Electric motor?

[RKO]

I just saw a C&C 27 that was powered by a motor from Electric Yacht. I thought electric motors were underpowered and hard to rely on.
Does anybody have experience with them? What do you think?

[Stumble]

The motors are fine, the problem is the batteries. For most people electric storage capacity simply isn't up to the demands placed on a boat. If the goal is just in and out of the harbor a few times a week then it is a great system.

[SkiprJohn]

Do a search on this site under Search then drop down to Google Search for "Electric Propulsion" and you'll get lots of information.

[finnarne]

I've just installed a 5Kw electric motor in my boat, 29 feet 3000kg.
No experience with it yet, waiting to get the boat into water on Tuesday.

But take a look at THE BIANKA LOG BLOG

[JRM]

Originally Posted by RKO

I just saw a C&C 27 that was powered by a motor from Electric Yacht. I thought electric motors were underpowered and hard to rely on.
Does anybody have experience with them? What do you think?

You're not alone in that thought. There's tons of "experts" with zero real experience that will love to tell you how bad electric is. When we first started looking at converting five years ago, you would have thought the electric auxiliary sailboat was evil incarnate, just waiting to murder us in our sleep. Heck, I think I remember someone telling me it would give an ex-girlfriend my new phone number (ok, so that was a joke, but not by much)

Five years later and I can tell you that electric is awesome on many levels, resale value not being one of them. Get it cheap, you'll love it. Other than that, we've about beat this topic to death.

We're converting the day sailing boat into a trawler. I'm taking the drive with me from boat to boat. I can part out the old boat and end up ahead of trying to sell it outright. It's a bummer of the current economy.

JRM

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[fungod]

We converted a year ago and it works great. We own a Newport 30 on SF bay. We rally just need to get in and out of harbor and to a lunch spot. For the day sailor and occasional overnights you ca not beat it. Going long distances and lots of motoring is not recommended. We plug in at night and she is ready to go the next day. We spent $9k and installed ourselves. Because we sail in a windy area it works as we are sailors and don't need to motor.


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[valhalla360]

The motors themselves are fine. Probably more reliable than IC engines.


The issue is power storage. A 20 gal tank (relatively small for a cruising boat) will give you upwards of a full 24hr at cruising speed for a lot of cruising boats.


A battery bank of similar dimensions will have a tough time giving you 24min at half cruising speed.


When someone comes out with a cost effective battery that holds even 1/4 the storage of the same volume of gas or diesel, we will see the end of the IC engine.


Until then electric motors will be limited to day sailors who just need to get in and out of the marina and purists who are happy to sit drifting with the sails flopping around rather than crank up an IC engine.


This isn't being negative, this is just discussing the facts. If you are willing to live with the major drawbacks, you can have an electric motor today.