What comes immediately to your mind when the talk among boating friends turns to electric boats and buying them? Do you think, “I’m not in the market for another boat right now – that’s a decision I can put off,” or “Even if it does fix the climate problem, that’s a lot of upfront expense I wasn’t planning on.”
If your answer was in the negative area, why wouldn’t you be in a rush to buy an electric boat, some of you would associate buying electric with the cost, probably most of us. If you could eliminate the cost factor – assume you won a good-sized lottery and the first money spent would be spent on an electric boat, from the selection of electric boats currently available, is there one or are there several that would interest you? How close in design to what you have now would it have to be to interest you?
Several in the electric boat business have said there’s a need to go from gas to electric but to sell the boating public on the need, the boats need to be better. Better in what way? I think deep down every boater could be happy with some of the current offerings, but in his mind is a picture of the day the weather turns suddenly bad and he is several miles offshore. If an electric boat can’t get him back to shore in a timely way – that’s a big problem. I can see the range as the biggest drawback. If I had to buy an electric boat it would have to be a hybrid for that extra margin of safety. There’s a name for my comfort zone need. It’s called “range anxiety.” To satisfy people like me, Torqeedo engines have their systems calculate and display the remaining range on the Torqeedo app.
At X-Shore Jenny Keisu says, “We believe that in order for people to change, the product needs to be better. It needs to be a better user experience. We won’t change just because it’s more environmentally friendly.” X-Shore is looking at high demand for their boats in Europe. By 2025 Amsterdam will be fossil-free and by 2025 the Norwegian fiords will be. Venice has banned motorboats in its canals but gondolas and electric boats are exempt.
The 26-foot X-Shore all-electric boat comes as an open bareboat that has various modules people can buy for diving, fishing or a social module that has sun beds, sofa and tables. You can buy the modules you want and move them in and out of the boat as needs change. For just the hull and engine the price is $329,000. A newer model is smaller, 21 feet, and less expensive, $139,000.
The first company to come out with a durable electric boat was the loose association of boat builders that together submitted a bid to provide 55 launch-type boats for the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893. The large pool around the Fair buildings represented the water Christopher Columbus came across in 1492 and the Fair celebrated the 400th anniversary of his trip to the New World. A month after submitting their bid to build the launches for the Fair, the group incorporated and became the ELCO Company. They had no plant or staff, equipment or experience working together, but they won the bid with the boat they submitted to the Fair. The performance of their boats drew the attention of world and industry leaders and gave them a good start in the boat-building business.
The ELCO launches at the Fair moved more than a million passengers and established ELCO as a major player in the pleasure boat business. ELCO still builds luxury launches. Early on when boat showrooms were not common, ELCO’s showroom in Manhattan reminded customers of ELCO’s offer of direct financing and the after care for their boats as a continuing package.
Over the years, changes in company ownership brought changes in priorities and wartime meant building for US and English military. Between wars ELCO brought out their Cruisette and Veedette model recreational boats, all attractive looking, well-built boats. ELCO designed and built boats from its startup in 1892 until it closed in 1949. Under the leadership of Joseph Fleming ELCO started up again in 1987 and built electric motorboats. ELCO was the first boat builder to use mass production methods of building.
What early users and boat builders are finding about electric powering of boats is that the electric motors are virtually maintenance-free. They are compact and lighter and combine well with solar panels. There are fewer moving parts, there is less winterizing and electric provides a pretty quiet ride. Fishermen on quiet lakes and ponds like the stealthy approach to the fish that the quiet ride gives them.
Beyond the range problem, there are disadvantages to electric power. Customers like to buy something new but hesitate if it’s unfamiliar. How far is the new product from the norm the customer is used to? As boaters, we are being urged to save the environment by making drastic changes in our boating. Most boaters I know will spend what they have to in order to get what they want but the challenge here is the change coming so fast we don’t have time to absorb what’s happening around us to make educated decisions.
There are other disadvantages to electric power – hull designs we are not used to seeing that accommodate the electric propulsion systems, the difficulty in most cases to retrofit, to just substitute the new electric for the old gas engine – this goes back to the efficiency of matching the new electric power with the design of the hull.
The company that builds Greenline Yachts began building hybrid electric boats in 2008 and today has eight models that are available all electric or hybrid. The company is planning a business expansion. Their mission is to push the boundaries of what is technologically possible to satisfy customers.
Michael Kohler of Silent Yachts builds catamarans up to 112 feet long that are covered with solar panels. The solar panels give the boats the energy to power the vessel and store unused energy in lithium-ion battery banks. This energy is also used to support household needs on board. Kohler says, “Instead of telling people to stop doing what they love, we need to provide them with options to continue to follow their passion in an eco-friendly manner.”
At Brunswick Corp., the president of Mercury says about their new Avator electric outboards, “We are taking efficiency to a new level opening up new ways to enjoy the boating experience.” Brunswick sees their new outboards as the first step in their electrification strategy and the company is also investing in energy storage, communication and control systems.
In California the Duffy Boat Company saw a need to go electric and back in 1970 they started building launch-style electric boats and have been doing that every year since 1970. They build a good product and as the need to go more electric moves ahead, they’re in a good position –already established and successful.
The ELCO company, currently known as ELCO Motor Yachts, makes electric and hybrid power and has brought out a line of outboard motors. The outboards look like other outboards but are electric. The ELCO slogan is “traditional on the outside, cutting edge on the inside.”