Epropulsion has surfaced (Four Winds, vendor) with the new Navy 6 (9.9hp) motor
in the water. It's a large utilitarian sausage that propels a 11-12" prop. This
vendor has made it possible to download some paper on the accessories. But
There is as yet no Manual for the installation. And the manageable Navy batteries
matched to the Navy 3-6.0 outboards have mysteriously been dropped. Replaced
with standard batteries that range in weight 63lbs-100+lbs-&180lbs! No choice
on the Ariel and the ancient mariner: 60+lbs I can hardly manage and I think
I'm going to need at least 8 of them ($2,000ea) in parallel to power the motor.
The bats are LiPo type, not the newer tesla nickel type. And are packaged in metal
cases rather than plastic, making them heavy.
My problem is ignorance about this electric OB phenomenon, and dealing with a
vendor who has no experience (so far as I am aware) with cruising sailors.
My live contacts are old fossils hooked on fossil fuels, except for one notable Triton
owner who has moved his boat to the Seattle area while he finishes business here,
and his electric motor is inboard.
My feeling is that epropulsion is unable to finesse their American market. One assumes
they must be interested in owning the 10hp niche category they seem to be aimed at.
Somehow we have to trust their expertise in manufacturing electric outboard motors*
and excuse their inability to present their products to the US market. At least the
appearance of transparency has to be present. Into the third month of 2021 without a
companion Manual for the Navy 6.0 is pretty miserable. Something tells me the motor
is a good deal, but the batteries are problematic, and the presentation sucks!
{*They are a new company (8years by now) bourn by a couple young men at Hong
Kong University -- so what's to trust?}
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