The Future is Here and So Are Electric Outboard Motors?
If you follow me, you know I'm dedicated to trying to do my part to help slow the effects of climate change and protect the outdoors we all love. (If you haven't seen my Buy a Tee, I'll Plant a Tree campaign, please read about it here.)
So it's not a surprise that my newsfeed seems to have more and more stories about the growing number of available electric vehicles being offered for sale here in the U.S. This made me wonder what the state of the electric outboard market was, so I decided to Google it. I thought I’d share what I found.
Electric Outboard Motors Are Not Trolling Motors
First off, electric outboard motors are not trolling motors. Unlike the trolling motors that only go at slow trolling speeds, today’s true electric outboard motors can provide much higher power. They are designed to be used as the primary power source.
Mercury Marine will have electric outboards available by 2023.
Mercury Marine will have electric outboards available by 2023.
Note: I learned that electric outboard motors, as well as other electric vehicles, are measured by W (watts) instead of hp (horsepower). So if you are looking for a 3 HP electric outboard motor, it should be a 1000 W outboard that has an equivalent power of a 3 HP gas motor. To help better understand the power range of electric outboard motors (especially for those who are new to the electric motors), I'll just use HP to describe the power of electric outboards in this post.
Even small electric outboards - for example, the popular 3hp electric outboard motor - would be enough to power boats weighing up to 1.5 tons (yep, 1.5 tons) including dinghy boats, inflatables, and small sailboats, at a speed of 5 knots.
The flood of info about electric outboards became a little overwhelming, so I decided for now to just focus on four main areas that seemed to be frequently asked about these engines.
Runtime & Range
The electric outboard motor runtime and range depend on how fast you run it, how heavy the boat is, (if you're on the ocean, how much tide is running and in which direction), the battery charge state, the temperature and other factors.
Most electric boat motors will allow you to adjust it to a slower speed for extra range and runtime. Plus you can always read the battery level/estimated range left, so you’ll never get stuck.
I found the table below that shows the estimated range and runtime of the 6 hp electric outboard at different speed levels with a single charge of one battery:
Electric Outboard Motor Speed
So how fast are electric boat motors? The max speed of electric outboard motors varies greatly between different boats and working environments like stated above. The higher power, the higher speed. Below is another chart I found of real-world test reports using 1.0 electric outboard motors in a selection of different styles of boats:
Want a higher power electric outboard to keep your boat at a higher planing speed? It’s still tough to do with today’s technology. Just as I mentioned above, the electric outboard motors need a large battery capacity to keep a high speed. The amount of battery power needed to move a boat is like 10x more than a motor vehicle. Let’s say you can go at 5 knots with a 10 hp electric outboard motor. And if you want to speed up to 15 knots, you will probably need a 100 hp electric outboard, and that requires much more energy and battery than we can imagine and will cost a fortune. That’s why the electric outboard motors under 20hp (3hp/4hp/5hp/10hp motors) are still the mainstream in the consumer market.
Electric Outboard Motor Price
Torqeedo Deep Blue 80
Think about the challenges of battery size vs range in electric outboard motors. The electric outboard boat motor needs a large battery capacity, especially if you are planning for a long trip. Given that the batteries have lower energy density compared to gas and a boat is around 5 to 10 times less efficient in energy economy compared to a similar weight car, you’ll need a lot of energy (i.e. batteries) stored on the electric outboard motor to push the boat along. And the batteries are expensive. Another reason is that the economies of scale have not kicked in yet within the industry, although the electric outboard motors are getting more and more popular these days.
Electric Outboard Motor Battery Charging
Evoy 150 outboard motor
The good news is that most electric outboard motors can be fully charged overnight, so it’s convenient and won’t impede your schedule.
Solar charging is also possible. You can discharge and charge the battery at the same time, meaning you can extend the range of your boat on sunny days
Some Good Reasons to Go for an Electric Outboard Motor
The benefit of electric outboard motors is obvious to anglers:
Silent. You will hear virtually nothing on board your boat. There will be no disturbing noise to spook the fish. It’s only you and nature.
Clean. There will be no greasy dirt to stain your hands, clothes, deck, and trunk during use and transportation if you get an electric outboard motor for the boat.
Less Maintenance. Thanks to direct-drive technology, the electric outboard motor has less moving parts, reducing the time and cost of regular maintenance.
Exhaust-free. There are no fuel or exhaust smells, so it protects the health of you and the family.
With more authorities banning the use of combustion motors on their lakes, electric outboard motors have become the only option for some anglers and boating enthusiasts. It is a new trend and could be the future of boating. Will it be in yours?
Take care and tight lines,
Troy