At 27# the 'cruiser' is unbeatable!
338's Yamaha 8-4 is over 110#! Add the gas and a battery to that!
But you'd have to have at least two dedicated batteries for the electric.
They should post some videos on their site. Immediately.
And another thing: A Whole Lot Less Noise.
(Maybe you can hear the batteries draining.)
Maybe you need a Yamaha generator to keep it charged.
Can this be too much a good thing?
What are the pros and cons here?
I'm sceptical because we've had electric boats for decades. The electric outboard was invented in the 1880's in France. What took so long to get to Germany?
Ray Electrocat
www.rayeo.com
has a 26' pontoon boat powered by
16 (ahem, SIXTEEN) Exide GC V bats
requiring TWO 25amp chargers.... (which you plug in overnight back at the dock, no doubt. And an overnight charge might not be enough.)
The motor doesn't generate more than 5hp on a 60v(!!!!) system.*
and the boat "comes with a rotating captain's seat."
This may be quiet power, but it'd be real quiet without enough juice.
The problem with electric power has always been the number and weight of batteries needed for a decent amount of time running.
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This edit at a later date (1/9/07)
I guess I'm getting punchy: There is a short paragraph in Boatbuilder magazine for Jan/Feb introducing the 2hp Torqueedo(sic) and pointing out that what we're looking at, in the house photo, is the lith/man. battery mounted on top of the unit. It is a unique machine in that the whole thing can be disassembled and folded into a knapsack. The bigger one has the battery options. Takes me awhile.
The rated range for the 'cruise' is (140km/h) 76 nmph on two 220amp 12v bats. Don't know if conversion is correct - or how it relates to pushing an A/C thru a chop. Cruising with this electric OB sure will require extra bats and a super off-grid charger.
What do you think about the Torgeedo's?
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* a visit to the >ray< site above is almost like going to another country where only fresh water and lakes exist. All the accessory equipment has strange names. Maybe a comparison can be made between the motors and power needed. It isn't clear to me what advantages the cruise model Torgeedo has over any other electric OB - except that it is aimed at the sailboat market. I guess. (I find the Torgeedo site uninformative and unfriendly. Really peculiar if you are trying to sell something. And google has never heard of these folks!)
5hp isn't enough power for any sailboat that has to be large enough to carry enough support batteries, imco. And if you're thinking solar for recharge you'll need 1/2 a football field for the array. Check out the solar page there.
As usual tho this is all an opinion.
Just throwing this stuff out here, in hopes that some informed human will illuminate this subject for us.
Cruising without the smell of gas and EXHAUST - and the noise and vibration of the motor - would be FANTASTIC.
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