Excellent post, with numbers.
Thanks You, Eric !
Hi Josh,
These are what I consider to be the "base" drive systems from our regular US vendors. They are all appropriate for a 28'-32' auxiliary sailboat.
Advanced Marine electric Propulsion - AMeP Mark II C - $3500
Annapolis Hybrid Marine - Thoosa 6000 - no price listed online
Electric Yacht - 180ibl - $4995
Propulsion Marine - 5.5kW Air cooled drive - $5000
There are some induction AC motor systems like Solomon Technologies that are more expensive, but they are a different technology and appear to be more efficient than the more common PMAC, BLDC or brushed DC motor based systems.
When you consider the cost of a diesel re-power, these prices seem pretty reasonable. For my boat, a DIY repower with a new Beta 16 diesel was going to cost more than $10,000 ($8000 for the engine on a pallet + plenty of other stuff) My electric conversion cost almost the same, largely because I chose to use Lithium batteries. I feel that my drive is at least as reliable as a diesel, and I enjoy operating my boat more with the electric drive for all of the regular reasons.
If you think that the systems are too pricy, you can always fall back to ICE drive solutions. For many boats and many boat owners, ICE will be a better choice anyway. When I recently re-powered my F-27 trimaran, a 9.8hp 4 stroke outboard was lighter, simpler, more powerful and met my offshore racing range requirement. It also happened to be cheaper, but that really wasn't a significant factor. I am a big fan of electric (obviously) but it just another option when picking the best drive for the particular way that you use your particular boat.
We all want everything that we buy to be cheaper, but it all costs what it costs. I would rather that a simple commuter car cost $10,000 instead of $15,000. I would rather that a hybrid car cost $15,000 rather than $25,000. But they don't. As a consumer, you need to decide whether or not an item is worth what it costs. You've already committed to to a big boat, and we all know that they are horrible financial decisions. These are all personal choices.
Of course if you think that you could put together a realiable electric drive and sell them for significantly less than what the other vendors are charging, you could obviously dominate the market. So there is a business opportunity if you really believe that they are adding an unreasonable markup. If not, you just get to pay what everyone else does and get back to sailing.
Fair winds,
Eric
1964 Bermuda 30 ketch, Propulsion Marine 5.5kW drive, 8kWh TS LiFePO4 batteries
Marina del Rey, CA
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