mercury electric outboard

Beady · Post by **Beady** » Mon Mar 07, 2011 4:42 pm

I was in Bass Pro today and saw an electric 4hp motor. It looked just like an outboard but had two toggle switches on the front one for on/off and the other for forward reverse. It carried a hefty $2,000.00 price tag. I thought it was cool and started to look for info online but can not find anything about this motor.

The price is more than I can spend but the idea is cool. I wanted to see what the current draw on a 4hp motor would be and how long it can run on batteries. It would need a "battery pack" of more than just one battery to supply that much energy. I thought there would be all kinds of stuff on the Mercury site but I can't find anything.

If anybody has a link to more info could you post it?

Paul · Post by **Paul** » Mon Mar 07, 2011 5:49 pm

January's Practical Sailor did an article on electirc outboards. While they did not test the version you saw (4hp rated), they wrote about a 2 & 3 hp version. The 3 horse was tested on a few vessels including a 28' Herrshof Rozinante yawl and a 19' Cape Dory. Top speed on the 19 footer was 4.2 knots, 3.9 on the 28'. At full tilt it ran the battery flat in aout 15 min.

On a 10' Avon half speed stretched the range to 2.5 miles and slow speed allowed 8.5 nautical miles in flat water.

Herein lies the problem. Increased power (hp = wattage) brings decreased duration. This requires more batteries or a lighter boat. I'm not anti-fossil fuel. I figure my using gas gives purpose to the existance of the dinosaurs (I'm kidding!). In the meantime I have a '63 Johnson 10hp I found, have scrounged parts for and am trying to ressurect.

sauerleigh · Post by **sauerleigh** » Mon Mar 07, 2011 5:56 pm

I did some checking and was unable to come up with any on a Merc electric. I did check out the http://www.torqeedo.com/us/hn/home.html which is pricey but looks pretty good. I don't know how handy you are you could build your own using a serviceable lower unit and this http://www.electricmotorsport.com/store ... marine.php and they also sell e-outboards.

I see you're in South West Ohio. Something like this might work out well on a small inland lake but I won't bet my life on it if you plan to use it on the Ohio River.
I love electric powered stuff, for handling a large body of water in bad conditions, I just don't feel the technology is there yet.

Just my opinion.

Beady · Post by **Beady** » Mon Mar 07, 2011 6:47 pm

Thanks guys. I am on a small inland lake and did use a trolling motor part of last year because I had so many problems with my outboard. I was pricing new gasoline outboards and saw this Mercury as I said the price tag was double that of gasoline powered. I had never seen anything like this and was looking for info. I think the technology is cool but no way I can justify the cost and that is just the cost of motor not the batteries. I would have thought they would have all kinds of info showing off a "green" outboard. Where I dock my boat they do not have electric so recharging the batteries would be a bear.

Considering the cost of new outboard I think I will be looking at repair options for my old one. Who knows maybe there will be windmills at the dock charging batteries for the sailboats some day. If anyone else has info please post it. I would like to read up on the technology for someday.

sauerleigh · Post by **sauerleigh** » Mon Mar 07, 2011 7:22 pm

Being quite mad (insane) I've messed about with electric power for a few years now. I haven't checked into outboards but there are lots of electric heads on YouTube including me, but I'm no expert. I thought it interesting that the Torgeedo uses brushless motors very similar and possibly the same as those used in R/C airplanes. They are light weight and produce lots of power at relatively low voltage with a very high current draw.

To toot my own horn again, check out http://www.bricycles.com/home

Paul · Post by **Paul** » Mon Mar 07, 2011 10:47 pm

So I got this really wild notion because of an add I saw on Craig's list. I'm all about clean lines on a boat so I says to myself: What if we could scrounge the innards of a wrecked jet ski. Put in a naca intake just in front of the rudder post and poke the skooter pooter out the fantail just above the water line. It needn't be steerable because I have a rudder to do that work. It also moves the weight of propulsion from aft of the transom to a spot below the the cockpit. Probably want to create a noise barrier/bulkhead between this and the cabin space. Then I'll need to add vents and a blower to make sure gasses don't collect where they shouldn't, etc. Just thinking out loud.

mcrandall · Post by **mcrandall** » Mon Mar 07, 2011 11:12 pm

Cool ideer Paul! Hmmmmm...

Jmckamey · Post by **Jmckamey** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 5:03 am

I have given the jet ski idea a thought or two myself. I don't know if you have operated a jet ski before but, the real problem is fouling the intake. It only takes a couple of leaves or a small stick to make the unit completly cavitate. Then your not going anywhere. We use to have to turn the ski over to clear the intake and I was always amazed as to how little it took to be dead in the water. If you could over come this problem then you might have something.

sauerleigh · Post by **sauerleigh** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 5:25 am

Efficiency would be poor in a displacement boat compared to a conventional propeller.

skyking · Post by **skyking** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 7:23 am

I tried the electric motor and I must say it was nice and quiet...

BUT...it only took a hard blow one time to convince me that I was underpowered...It was border line disasterous coming into the marina and not having control....My wife got a workout keeping us off of the other boats with the boat hook

I was using a 52Lb Thrust which like I said did a nice job on a <5kt breeze

anything above that was cause for concern..JMO

I now use a 9.9....No complaints...Let her blow

astrorad · Post by **astrorad** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 10:28 am

sauerleigh...I really enjoyed your Youtube videos...looks great and fun and functional...

tgentry · Post by **tgentry** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 7:29 pm

The problem with electric outboards is, in addition to the price and weight listed, you have to factor in cost and weight of the appropriate battery.

Now add the fact that when you run out of "go" it will take hours of being tied to shore power vs. minutes filling up the tank.

Interesting tech, and very quiet in use, but i don't think we're there quite yet.

Anhinga · Post by **Anhinga** » Wed Mar 09, 2011 7:51 pm

I've been running a minnkota 24 volt troller (75 lb thrust?) on my C-26 for three years now and I love It! I use a solar panel and charge controller to charge my battery banks while the boat is on the mooring so it's always "gassed up" I'm on a lake and while true it won't save you while clawing off the shore in a blow, overall it makes me a better sailor. I stay in if things look ugly and I've gotten good at getting on and off the mooring under sail alone. More often than stormy weather we'll run out of wind and I'll have to motor back. We've run it the length of my home lake, about 6 miles without issue but at a somewhat lesurely pace. The troller always is faster than waiting for the wind to come back! Another added trick is that I can spin the 26 around in it's own length now so it's really nimble at the dock.
For the sailing I do, I wouldnt go back to gas.

All best

-JK
S/V Anhinga