Keeping your car and garage clean is a massive chore, but when armed with the right tools, it makes the job so much easier. A really nice vacuum cleaner, particularly a wet & dry vacuum, should be a must-have in any car enthusiast’s arsenal. However, with so many options on the market, which one should you pick? Well, perhaps this might be a good start, the unassumingly-named EGO Power Plus WDV0900E wet & dry vacuum cleaner.
Specifically, it’s a 34-litre unit, and this features, according to EGO Power Plus, over 250 mbar of suction power, which they claim is an industry-leading figure. Either way, a wet & dry vacuum has been a huge boon since I’ve added one into my toolshed collection, whether it’s just using the ‘dry’ bit of the vacuum for sucking up dust and muck out of my car, and of course, you could easily just use this like a regular vacuum around the house.
Alternatively, you can then remove the bag and use the ‘wet’ bit of the vacuum to dry out wet floor mats and the carpets in my car’s boot, which happens more often than I’d like to admit, especially with Britain’s superbly damp climate. Now, as with most EGO Power Plus products, along with the competition, to be fair, the vacuum cleaner is just a small part of their ecosystem, because you do need other bits and bobs to keep this thing running.
We’ll get into that later, but for the time being, my EGO Power Plus WDV0900E vacuum came with a 5 Ah EGO-branded battery (the BA2800T, to be precise), as well as a companion battery charger to keep it topped up (the CH2100E, to be specific). On the bright side, at least by being a part of this vast ecosystem of power tools and other gadgets, the battery and battery charger would be compatible with other EGO Power Plus gear, too.
A Fully Wireless Vacuuming Experience
But anyway, going back to the vacuum cleaner, it’s a really impressive bit of kit. Recently, you might’ve read my review of a Karcher wet & dry vacuum, which is an easy natural competitor to the EGO Power Plus vacuum here. Nevertheless, as much as I admire Karcher’s solution, it doesn’t come with a battery. In other words, it’s a wired unit, meaning you need to keep your vacuum cleaner plugged in at all times if you need it to actually work.
Of course, having to wire in can be an upside for some users, as you won’t have to deal with needing to charge your batteries from time to time. Still, limiting yourself to being within close proximity to a wall outlet could be rather annoying, especially in my case, when you’re trying to move around a lot as you’re vacuuming each and every side of your car, inside and out, dealing with snagged cables or the moment when you reach too far.
On the other hand, this EGO Power Plus WDV0900E 34-litre wet & dry vacuum here wouldn’t cause you to snag on wires as you’re hoovering about, and it’s an absolute beast thanks to it being battery-powered. It’s a major upside if you’re cleaning more than one car, as well, and the fact that you could just wheel it around from one side of your driveway to another with so much ease makes it far more usable for quick and dirty cleaning jobs.
Yet, despite it being battery-powered, you needn’t have to make any compromises when it comes to suction power, either, as it’s no less powerful than any other wet & dry vacuum cleaners that run straight from a mains outlet. On that note, this rather sizeable EGO Power Plus 5 Ah (56 V, 280 Wh) lithium-ion removable battery makes quite an impression when you first get your hands on it, and it’s certainly more than just a paperweight.
Keeping Your Vacuum Cleaner Topped Up
This brick of a battery has some neat tech inside it, which tries to keep the pack cool at all times, which isn’t just welcomed for safety, but it should, in theory, help extend the lifespan of your battery, too. And, there’s even a neat little LED indicator that’ll let you quickly figure out how much battery charge you have left. When you do need to charge it, it’s just as easy as chucking the entire battery into an EGO Power Plus battery charger.
This 210 W (56 V, 3 A) battery charger has a nice LED indicator to let you know once your batteries are done charging, and it works decently fast, too. Using that EGO Power Plus CH2100E ‘Standard’ charger will top up this 5 Ah battery that I have here in around 100 or so minutes. However, if you can’t spare the time, EGO Power Plus has a ‘Rapid’ charger version, which will charge up that same 5 Ah battery in just 40 minutes or thereabouts.
On top of that, as I mentioned earlier, that battery is interchangeable with other EGO Power Plus products, so you can easily just click it into any of their other gear that you might have lying around, whether it’s a chainsaw, mower, hedge trimmer, or even a leaf blower. When you’re using this battery with EGO Power Plus’s WDV0900E wet & dry vacuum cleaner, you should expect 60 minutes of runtime when you’re running it in its ‘Eco’ setting.
That’s pretty decent, though for way more intense vacuuming, you’ll empty out that battery in around 30 or so minutes in the vacuum’s ‘High’ setting, or under 20 minutes in the ‘Turbo’ setting. While these runtime figures aren’t hugely inspiring, for most of the vacuuming that I’ve done, the ‘Eco’ mode was more than sufficient, even with some of the more stubborn clumps of dust. So, it’s not like you’re obliged to run the battery down too often.
A Remote Control For Your Vacuum Cleaner
Now, besides the rechargeable batteries, this EGO Power Plus WDV0900E 34-litre wet & dry vacuum cleaner has another ace up its sleeve – a remote control. This key fob-looking remote control has 3 simple buttons. The one at the very top activates a small LED at the top of the remote control, which is very nifty if you’re trying to check out what dusty miscreants are hiding in those inaccessible, dirty parts of your car, offering you a bit more visibility.
The other button below that is where you’ll find the ‘Turbo’ mode button, and just like ‘Sport’ mode in your car, this function momentarily runs the vacuum power and ramps it way up to 11 for even greater suction. Finally, beneath that is a simple Start/Stop button that lets you quickly turn the vacuum on or off. As you might expect, this remote control is handily detachable, but it’s best served once you stick it to the end of the vacuum hose.
Ergonomically, it’s a game changer for me, particularly when I want to clean my car, as it allows me to control and manipulate the vacuum way more easily. For example, when I’m reaching down and I’m vacuuming my car seats or the carpets, going from front to back, it’s a bit of a pain to constantly turn back around and to then turn the vacuum cleaner on and off, and doing that 1 or 2 metre walk between the vacuum unit and back to my car.
Now, thanks to this handy little remote control, I can readily just flick my thumb over the Start/Stop button in mere seconds. Aside from that, it also offers me a bit more flexibility when I just want to vacuum this one bit of my car here, and then stop the vacuum cleaner, before quickly turning it back on as I move it around elsewhere, and then repeat. It helps to speed up the dull monotony that otherwise comes with vacuuming anything.
There are also situations where certain parts of my car need a bit more suction to properly clean, so having the ‘Turbo’ button within close reach is a gigantic help, as well. Having a remote control sounds like such a simple concept on the surface, but it gives you every bit of control that you’ll need, with just one hand, which is super handy. Plus, when the remote control’s battery dies, it’s a fairly quick USB charge away to top it back up.
Nozzles, Adapters, & Accessories Aplenty
The EGO Power Plus WDV0900E is fantastically versatile, so you shouldn’t just think of it as a vacuum cleaner purely for your garage or your car. In the box, it comes bundled with a typical vacuum ‘stick’ and some other handy adapters. Among them is a floor or carpet nozzle, and that’ll let you vacuum up all the carpets in your home, and there’s even a squeegee adapter that allows you to more easily vacuum up smoother surfaces.
The latter nozzle is hugely useful for cleaning your kitchen or bathroom floor, including using it as a wet vacuum. The aforementioned floor adapter doesn’t come with any rollers, but the stiff bristles on the bottom do let you get really deep into your carpets, so it works pretty well enough. Some of the other accessories, adapters, and nozzles that you get in the box alongside the vacuum cleaner, as standard, include a really soft brush-type head.
This is awesome for cleaning all those hard-to-reach nooks and crannies around your car, such as your door cards, the seat adjustment buttons, air conditioning vents, floor mats, and your seats, too. Given how soft and gentle the bristles on the brush head are, I was even quite comfortable rubbing it against some of the more delicate areas of my car, such as piano black interior trim and upholstery, which is otherwise easily prone to scratching.
Furthermore, other adapters that you get encompass a reducer, which is useful if the regular hose is too wide to get in between narrow spaces, as well as another brush-type head, but this one’s very effective at sucking up pet hair. Probably my favourite of the adapters here is the crevice nozzle, and for one, this is made of clear plastic, so you’re not blocking the view of where you’re vacuuming, and you could even see what you’re sucking up.
Additionally, it comes with a rather fascinating fibre optic element that carries LED light from that little remote control fob earlier, onto the tip of the nozzle, lighting up precisely which areas you’re vacuuming, and it works shockingly well. As an added bonus, that crevice nozzle features a vent on the side, making it harder to stick on anything you’re vacuuming, which in my case, worked a treat at not grabbing hold of the cupholder mat.
An Impressive Wet & Dry Vacuum Cleaner
I also like the inclusion of a vented section in the back of the stick, which allows you to control just how much air you’d want the vacuum cleaner to suck in from the side. You can lock this vent out, or keep it open to prevent the vacuum cleaner from sucking itself onto surfaces, especially softer surfaces such as fabric, carpeting, or leather, where you could otherwise cause damage to them. For cleaning the inside of a car, I’d say this is a must.
On the subject of flexibility, as aggressive as the exterior design and that bright green styling on the EGO Power Plus WDV0900E might be, it does hide plenty of nice-to-haves, as well. For instance, if you pop open that green translucent honeycomb cover, it reveals a small storage compartment for all the extra accessories that go with your vacuum. Behind that, further to the rear, there is a helpful little tray for stowing away larger adapters.
The eagle-eyed among you might’ve also spotted where the rechargeable battery sticks into the vacuum itself, just right next to it. Near this is a socket, and plugging the vacuum hose in here turns it from going to suction and swaps it into being a blower. Below the vacuum cleaner unit itself hosts another storage tray where you could keep all your extension poles, and the chunky floor adapter could be stuck onto the rear and the sides, too.
Oh, and if you’re wondering what those massive black buttons are on the side, these buttons are for locking and unlocking the bag compartment, if you need to empty it. This would also be where you’ll find the vacuum cleaner filter, and I’m surprised by just how big it is, because I swear I’ve seen car intake filters smaller than this. On the bright side, it comes with a really nice self-cleaning option for the filter, making maintenance that bit easier.
Opening Up The Belly Of The Beast
Crack open the EGO Power Plus WDV0900E 34-litre wet & dry vacuum cleaner, and there’s not a huge amount of interesting stuff here, if you’re familiar with other vacuums. You’ll find a large bag, which you could easily remove and empty out all that dust and residue, and you ought to also remove this if you’re going from dry vacuuming to wet, instead. Granted, with such a large bag, if you’re just using this to vacuum your car, it’ll take forever to fill.
For wet vacuuming, there’s even a handy little drainage knob on the side of the vacuum cleaner unit to pour out any liquid that you’ve sucked up. Down here is also where you will notice some of the WDV0900E’s handy bits of attention to detail, such as the little stoppers on the wheels. This is quite handy if you’re trying to stop your shiny new (and costly) vacuum cleaner from rolling away, especially if your garage or driveway is built on an incline.
Even tiny, otherwise non-critical parts of the vacuum cleaner, like the wheels, which do a great job of moving around effortlessly on your driveway, and the buttons for attaching and locking in the hose, all feel nice. There’s certainly an air of quality around it, and overall, the EGO Power Plus WDV0900E wet & dry vacuum cleaner is a spectacular bit of kit, and you’re getting industrial-grade equipment for more consumer-oriented workloads.
With regular domestic tasks like vacuuming a car, you’d be hard-pressed to find anything better. Alas, all of this does come at a cost, and the actual vacuum cleaner itself (just the vacuum) has an RRP of £349. Naturally, you’d ideally want at least one battery to go with it, and that 5 Ah rechargeable battery starts from £239 (RRP), while the accompanying battery charger is a more reasonable £59 (RRP), making this entire package a luxury item.
That’s quite a pretty penny, but at least you do get a 5-year warranty (for domestic use only) for the vacuum, so at least this makes up a bit for the higher upfront cost. Nonetheless, I’ve yet to use a vacuum cleaner this good, nor have any other vacuum cleaner I’ve tested so far matched the EGO Power Plus WDV0900E’s features, so I’m still giving this a double thumbs up. As long as you’re okay with the price, you won’t find a better one out there.
