Electric Outboard with Tom Cunliffe
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 ต.ค. 2024
- Fed up with your petrol outboard engine? Thinking of going electric? I took the plunge a few years ago and I've never looked back. Here's a quick video to walk you through the pros and cons. I hope it helps you make a good decision.
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Copyright Tom Cunliffe 2022
I’m a electric outboard convert. After a night at the pub on my way back to my anchored boat, it’s such a pleasure to be able to hear the stars.
"It was a brewers tide". Nice one Tom
Completely agree with your observations there Tom. Had one for 5 years without an issue. Used sensibly for tender business it's kept up to charge with the solar panel. No plugs, oil, or explosive liquids on board. A far cry from fiddling with a choke and pull-cord, my wife now loves the outboard and is independent on runs ashore without fear of the temperamental two strokes.
Thanks Tom. After over 50 years of cursing outboards there is now a sensible solution. The number of times I've struggled to get a petrol outboard fastened to the dinghy transom. Then struggled even more to get it started. And then given up and had to row, with my passenger complaining the outboard was stuck in her back.
I use a British Seagull!.. Cheap as heck and as long as you service them properly... Extremely reliable and last forever!!
They're not in business anymore, and while an epic engine for decades, it's very polluting compared to other outboards, and compared to electric, it's just noisy and requires regular maintenance (electric does not).
It's almost unfortunate these Seagulls are virtually indestructible. It gives you little incentive to go electric (except for the price. What you save on petrol, maintenance, and parts, in time makes up for the investment).
My 2-piece EPropulsion Spirit 1.0 took me from Darthaven to Totnes and back on the tide, it recharges from solar in about 3 hours and the battery floats if dropped into the briny deep (don't ask....)
Not as powerful as my previous Tohatsu 2.5 2 stroke, but at 3 knots it will push my little inflatable quite literally all day
Simply brilliant
That does sound good. Perhaps a small solar panel built into the top of the engine could charge it up when the sun’s shining?
@@fezmancommentsePropulsion batteries are charged while sailing, using the prop as generator. Torqeedo, on the other hand, does come with an optional solar panel, but I prefer to use the large panels I already have on my main boat.
I used a Torqueedo to push my wooden Folkboat along and it did so wonderfully - a long weekend cruising, using the outboard for the last half mile or so into harbours or marinas (they don’t like boats sailing in nowadays!), would be well within range, often using less than half the battery.
I've just invested in one of these on my 650kg 16ft gaffer and it's been brilliant. The one I got (epropulsion) charges up the battery while you are sailing too.
I purchased one this year, very expensive but I am most impressed, far better than petrol. The only problem is the battery and arm can be quickly removed and it’s not possible to lock it, so I have to take it with me when I leave the dinghy on the beach and it’s quite heavy.
A very good Tuesday morning to you sir and your family from Wellington Somerset
Marvelous, hoping that the market will start to have these popping up second hand.
Unlikely, no one wants to get rid theirs! 😀
I've been using the ePropulsion Spirit for about 4 years to push a 20ft keel boat out and back into the mooring - love it.
Well if you recommend it Tom that's good enough for me. Good to see you at the boat show and looking forward to tomorrow's web chat. Yours Aye, Buster.
Also a fan of the electric outbaord for many of the reasons you cited. Gillian can manage to acarry/manoeurver it, no fuel on board, quiet and more environmental friendly.
Do you know how cobalt is mined to make the batteries for electric vehicles ?
Hi Tom, great video. I have one had it about 6 years, in which time the price has about doubled! I love it, the main things for me are lifting it bit by bit from the boat to the tender, Ive low freeboard so I can sit in the dinghy and lift it off the deck with one hand. For charging I plug it into the accessories port on my PWM solar controller the battery has a built in BMS so job done from excess solar in the afternoons. It’s away at the moment having produced a fault code, eye watering price for the repair but I wouldn’t go back to a smelly one.
Best way to go lovely steady pace look at the views no rush and saving on the environment. well done.
Just got the same motor...a Torqueedo Travel 1103; and absolutely love it. it's perfect for tootling round the local coves in complete silence. Another charging option is solar. You can get a dedicated solar panel, but I already had a large panel and rechargeable lithium generator with AC/DC output. so I use that instead. It renders you completely free of fuel dependency.
Tom. So relate to your comments on gas powered issues. But not yet converted mine to electric. Waiting for next group of options for more speed and faster charging. Probably next year!
For use as a tender you're absolutely bang on. They need to come down in price though and you must remember to keep them charged. Other than that they're a perfect solution. Thank you.
Newport Vessels came out with reasonably priced ones recently, and best of all you don't have to use a ridiculously expensive proprietary battery.
What's not to like? The price, sadly. It's about four times the price of an equivalent petrol outboard. Everything else is great about it, I agree, but I can get a used 2.5 hp petrol one for 1/10 the price of this electric one. I hope these will come down in price as the demand increases, because they are lovely!
@@brownnoise357 Sodium-based batteries are already being sold and used. Where the application isn't particularly weight-sensitive or weight-critical, sodium-based batteries will dominate within 5-10 years. We won't run out of sodium.
Fair point well made. Thanks.
@@brownnoise357 that's just absolute drivel. You're being lied to buddy.
They might be more expensive but definitely worth the investment for the reasons Tom highlighted. We're thinking of going one step further and replacing our main diesel engine with an electric motor . The current engine is a bit knackered so with solar panels, wind and hydro plus a few batteries it's a viable solution. We'll still have a backup diesel generator but that'll be tiny compared to what we currently have
2.5 hp propabe
I love to bits how the old fella (and I mean this approvingly, granddad vibes and all that) is half way stuck in the mud and get off my lawn and all that with hating the buzzing noise of tenders in an anchorage, but the other 50% of him is modern & hip & delighted by new technology such as an electric motor. Nice balance.
I have an e-propulsion evo. It is brilliant and so easy to use - much nicer than my Honda 2.3 hp. Never go back to petrol!
No sucking up weed or sand for cooling water way to go thank you Tom
I am using the same Torqeedo plus a square meter folding solar panel and even went down Danube on a dinghy for 10 days trip with ease. It is comparable with 5HP petrol engine.
I am planning to build sailing dinghy and Torqeedo will be my auxiliary power. No smell, no loud noise, I will just purchase one more battery just for increased safety.
Looks great Tom. May have to rethink my outboard setup. Cheers dude.
Hello Tom, did you purchase the bruchless dc motors for the boats
This sort of electric outboad with integrated LiIon battery of course is quite handy with a dinghy. For my 17' sailboat I found it, at 2000...2500 Euros, too expensive. For that use it is no problem putting a battery and wiring into the boat. I chose one of the more „conventional“ type (eg. Minnkota), but with brushless motor and 70 pounds thrust a bit stronger. It cost me 390 Euros plus 120 Euros for a 72 Ah AGM battery.
the problem is the need to carry the AGM battery - its heavy, not waterproof, and you cant use all 72 of those Ah; I used to run a Yamaha M20 electric outboard on a skiff, and it worked fine pulling 40A from an old 110Ah house battery, but lugging that much lead on and off a boat every couple of hours is a real faff
@@TheAncientMarinersBlog My 72 Ah in reality is 2 x 36 Ah (sorry!). Easy to stow and carry, but I leave them on the boat all year round (of course well loaded over the winter). With about 2...3 hours running per week they are almost completely reloaded by a rather small solar panel on deck. During this summer I only once had to fill them up by land power. To my knowledge AGMs are gas- and acid- tight.
Someone needs to put up a video of how to maintain a simple outboard engine, they should start first or second pull, if its not starting well or not running great drain the carb. Having said that I started this season with an epropulsion and I love it! OK it's it's way more expensive but It's not just not petrol it's a different experience altogether, the wildlife seem to like too.
Where the main man? He's usually good on the comments. I hope you're OK Tom.
Thanks Tom it would make sense for me to purchase one of these I just use my outboard to get from the harbour to my mooring and with the price of fuel I would probably save a lot of money in the long run thank you great Video ⛵⛵
How was the talks at the boat show unfortunately I missed your talks spirit was my favourite yacht there wow !
FINE BUSINESS! Dont see your life jacket in dingy!!! CHEERS from WESTCOAST CANADA!
Thinking about putting one on my P-18. Sailing small lakes for now.
I agree Tom, we use our dink as you use yours. If anchored in the Caribbean and it’s half a mile to the dock I can see that petrol outboard is more suited. It depends on how one uses the dink, horses for courses. Don’t buy a Range Rover to do the school run…..
Electric is absolutely the way of the future!
Thanks Tom, wish I’d had one of those when we were in Salcombe a few weeks ago, didn’t fancy rowing so never got ashore
Salcombe Harbour Taxi; Ch 12
A bit late now, but next time!
I feel a bit bad now. I live about a mile from Saltstone rock on one of the creeks in the Salcombe estuary and have a petrol outboard on my 3.5m rib. I’m not a yacht owner so technically it’s not a tender so am I excused? 🙂they are the future though and I will invest when the price comes down and the HP goes up!
Are you on the Frogmore side? Very quiet up there, even with those occasional petrol outboards!
@@fezmancomments no I’m on the western side but I think the great man is referring to the traffic that makes it’s way to and from the Crabshell on the tide.
totally agree. 1000%
Tom, I am thinking of a torqeedo but I watched a utube video that said the battery connection was weak and hard to connect. What do you think of this please.
Yes we bought a Torqueedo last season for all the reasons TC states. However I do agree that the main cable connection can be a bit fiddly - that is the only draw back. I am going to put a smidgen of that slide eeze stuff around the connector this season. A couple of line up marks would also be useful.
We’ve got one of these for our tender and it’s much easier for us to lift/store too
I bought a propane outboard. No petrol fumes or leaking. Less noise. Less maintenance. And it runs off the same fuel I use for my stove. I find the noise useful in the fog. People hear where you are.
I too was a convert….. until it died after very little use after two years. I have had to buy a 2-stroke while I tussle with the manufacturer of the electric motor. There is something just night right about putting electric motors and circuit boards below the water line and keeping that water out with just one o-ring.
Yes the outboard has the disadvantages of oil etc. but the electric is very very slow and comes with all the electrical problems like corroding cables and failed o-rings.
fab _ would you kindky follow up with your charging system
“A brewer’s tide…..” …..haha.
Was that anchorage from Sweden?
I'm the Swedish guy that came over to your boat in a dinghy after the "storm" .
Yes it is! and Hello to you! Nasty blow that was.
Mr Cunliffe! Was that you pulling away without a safety lanyard around your outboard attaching it to your tender? Tut. 😅 😂
Hi Captain Tom,
What is the conversion math for 6hp to watts? What size electric motor are you using in this video?
Thanks
6hp is 4.5kw
9 kw batery 2 hours
I have in my 8' inflatable dinghy a Watersake 34 electric motor which cost $240 Australian dollars plus a 40 amps battery and performs brilliant. I sold the 2 troke 3.5 hp Tohatsu and will never will get a petrol outboard again.
What does it go like with 5-6 people on board ?
Agree but cost at this point in time eg to replace with electric motor in my ute $15000 replacement petrol recon motor $5500 cheers n beers Marty Australia
Thanks Tom! In this case, though, you're preaching to the converted. My electric outboard is probably my favourite purchase of the last five years.
I'm mostly using it on my sailing dinghy, and have found a few accessories useful. More info here if anyone's interested: th-cam.com/video/3d2jzglB4fM/w-d-xo.html
Greatly enjoy your videos.
I favor the 2200 dollar e propulsion Spirit 1.0 Plus
3HP
1kW
Electric Outboard Motor
Electric certainly has its place on small engines. Outboards, scooters, bikes etc. Still don't think its suitable for car sized and above though. Ive recently purchased the thrustme kicker electric outboard and its unbelivable. Weighs less than 5kg inclyding the built in battery and pushes a dinghy along very nicely.
It's jolly nice and yep on most practical levels I see the point. However!! That looks like a Torqeedo 1103 which the cheapest I can find is about 2000 quid!! My little Snapdragon 23 I had including a 10hp electric start Honda Outboard in a well, and Auto-Tiller etc was £1500 for a whole functioning yacht! 2 grand for a tender motor, for the average Joe is just way too much!!
20 pound tring miee jaxout 200 watts 400 watt wibg febertir great hybbride
Get a proper rowing boat that you can also sail. No petrol. No charging. If you don't have the space, consider a nesting dinghy
Looks like the Swedish archipelago? Have you been here again?😉
Howard Keel where have you been all my life?
Lithium batteries can be a bit hit and miss in the safety stakes! How do you feel about that Tom?
I certainly hear what you say but I haven't had a problem. I keep it well out in the air when charging and it never heats up at all. One can only say as one finds. For the record, I do not have lithium batteries on my main domestic bank!
@@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns Electric batteries and seawater are dangerous. I have not dared to have such a battery in my sailboat.
@@kjellpedersen7565oh please. Any motor boat has had batteries in them for years. People seem to forget this.
That outboard is the Torqeedo Travel 1103. $3000 USD and could be more Pound Sterling as the pound crashes against the dollar. Not a great time for Brits to be buying imports.
I was going to mention life jacket and kill cord, but then realised that if you have a life jacket on, you can't swim fast enough to avoid the propeller running over you. 😱
I never did understand the 10, 15, even 20 hp outboards on people's dinghies, bashing over the waves and getting all wet, breaking down all the time, and the noise.
Birmingham Navy here. You confuse energy and power. Batteries do not store power, they store energy. When static, the meter will be displaying the battery voltage. Voltage is there to drive the current to the motor. Power (kWatts) = volts X amps. Energy is the measure of how long that power can be delivered for = kW X hours (kWhr). Sorry to pull you up, but folk look to you for high content knowledge so you need to be right. Agree with everything you say about the electric outboard.
Always good to hear from the Navy. Thanks for the nudge. Like all good ocean sailors I've known about the vitally important 'Watts = volts x amps' since I was in short trousers, but you put it very clearly. What I've never understood is how it can read the volts or whatever it does and tell me how much grunt is left in the batts. It certainly does and I don't really need to understand how, so Praise the Lord!
@@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns As a battery is charged the electrical 'potential difference' between the terminals increases. PD is measured in Volts. The greater the PD the greater the energy stored in the battery. It is all 'potential energy' because 'nowt happens until you make the circuit by connecting a load. In the outboard the motor decides how much current (Amps) it needs to do what you are asking it to do with the speed controller. The voltage pushes the Amps around the circuit, through the load. As the energy is transferred the PD falls and the voltage and current decrease until all the energy is gone. Therefore measuring the voltage is an indication of energy stored. It is not exact, but good enough. Many electrical principles can be understood by relating them to water. PD is similar to water pressure, current (Amps) is the flow through the hosepipe, your thumb over the end of the pipe is your throttle lever. As the water tank empties, the pressure in the pipe falls and the flow reduces to a dribble.... Must go, the Birmingham Navy must 'attend' to an irritating jet skier in the anchorage...
I would put a roll up solar panel in it for emergencies
yes regen prop
I priced these up about 18 months ago. Thinking they were expensive I thought I'll wait until they drop in price! Drop... they've gone up! Way to expensive.
Hello Tom, I hope you are very well. Electric outboards are far too pricey and not very powerful.
I just use a 3.5 Tohatsu 2-stroke which cost £190 used, and will outlive me unlike your digital gadgets..
Take care, Jerry, Marihøna, Newport.
wrong
Personally I don't trust Electric motors on a boat. I have been a sailing instructor and used a petrol outboard engine on a tender to rescue meny other people and boats as well as to tow my own boat when the prop had a rope around it. I personally believe a good outboard it is a very inportent safety device for any boat. I think electric outboards are suitable for river and inland water ways only. That may not be pc these days but that's my view.
wrobg
Paddle
Tender yes, but as the kicker motor for getting in/out of harbor or motoring when there are storms...no way would I want to rely on electric motor. Electric motors may last near forever but the batteries only 10 years. Lithium batteries are a flash in the pan, as demand increases for lithium to put into vehicles, the cost of small portable lithium batteries is going to become cost prohibitive.
Hope your not promoting in Calais!!
Lithium batteries and water don’t mix. A fire in a boat is frightening. See all those fires in electric cars snd scooters? Boats are next.
wring
😳💵😂
They are completely over priced though.
While I have great respect for Tom I do not like explosive lithium ion batteries, which most of the electric vehicles use. Until there is a safe battery for electric vehicles that lasts I’ll use gasoline. Note ev car batteries last five years but making them puts out more carbon footprint than a car does in ten. I don’t see the “cleaner “ part of the ev movement at all.
Tesla batteries are still at 90% after 200k miles. Look up the channel Jerryrig everything, he has done a comprehensive video on the cleanliness of eV vs internal combustion
@@chrisbutler851 not sure where you get your fiction from but most evs after five years, regardless of miles, have almost dead batteries. This is fact. They are also very expensive to replace. Maybe in areas where the temp doesn’t vary more than twenty degrees they can last longer but lith ion batteries do not like temps below freezing and just die off quick for no reason. Ask any tradesman with cordless equipment if you leave them on ground for any length of time it kills new batteries. The manufacture of them also produces a lot of carbon.
@@jacilynns6330 the warranty on the model S batteries is 8 years or 150,000 miles, whichever comes first, with minimum 70% retention of Battery capacity over the warranty period so you'd probably be ok if they did die after 5
Small petrol engines are best for us who live permanently in the sailboat. I'm mostly at anchor. Has a windmill. Stores electricity for lights and pumps. I have a solar panel. Can't charge an engine from them. We have dark time in Norway for half the year. I use about 8 liters of petrol a year. Takes me from the Sailboat to shore. I think 90% of us sailors must have a petrol engine. To the rubber boat. It is not more environmentally friendly with electric motors. The whole of Europe will soon be without enough electricity. Where are we going to get electricity from? Cars on electricity. Boats on electricity. No, it's not going well. England and Norway have gas and oil. We can use our petrol engines for hundreds of years. I have more faith in Gas engines. Not petrol. But gas.