The $1.04 Kilowatt-Hour vs. the Batteries in Your Garage
At August 2026 pump prices, electricity from a gas inverter generator costs about $1.04 per kilowatt-hour. The same kilowatt-hour from a wall outlet costs $0.18. EGO’s new Nexus 1400W power station turns the 56V batteries from its mowers into indoor-safe backup power — a full recharge of its $799 bundle costs about $0.12 — and it is in stock this week at $599 to $799.
The Machine
The EGO Nexus 1400W (PST1400) is a battery inverter, not a sealed power station. It has no fixed internal battery. Instead it takes up to four of EGO’s 56V ARC Lithium packs — the same batteries that run the company’s mowers, blowers, and chainsaws — and turns them into 1,400W of continuous pure sine wave power, with 2,100W peak.
Ports: three 120V AC outlets, two fast-charge USB-A, one fast-charge USB-C, and one 100W USB-C PD that works in both directions. It recharges batteries at up to 900W from the wall, 200W from solar, or 100W over USB-C, and supports pass-through charging. EGO rates it safe for indoor use — not in damp conditions — and covers it with a 5-year tool warranty.
Two configurations are shipping. Acme Tools stocks the bare unit at $599 (list $734.99), batteries not included. The PST1405-2 bundle with two 6.0Ah batteries — 672Wh total — hit $799 at Amazon on August 7, the lowest price 9to5Toys has tracked since launch. Walmart also lists the bare unit. EGO’s own product page still says “Coming Soon” — retail got it first.
The Numbers
The benchmark is the machine this replaces for most households: the Honda EU2200i inverter generator, $1,199 MSRP, 1,800W rated.
| Metric | Honda EU2200i (gas) | EGO Nexus 1400 | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price as sold | $1,199 | $799 with 672Wh of batteries | Honda / 9to5Toys |
| Rated output | 1,800W | 1,400W (2,100W peak) | Honda / EGO |
| Energy per fill/charge | ~3.6 kWh (0.95 gal, 8.1 hr at ¼ load) | 672Wh (two 6.0Ah packs) | Honda / EGO |
| Cost per fill/charge | $3.81 (0.95 gal × $4.006) | ~$0.12 (0.672 kWh × 18.41¢) | EIA gas / EIA STEO |
| Cost per kWh delivered | ~$1.04 | ~$0.18 | Our math from the rows above |
| Noise | 48-57 dB(A) | DATA NOT AVAILABLE FROM SOURCE | Honda / EGO spec sheet |
| Indoor use | Never — about 85 US deaths per year from generator CO | Rated for indoor use | CPSC / EGO |
The assumptions, in the open. Gas is the EIA US average for regular, $4.006 per gallon on August 10, 2026 (weekly series). Electricity is the EIA’s 2026 US residential average, 18.41 cents per kWh. Honda’s ¼-load figure works out to 450W for 8.1 hours — 3.65 kWh per tank, so $1.04 per kWh before oil changes and carb cleaning. The EGO’s $0.12 recharge ignores charging losses; add 10-15% and it is still a 5-to-1 running-cost win. Neither number includes the hardware.
What Breaks
Capacity is the honest problem. The $799 bundle carries 672Wh — the Honda’s single tank holds 5.4 times more energy and refills in two minutes. Assume a refrigerator averaging 60W (about 1.4 kWh a day): the bundle runs it roughly 10 hours before inverter losses. A multi-day outage means more batteries or a wall outlet that still works. Refilling the Nexus takes under an hour at the 900W wall rate — our math, not an EGO claim — but only if the grid is back.
Expansion is expensive per watt-hour. EGO’s 12.0Ah battery holds 672Wh and sells for $659 — $0.98 per Wh. Jackery launched its HomePower 2000 Plus v2 in June at $899 for 2,048Wh — $0.44 per Wh, less than half EGO’s rate — though every HomePower model showed sold out at jackery.com when we checked on August 12. EGO’s premium only makes sense because the same battery also runs a mower.
The output ceiling is real. 1,400W continuous means no 240V loads, no well pump, no central AC — and a standard 1,500W space heater is over the rating. Solar input tops out at 200W, so refilling a maxed-out four-battery, 2,688Wh configuration from panels takes 13+ hours of ideal sun. EGO publishes no noise or weight figures for this unit: DATA NOT AVAILABLE FROM SOURCE. And EGO says not to use it in damp conditions — this is not a machine for a storm still in progress.
Who Should Buy This
The EGO platform owner, first. If a 56V mower already lives in your garage, you own the expensive half of this system. The bare unit is $599 — half the Honda’s $1,199 — and every battery you own becomes indoor-safe backup power with a $0.12 refill. Assumptions: you own at least two mid-size packs and your outages are hours, not days.
The quiet-power buyer, second. Fridge, router, lights, phones through an evening outage — 1,400W covers all of it at once, indoors, next to the crib. A gas generator does the same work outside at 48-57 dB(A) with an exhaust pipe and a CO monitor between it and about 85 deaths a year.
Not for: whole-home backup, anything on 240V, households with zero EGO tools — at $0.98 per expansion watt-hour, a dedicated LFP power station buys the same energy for less than half — and anyone expecting week-long grid failures. Buy capacity for those, not a battery adapter.
The Stack
No affiliate links in this issue — our affiliate program applications are still in progress. When a link earns us a commission, we will always say so. Verdicts are never for sale.
If your outage plan is a gas can and hope, the entry point is the PST1405-2 bundle at $799: station plus two 6.0Ah packs, 672Wh ready to go, and every future EGO tool you buy feeds the same system.
If EGO batteries already run your yard, the bare PST1400 at Acme Tools is $599 — you are buying only the inverter, which is the cheap part.
If you need runtime, the BA6720T 12.0Ah pack adds 672Wh for $659 — at 8.0 lbs, one pack doubles the bundle’s capacity. Price it against a second mower battery you were buying anyway.
We earn nothing if you buy any of these. That is how you know the numbers above are straight.