This is why you need a two stage, and a heck of a lot more battery. The EGO has two 56v batteries. Did my big driveway. My side walk and the side walks of both neighbors. I got back in and the batteries still had 75% power.
As a new suburbanite, I also have an ego lawmower, leaf blower and string trimmer. So I have 4 chargers, and 5 batteries. They are interchangable. I’ll never run out of power. Only the snowblower takes two batteries, the rest take one.
Yes, mine is underpowered for storms of this magnitude. I did a third round this morning and am basically done. If you are patient and willing to do multiple rounds of snowblowing, it is manageable but not ideal.
Yeah, bringing out the ‘big guns’ is sometimes sort of silly. We got about an inch or so last night so I cleared the walk for people with a shovel. Not worried about the driveway.
The problem is finding someone who will do it reliably. My gardener always says “maybe” if I call. He can’t promise. We had a bunch of brothers who were fairly reliable but they moved away last year. I decided I didn’t want to be dependent on someone else for this.
When I had my hip replaced, I wasn’t really in the position to plow my driveway. I hired a guy, and then had to pull him out with my plow truck 4 times. 
I did my driveway this morning with a 2 stage gas powered 24” wide snowblower, 18-20 inches of snow was pretty simple and not at all straining or tiring. The driveway is 1 car wide & 2.5 car lengths long, reasonably large berm left by the street plowing, took about an hour and a quarter total including some cleanup shoveling. I took it pretty slow, at points like the end of driveway berm I just took half the width of the snowblower on each pass.
If your main hesitation about gas is maintenance, I really think that may be easier than you’re concerned about. Oil change once a year (that you can get done for you), use Stabil or another gas stabilizer, keep it clean, and that’s about it.
ETA: I believe all 2 stage blowers have electric start now, you plug in an extension cord and press a button, you don’t have to pull the starter cord like a lawnmower - though you can if you want.
I have a 1 stage electric. It was cheap, and does what its intended to do. It’s also lightweight, I can lift it and move it with one hand. Much easier to store offseason than a gas powered model.
Without self propel, you have to push it into the snow, so it can be a workout with heavy snow. A bit of this last storm drifted higher than the snowblower, which is inconvenient.
It’s far easier to use than a shovel, night and day difference, despite having to push. I was out for 40 minutes this morning and feel just spiffy, no back pain or physical strain. For the more difficult pushing, I set the handle on my hips and just walk.
Of course, the advantage of using a shovel is that passing snowplow drivers take pity on an old lady out clearing the driveway with a snow shovel. This is the second year in a row that a guy with a plow offered to clear my berm, and then went on to clear most of the rest of the driveway.
I pay them more than they ask for ($20 last year, gratis this year. I forget what i gave the guy last year. This year i only had $30 in my pocket, so i have him that.)
Not very reliable, but way cheaper then buying my own snow equipment.
And we really don’t need more than a couple of shovels except about once a year.
Honestly, what bothers me is the idea of every house on the street having an expensive bit of gear that’s used only rarely when it would be more efficient to share the resource. That is especially true of a lawnmower; it doesn’t much matter when in the week it’s used. On the other hand, everyone needs to plow their driveway at roughly the same time (before heading to work) so basically the snow blower is needed at the same time.
This morning there were 5 active snowblowers in sight and several more in earshot while I was cleaning my driveway.
Right. The guy who plows my parents’ driveway comes late at night, because during the day he’s plowing his commercial clients. My parents are retired so they can just stay home until the driveway is cleared.
This is a conundrum for me. I’m done with the current snowblower, so it’s either buy a new one, or start paying someone. Our driveway isn’t huge - two cars across, three long (but it’s below a hill, so it drifts like crazy), so maybe $100 or $120 per plow as best I can tell?
I have both Greenworks and Ryobi battery systems, but online reviews say the snowblowers in both of these lines suck, so it would be EGO. $749 at the moment, though not in stock…call it break-even at seven snowstorms. Are we going to get there? I’m not sure.
Just like you shouldn’t go into a grocery store hungry, I probably shouldn’t be thinking about this while my back hurts.
It’s more than just the financial question. Maybe i feel more independent if i know i can clear my driveway. Maybe i prefer to sit indoors and just wait until someone else takes care of it. Maybe i want to control the timing so i can get to the bottom of my front walk to clear it. (And it’s really important to be able to do a good job cleaning my front walk. Otherwise, i don’t get mail.)
I should ask the next door neighbor how much she pays her plow guy.
That one looks better suited to my property. The problem, other than cost, is where to put it. I would need to seriously rearrange my already overcrowded garage to find space for that. The Ryobi, while not all that great, is more compact and I could squeeze it in without a lot of effort.
Snowblowers are not easily shareable unless you have an unusually cooperative community. The electric ones have proprietary batteries which require charging. The gas ones require gas and maintenance.
Who gets to plow their house first? What happens if the machine breaks and a dozen people are snowed in because they were all sharing?
I know there are issues. Perhaps if you’re especially close with your neighbor, or a relative (with whom you get along) lives next door?
My MIL’s neighbor is a cop who doesn’t own a snowblower; if he’s off-duty, he does her driveway, and then his, using her snowblower, and she does the maintenance. Very unusual, and I wish it were more common.
I don’t disagree, I like their size. But I was just looking more at these - the 40V batteries they use are different than the 40V Ryobi batteries I have, so I won’t get that benefit.
I am seeing some neighbors with pro gas-powered blowers voluntarily clearing nearby houses. Unfortunately, I don’t have the battery power or stamina do this.
Helpful hint: Start in the middle of the driveway and work your way out. Don’t forget to reverse the outlet every time you change direction.
Chicago area here. My wife bought our snow blower 15 years ago when I was working in a neighboring state. We had a couple of heavy snows that she was simply incapable of shoveling. Now, in my 60s, there are a couple of snows per winter that I prefer to blow than shovel. Either the all day snow, or the several nches of very heavy stuff. But, like I said, only a couple per winter. I wonder if I used it more than once each of the past couple of winters.
They did not have rechargeable electrics back then, but the ones I see today seem to do a very good job. As with all E-devices, choose 1 brand and stick with it for all of your power tools.
IMO, a 2-stage (gas) is overkill for all but the heaviest of snows. Maybe once every 2-3 years or more. In the meantime, it takes up a chunk of space in your garage.
I always go up and down the block quite a ways in either direction when I use mine, clearin gthe sidewalks for pedestrians. But I don’t do anyone else’s driveways. I probably would, if I had a neighbor who was old/infirm - and nice. 
The idea of shared blowers/mowers is fascinating - probably for a species other than humans, tho!