Electric Cruiser

Yeah a turnkey solution is going to be expensive. Torqueedo lists 1000€/kWh so 60k plus 10k for a pod drive. But going with companies that produce or sell electric boat drives is probably your best bet. This is a list of names I've stumbled across, but I haven't researched them really:

Torqeedo Cruise​

Outboard - Deep Blue 50 R - Torqeedo https://www.torqeedo.com/en/products/outboards/deep-blue/deep-blue-80-r/M-3201-00.html
aquawatt Green Power 50V 15,5/13 kW​

Elektro Außenbordmotoren | aquawatt Green Marine Technologies http://www.aquawatt.at/GB/elektro_aussenbordmotoren_14_GB.html
Karvin 5500​

Electric Outboard Motor - TECHNICAL DATA - KARVIN.eu https://www.karvin.eu/karvin-motor-technical-data
Ray Electric outboard ​

PropEle Electric motors, Inc ​

Rayeo Electric Outboard​

Elco Electric Outboard​

Minn Kota​

Fischer Panda​

Oceanvolt​

Standard Systems - Oceanvolt https://oceanvolt.com/price-examples/
electricmotorsport.com​

https://www.electricmotorsport.com
thema marine​

http://www.tema.hr/marine/
boatdesign.net forum electric propulsion​

https://www.boatdesign.net/forums/electric-propulsion/
Stealth E40 outboard ​

https://www.stealthelectricoutboards.com/
RiPower 10 (15HP)​

https://ripower.de/elektro-aussenborder/​

 

New Electric:
Marine - New Electric EN http://www.newelectric.nl/marine/

Pakket 4: Planing hull boats up to 9 meter or 2.5 ton displacement

• 60kW motor, 85kWh lithium-ion battery
• 3 phase 10kW charger, dc converter and switching material.
• €39.500 excluding VAT component casing and conversion

 

Or, resolving to stick to slow speeds:

Package 3: Displacement hull boats up to 15m or 20ton

• 40kW motor, 65kWh lithium-ion battery
• 3 phase 10kW charger, dc converter and switching material.
• €29.500 excluding VAT component casing and conversion

 

On the bright side LiFePO4 prismatic cells are getting cheaper. Just saw an offer on aliexpress for 273€/kWh including vat. Not sure what brand they are though so you'd have to test them if they deliver the capacity they promise. EDIT: But if you build using 280Ah batteries that is like 64 prismatic batteries.

Oh wow New Electric looks like a pretty great offer!

 

I can't get over how good that offer! You could still build it cheaper with DIY but not by much, depending on what your time is worth. I'm strangely excited about this haha. I think because it shows the market is maturing. It's not some overblown numbers for greenwashing but positioned as a viable solution. Does that fit with your budget? It's probably much easier and cheaper to find someone to retrofit a boat with planned out solution.

But a diesel would probably still be cheaper depending on how often you use the boat. It might also be more environmentally friendly.

Also interesting is that going from the first option to the second and save 10k, you'd need to make your boat 25% more energy efficient to get the same range. But going from 12 to 15m is probably going to cost way more than that. Of course you're also going to save on the generator and 20kWh batteries are going to weigh about 0.2t.

For a solar boat that unfortunately isn't an option, you can only harvest so much (or so little) energy from the sun. So you need the length and a very lightweight boat.

 

One of my favorite things about the concept of electric motive power is the number of growing ways that power can be tapped to replenish. Solar and dockside plug-in aren't the only ways electric is generated for boats

We even have the technology, thank you Nikola, to transmit electrical power over the airways. I can see a wave generator being developed for small craft and something like how the old self-winding watches worked.

-Will (Dragonfly)

 

Read the fine print, no VAT, no battery boxes, no installation. The price is just for a collection of parts and it's understandably low since they probably have business and volume discounts when purchasing. I especially love the 10kW 3 phase charger, after all it's really common that marinas have docks with 3 phase power.

 

Do I detect sarcasm? Probably true but I'm sure they can provide you with a slower single phase charger just as well.
And I think the advantage is that you get all the puzzle pieces and support or a manual how to assemble. There is no big question marks about "will this fit together and will it work?". So I assume it's similar to how someone would install an inboard diesel engine with tanks.

 

A single phase will not have the output power to fast charge.

 

This is all marketing Dejay. Most marinas provide single phase 3.5kW connections. 3phase is common only on very big berths (think superyacht). But you can not tell a prospective customer on the homepage that he has a choice between going slow or waiting 24h for a recharge or pay superyacht rates.
Another marketing trick is making you believe this is a kit that you can buy and install for yourself. I am pretty sure that is not the case. Profit comes from installation not reselling parts.

 

Yeah it's important to realize the limitations. It would be interesting to see a calculation of lifetime costs and emissions for electric vs diesel for a boat used every other weekend.

I still see a "kit" as an advantage, presumably having done this before and presumably them knowing what they are doing. If their components already have plugs that you only need to plug into each other, I'd say it's pretty close to a kit. Theoretically this could be easier to install than an ICE motor. If you have to connect together a hundred 200AH LiFePO4 cells, not so much.

If you only use the electric boat on the weekend, slow charging during the week might not be a problem. Then you might also get by with something like 2kWp solar panels (~10m²) to recharge over the week. And a generator to take up the slack.

 

My point is this is not a "kit" for DIY homebuilder conversion. It is a lump price for the materials needed, quoted so that it makes you choose this company. It is a legitimate way of marketing given that every install is different. But the main point is this "kit" is only available if the vendor installs it, you can not buy it, take it home and put it in the boat yourself. So the true cost of a conversion is way higher than the "kit" price (they even list minimum prices for installations). The company does not sell "DIY electric boats kits" they sell conversions, meaning they do it not you.

 

Batteries degrade with age, whether you use them or not. Engines can be stored indefinitely without degradation. Also, solar panels and batteries are sold with ratings when new. They don't tell customers what percentage of charge or capacity is left after time. Internal combustion engines are much easier and cheaper to install. I have done both. ICEs have available stock parts which lowers cost and time. You keep on trying to get people to agree with you, but the facts are what they are. If you are determined to do it, I find nothing wrong with it. However, you don't seem to have the budget for a proper electric system.

 

Gonzo, I'm not OP, this isn't my project. I'm simply interested in this topic. And I'm not trying to "convince" anyone and suggested to jdray to calculate an estimate for lifetime cost and emissions. And suggested that in this case, depending on usage, my guess is that diesel probably comes ahead and be more convenient.

But with the current demand and volume for LiFePO4 I don't think it's reasonable to suggest you might get old degraded batteries. In any case that is something that can be tested. And from what I remember current numbers for lifetime of lifepo4 is about 5000 full) cycles to get down to 80% capacity, so in the worst case of three full cycles every week would last you over 30 years. And in 30 years batteries will be much cheaper. I don't know what you pay for maintenance on a diesel, but electric is basically maintenance free from what I've read.

 

Firstly, nothing is maintenance free; particularly in a marine environment. Secondly, number of cycles alone is a marketing tool, not a true assessment of the battery life. I do maintenance myself, but in a small diesel it is not beyond the skills of a regular owner. The cost of oil and filter, belts every few years and impellers. A high voltage electrical system, with electronic controllers is beyond he skills of most owners. In fact, few marine service yards in the world are qualified to do maintenance and repair on them. You are making claims that are not in touch with reality. On one hand you say that the OP can buy components and then hire experts to design a system and assemble it. On the other, you claim that every piece of advice from experts is wrong.