projects.

“It’s a much easier, cleaner system,” Morrison said. 

In 2017, Stihl Inc. had ten employees at the company’s Virginia Beach facility assembling one battery-powered product: the Stihl BGA 56 Battery Blower. As of early 2024, about 100 employees at Stihl Inc. manufacture battery-powered products.

“Very modest at first. Started out with one line …  and then it basically morphed from there into not only products, but also battery packs,” Morrison said. “Now it’s got momentum.”

Currently, Stihl produces more than 80 battery-operated tools, according to an August news release. Almost one in four products sold by the company now runs on batteries, and more than 30 new battery-operated products are scheduled to hit the market in the next two years. 

In 2023, products that run on batteries accounted for 16% of all units produced at Stihl Inc. That same year, the company spent about $14 million to convert 84,000 square feet of warehouse space at its Virginia Beach operation to battery tool manufacturing. By the end of 2023, battery unit production capacity at the Virginia Beach facility increased by more than 150% year-over-year. 

By 2027, Stihl, which sells its products in the United States through a network of more than 10,000 authorized dealers, aims to increase the share of sales of battery-operated products to at least 35% and has a goal of 80% by 2035.

Still, it’s too early, according to Morrison, to predict a time when all of the company’s outdoor power equipment will be battery-powered. People who use outdoor power equipment professionally often run their tools for up to eight hours a day, and battery-powered tools wouldn’t be practical for that length of use now. 

“It depends on technology,” he said. “If you look at the technology today, gasoline is still going to be there for some time.” 

Stihl Inc. arrived in Virginia Beach in 1974 when the company rented a 20,000-square-foot warehouse on Thurston Avenue. In 1976, the company broke ground on Viking Drive, where it currently boasts more than 1.5 million square feet of manufacturing and administrative space on 150 acres. “It’s expanded to a point where … we’re building more in a day than we were building an entire year,” Morrison said. 

The company employs about 2,700 employees in Virginia Beach. While the labor market is tight everywhere, Morrison said, the company hasn’t struggled to find workers. They’ve been particularly lucky with recruiting people leaving military service. 

“For our assembly perspective, you’re looking for dependable people [who are] on time, [and who] you can trust. That’s one thing that you’ve got in abundance, with people coming out of the military, so it’s a really good fit,” Morrison said.

In 2026, the Stihl Group will celebrate its 100th birthday, and Stihl Inc. will celebrate the 50th anniversary of its facility on Viking Drive. “During that time… what we commit to hasn’t changed,” Morrison said. 

Stihl success, Morrison said, can be boiled down to valuing its employees, independent dealers and customers. “All those things remain intact.”