[powerplaymike]

Used a prosumer ex-Home Depot rental 2.7gpm gas for many years (with a properly sized tip).

Wanted to try an electric, moreso cause of noise and also cause it’s not good to idle gas PWs unloaded (even with unloader valve) so i always felt rushed when I was doing contact washes and/or would inconveniently keep turning it on and off.

Was in a massive rabbit hole of research

Tried a Ryobi electric that I could max at 1.2gpm … wasn’t enough rinsing power for me.
Tried a greenworks electric with the variable brushless motor that I could max around 1.8gpm, but hated the ramp up it required. Also took up a lot of space

Ended up getting an Active 2.0, cause Active’s patented 5 valve pump is basically the only way to get high gpm in a consumer / non-professional electric PW.

While longetivity may be questionable (there’s enough negative reviews / feedback / etc), the unit itself otherwise basically checks all the boxes (good gpm which is what you want for car washing, small and portable, splits the difference between $150 big-box store electric and a $750+ professional electric)

Side note 1: most big box electric PW are all the same. At any given price point, ryobi at HD is basically the same as greenworks at Lowe’s which is basically the same as whatever Tractor Supply sells. Moreover, most of the time for electric PW, the gpm and psi are a function of the nozzle, not the pump. Their claims of 3000 psi and/or 2gpm come with massive asterisks, cause all they sometimes do is change out nozzles and market it slightly differently.

Ultimately, you’re gonna pretty much max out at a range of 800-1100 psi with 1.1-1.5gpm from any non-brushless non-“ramped up” motor from a big box store.

Side note 2: no matter what people say, there’s no way electric is replacing a gas for house work, unless you have very minimal needs. I still have my gas PW, cause no way an electric PW is gonna run all afternoon non-stop when needed to wash a large driveway and then fence and siding. Small deck or patio, yeah electric is fine … but a 4-6 car driveway and then moving on to a fence and then a shed or side of house … gonna need a gas PW for that

So, depending on your home needs, if you can only pick one, I’d definitely pick gas and just run a larger orifice for your car needs.