Safe at Sea: Electric outboards
A recent article online on BoatTEST.com really captured my attention: WORLD’S MOST POWERFUL Electric Engines.
Today’s automotive industry has made dramatic progress in the race to manufacture/sell electric cars. Certainly, when the Ford Motor Company announced that the world’s best-selling vehicle in the United States — the F 150 truck (787,422 units sold in 2020 and, in fact, the best-selling vehicle since 1977) — was going electric in 2022 with its F-150 Lightning, the race took on a new dimension.
Now that race has “charged” up in the world of electric outboard engines. Finally, technology has made electric engines that are faster, with smaller batteries, and longer ranges.
Vision Marine Technology, out of Montreal, is taking orders for its E-Motion 180. According to Chief Executive Officer Alex Mongeon, the E-Motion 180 has the ability to reach 60 mph, a first in electric marine outboards. CBX, a Florida-based custom boat builder is hooked, “It is so cool because nobody (in the electric engine industry) has gone to this comparable horsepower.”
Mongeon states that this engine will fit any boat in the 18-foot to 26-foot range, and it charges overnight from a 220 watt outlet. Also an attractive feature of the engine is that, with fewer moving parts, maintenance of an electric engine is less expensive.
Certainly, what makes electric engines so desirable is that they are noiseless, odorless, and smokeless — “leaving nothing behind but the wake.” What does this add to the cost of an engine? According to BoatTEST, the cost is running approximately $5,000 more than a standard engine. The question is, “Just how much will the decreased cost of maintenance offset that $5,000 investment?” That question hasn’t been answered, though environmentally, the electric engine is “priceless.”
An intriguing aspect of electric engines centers around boat use in “marine protected areas (which comprise close to 25 percent of U.S. waters), the majority of which ban motorized boats. Many, however, allow electric boats (engines) because they are cleaner and make no sound. “The only sound you’ll hear,” Mongeon said, “is the water hitting the hull.”
Intrigued by the E-Motion 180? The Vision Marine Technology website invites people to book a sea trial. Better yet, attend the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show on Oct. 27-31 and “sea” it for yourself!
Pat Schmidt is a member of America’s Boating Club of Sanibel-Captiva. For more about the chapter and its courses, visit www.sancapboating.club or contact education@sanibelcaptivasps.org or 612-987-2125.