And now something from sister site Aquablog (kidding), Mercury Marine is showing off electric boat motors at CES. Its 7.5e is already available, but new are the 20e, 35e, 75e and 110e sizes. All can be connected to existing motor mounts on boats, most likely pontoon boats here in the United States. The numbers/names correspond to their output in hectowatts, which, if you’re not Egon Spengler, equates in the case of the first three motors to to 2-3 horsepower, 5 hp, and 9.9 hp respectively. Mercury says it hasn’t released performance data for the two biggest motors yet.
While the existing 7.5e has an integrated battery pack, the bigger and more powerful motors require separate packs, available in 1-, 2.3- or 5.4-kilowatt-hour sizes. The 2.3 is what will be offered initially later this year – the 20e takes one pack, while the 35e takes two. Details about the even bigger motors are to be announced. The battery packs are provided by Mercury Marine along with the necessary power control module that ensures the overall system satisfies regulations and safety. Mercury also provides brackets to secure the battery packs.
This electric propulsion system can be retrofitted to existing boats or to new ones, again, most likely pontoons. This means Mercury Marine is working with individual boat dealers as well as boat manufacturers. To facilitate the transformation, it will also be dispatching product integration engineers as needed to dealers or manufacturers.
Mercury Marine says that even the smallest motor could push a pontoon up to 20 mph, which would be really all you need. Range is said to be one hour at full throttle or five hours at 50% throttle. Recharging is both complicated and incredibly easy. Each of the 48-pound 2.3-kWh battery packs can be hauled out and recharged. Alternatively, you can have an AC breaker installed on your boat, which Patrick Reinke of Mercury Marine says isn’t as scary or complicated as it sounds. With it, you can simply plug the boat/battery into an outlet in your boathouse or on a dock. The final alternative is to haul the boat out of the water entirely and recharge the batteries that way – if you haul the boat out any way, this is probably how you’d do it. Considering how much of a pain it can be to refill your boat with gasoline, being able to recharge with any of these methods doesn’t sound too bad.
What about price? Mercury Marine hasn’t released pricing for all the new motors, but the 20e goes for $6,500 and the 35e for $10,500. That includes the power control unit. The 2.3-kWh battery pack is then $1,989 each. Do the math and you’re looking at $8,489 for the 20e and $14,478. That obviously does not include installation.
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