Since our back alley is not plowed in the winter, every time we get a snow dump (which is quite a few here in Montreal), I have manually shovel a path down the back lane (about 4 houses-wide, or roughly 30 metres) as well as our driveway.
This year, I finally decided to seek some motorized help. Seeing the irony of running a gas snowblower just so I could park in the back to charge an EV, and not really willing to shell out $400+ for a battery powered electric blower, I went for the corded option. Costco sells a very nice, thick gauge 30m extension cord for a very reasonable price. It's actually thick enough that you could power a L1 EVSE through it, as long as you keep the contact terminals in good order. In fact, beyond undersized wiring, the contact points is where most fires start and the main reason why using extension cords are generally not recommended.
In the end I went for a Snow Joe 618E (they make a lot of slightly different models, probably just to confuse the buyer between online and retailer options). The main numbers to look for are clearing width, and amperage. Other small differences include an LED light, and metal studs on the blade (the 618E was plastic). But in the end I chose one that was a compromise between price and power/features, and the slightly lower amperage could mean less tripping on iffy breakers.
Overall, it worked very well for the relatively large amount of fresh snow we had (~30cm). I can see it struggling with slush, but for what I need to do (which is to clear a car-wide path down the lane), it should do fine.
What has been a bit more of a nuisance this year, is the ups and downs in temperature creating all that ice... but this is more of a problem as a pedestrian since they've kept the roadways quite well all considered.
