It's a privilege to be here in your inbox once again, for the second time in a working week! I hope you enjoyed our SALTEX video special that we sent out as a bonus edition on Monday - here it is again if you want to catch up with the interviews it featured.

I must say, whilst I found all of the videos interesting, it was the one entitled What's going to be big in '22? that I found to be particularly telling. As anyone who attended the show last week could attest to, the views of several of the pundits featured in the video who spoke about electrification dominating the landscape next year, are hard to disagree with.

As Etesia's Les Malin says, what he believes is going to be big in 2022 is, "..the increase in battery technology, 100%. We’ve seen it coming through and at this show, it’s basically dominating. Everywhere you look there’s battery product."

And he was quite right, the technology was absolutely everywhere at SALTEX. There were several manufactures who aren't known as being battery-only producers, who didn't have a single petrol-powered piece on their stand. It almost felt like a clandestine operation, if someone offered to show you a machine with a traditional power source. They weren't exactly whispering and asking you to creep round the back of the stand to take a look at it under a blanket - but almost!

The cordless technology was undeniably dominant. And perhaps most significant for future developments, were the products on display where a battery power source had been bolted on as a direct replacement for a petrol engine. I'm thinking here of Ego's power unit seen on the AS Motor mower and the newly revealed Sterling mower from Allett.

Allett's Austin Jarrett introducing the new Sterling at SALTEX last week

This development truly felt like a game-changer. The scope for these units - and others like them that will surely follow - to slot into outdoor powered equipment where before we'd only seen a petrol engine, is mind-boggling. There must be some properly nervous engine-manufacturers around the world, taking a long hard look at their portfolio.

A paradigm shift

With COP-26 in the news, it has brought into sharper focus the need for consumers and manufacturers alike to alter their longstanding habits. We all know that change is both necessary and inevitable. With this power source development on show at the NEC last week, perhaps the countdown clock is now well and truly ticking for the petrol engine in the groundcare sector.

We have been talking for years now about how the proliferation of battery machinery will affect specialist dealers' workshops. I think it's fair to say however, that the conversation has moved on from when phrases such as 'the death knell for the sector' were being used. It's understandable that there would be worries at how businesses would be affected by the technology shift, but progressive and adaptable dealers know that non-traditional options are the future. They will tell you there's profit to be made in sales of the equipment and there is servicing work to be gained.

Of course there are on-going debates regarding whether battery is the alternative power source for the long-term future. With all the research currently being undertaken by engineers and manufacturers, will hydrogen power for example turn out to be the fuel that is the real solution? Maybe.

But for the immediate future, it's battery kit that will be filling showrooms. The momentum has been growing. They are popular now - they will soon become ubiquitous.