EPROPULSION IS CRIPPLED ON THE USA INTERNET
selling and buying is a major activity on the net.
EPROPULSION GETS A FAILING GRADE from ebb ON HOW THEIR PRODUCTS
ARE REPRESENTED on the net and by their vendors.
Now, I've read that epropulsion is the invention of two HongKong University
entrepreneurs.
I don't know what their mission statement is. There seems to be a Torqeedo
connection, and a we can do it better attitude. These small electric outboards
are in a class by themselves. And I'm surprised that there is a competitor out
there that believes there's money to be made in this tight niche market. As I've
said, it's remarkable that an OB already established will suddenly unannounced
completely revamp their main product, the Navy 6.0. The reason was: to make
a better product, to improve not cheapen it. I mean, what else?
The older model had a right angle gear 'box' just before the prop that may have
been a problem -- because that is what they changed by putting the motor in
front of the prop. (like Torqeedo has always had it.)
But with a more versatile and powerful motor, that can both push an 'up to six
ton(!)' sailboat and plane an airboat. Conceptually superior, we are led to believe.
epropulsion makes three electric OBs: a 1.0 (Spirit)3hp - a 3.0 6hp - 6.0 9.9hp.
Navy.. Which they developed first.
The internet sites are sticky, unresponsive, hypish and almost useless. While
some thumbnails of the OB show the new Navy 6.0, last year's is prominent.
Torqeedo and Elco show up uninvited, but the only actual vendor: RJ Nautical
is all over the place. The 'other' vendor (FourSeas) is nowhere to be found, is
it because they aren't in the payola deal with google? No, it's just that they all
seem to use the same incompetent epropulsion feed. The problem is they all
repeat the same epropulsion hype, so user unfriendly it's more like an enigma.
No one's corrected it since I've been around, and my brief association with sales
at FourSeas has been disappointing. No one seems to care that the web presence
of epropulsion is totally useless, negative and unavailable, download is blocked.
WHY the hell why? You would think this would rub off on the product. The shine
is gone for me. Have not found a credible home address to write or phone.
[ Years ago now, I looked into Elco's line of electric OBs. Looked promising. Called
sales and the guy could not go into depth about the OBs, it was like he was
reading from notes. Then I looked at their design. I had already discovered
Parsun OBs, They are Chinese and make every kind of OB including electric, every
fishing boat in the orient is powered by Parsun. On the face of it, we'd think the
motors were foolproof and reliable. AND indeed, that's what Elco was selling, on
the blind face of it, as their own. PARSUN has no viable USA vendor, At that time.. ..
The point is, if you are going to flog your product in the US, you better iron out
all the kinks that turn customers off. Including untrained uninformed unenthusiastic
vendors. Incomplete specs, missing diagrams, nodownload copyrighted websites. ]
They have an accessible 50page Manual to study. An electric motor has no hoses,
exhaust, smell, oil, gasoline -- but an electric OB has a finicky and hugely expensive
dedicated battery system that has many must do's, should do's, don't do's and hoo
doo's required to keep the system happy in a salt environment.
Can't find anybody who has cruised with a Navy 6.0.* Epropulsion is 8 years old.
It should be further along with a kind of marketing friendliness that would reduce
meaningless hype and add transparency and owner or 3rd party detail, like a mag
article, or literate YouTube.
[*nor, for that matter, are there reports of anysailor using a Torqeedo Cruise 4 as
an auxiliary for cruising..]
Advertised as quiet, visited a YouTube farm, where one guy wound-up his Navy6.0
to a definite loud whine. An unpleasant mechanical noise I wouldn't like at a lower
rpms either.. something that needs hearing before buying. Prop noise has to be
louder than motor noise. And near silent when required.
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