6 ms·

They're selling a 25-40 hp equivalent. My boat needs something like two 75 HP motors to run safely at displacement speeds, and much more to get on plane. In c

They're selling a 25-40 hp equivalent. My boat needs something like two 75 HP motors to run safely at displacement speeds, and much more to get on plane. In case you're curious, it's about 10M long. You have to have a larger boat to travel away from shore with any safety... small boats have to stick to the coast. My boat isn't actually very big, and doesn't have the range or stability to travel between continents away from shore, either. Electric scooters and electric outboards have been around for a while, they're okay for what they do. However, what I would need (and most of the people who own boats larger than 5M long) is the equivalent of a tesla battery pack and motors... which aren't available.

jessaustin 7y ago
It's understandable that the first useful motors would be smaller than you seem to require. Big boats are fun and useful, but so are small boats. Someone will eventually make motors big enough for your needs. In the meantime, other boaters will enjoy the motors described in TFA. If you want to "travel between continents", get a sailboat. No powerboat is practical for that. If you're just talking about a fishing trip, powerboats smaller than 10M can certainly get you out of sight of shore.
- Accujack 7y ago
  >If you want to "travel between continents", get a sailboat. No powerboat is practical for that Not true. Lots of power cruisers are out there, and all commercial traffic (cargo, people shipping, etc) happens via motor vessels.
andyrebele 7y ago
There are 3 answers to the "higher power" topic: 1) higher power motors are easy, bigger batteries are expensive and heavy. 2) frequency and regularity of usage are the best determinants of whether electric makes economic sense, not size/power, but the bigger power boats tend to go infrequently and highly variable distances. 3) longer-term the low utilization rate high capex problem is solved by shared usage models (as it has been in every other field).

jessaustin 7y ago

It's understandable that the first useful motors would be smaller than you seem to require. Big boats are fun and useful, but so are small boats. Someone will eventually make motors big enough for your needs. In the meantime, other boaters will enjoy the motors described in TFA. If you want to "travel between continents", get a sailboat. No powerboat is practical for that. If you're just talking about a fishing trip, powerboats smaller than 10M can certainly get you out of sight of shore.

Accujack 7y ago
>If you want to "travel between continents", get a sailboat. No powerboat is practical for that Not true. Lots of power cruisers are out there, and all commercial traffic (cargo, people shipping, etc) happens via motor vessels.

andyrebele 7y ago

There are 3 answers to the "higher power" topic: 1) higher power motors are easy, bigger batteries are expensive and heavy. 2) frequency and regularity of usage are the best determinants of whether electric makes economic sense, not size/power, but the bigger power boats tend to go infrequently and highly variable distances. 3) longer-term the low utilization rate high capex problem is solved by shared usage models (as it has been in every other field).