Dear Tom,
I think you could outfit a single runabout for about $20K using an Electric Yacht 360 system (Advanced Marine's 10kw isn't ready for release yet), a bank of 8D's, and a small genny for limp-home use in the early part of the learning curve. Don't expect planing performance at that power level, but as an electric launch, the boat will be a pleasure to pilot. Keep the voltage low to reduce cost of safety systems. Scott can provide you with parameters in the controller that will reduce excessive battery drain and allow new e-boaters to try out the system without needing a tow home.
Personally, I'd keep half the fleet fuel powered, half electric. Oddly enough, in the sailboats I've converted, it's the wives and girlfriends who rave about how wonderful electric drives are. No fuel stink, no exhaust fumes, and silent operation that won't allow jumping wakes at speed and spilling their wine. Yes, the electrics are nearly free to run and have uber low maintenance, but those features appeal to the charter fleet operator, not the day charter captain.
The fuel powered boats are fine for a bunch of buddies out to splash it up a bit. That crowd would be bored to tears poking along at 5 to 8 knots, however, and you'd quickly loose customers with "electrics only" as a result, unless you're willing to go for the mega-install, a financial commitment you'd never see payback on in a single lifetime...
Be Well,
Arby Bernt
Advanced Marine Electric Propulsion
From: Mark n Angela <mstafford@natca.net>
To: electricboats@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Saturday, February 4, 2012 10:02 AM
Subject: [Electric Boats] Re: Newbie
Tom,
12 small Bayliners, 3 million budget. Prototyping involves intelligent guesses, drive/systems removal, experimental installation, trials, re-engineering, trials, pricing, finishing, trials, destructive testing, agency certification. That process alone could easily eat $10 million, but we will assume extraordinary good fortune and highly skilled volunteer labor.
Hybrids - 60k for motors & drive, 40k for electronics & batteries, 50k installation, 100k towards prototyping 1st boat.
All Electric - 20k for motors & drive, 80k for electronics & batteries, 50k installation, 100k towards prototype.
It is easy to throw a motor, a controller, and some batteries in a boat and go play. I did it for a few hundred dollars. It is another thing entirely to idiot-proof the system for an insured 10 hour day of varied speed-boating. This is the difference between a tinker's dream and the average idiot boater's needs.
A quicker option would be to copy one of the several examples around the world of well designed electric or hybrid speed-boats. I suspect that the designers would accept a $100k per boat licensing fee. Any less and you would have a $30 million lawsuit to contend with.
Just my perspective,
Mark Stafford
--- In electricboats@yahoogroups.com, "Tom" <boat_works@...> wrote:
>
> $250K for each runabout? I'm interested in hearing how you'd allocate the money for converting them, and what kind of performance you'd expect to achieve.
>
> -Tom
12 small Bayliners, 3 million budget. Prototyping involves intelligent guesses, drive/systems removal, experimental installation, trials, re-engineering, trials, pricing, finishing, trials, destructive testing, agency certification. That process alone could easily eat $10 million, but we will assume extraordinary good fortune and highly skilled volunteer labor.
Hybrids - 60k for motors & drive, 40k for electronics & batteries, 50k installation, 100k towards prototyping 1st boat.
All Electric - 20k for motors & drive, 80k for electronics & batteries, 50k installation, 100k towards prototype.
It is easy to throw a motor, a controller, and some batteries in a boat and go play. I did it for a few hundred dollars. It is another thing entirely to idiot-proof the system for an insured 10 hour day of varied speed-boating. This is the difference between a tinker's dream and the average idiot boater's needs.
A quicker option would be to copy one of the several examples around the world of well designed electric or hybrid speed-boats. I suspect that the designers would accept a $100k per boat licensing fee. Any less and you would have a $30 million lawsuit to contend with.
Just my perspective,
Mark Stafford
--- In electricboats@yahoogroups.com, "Tom" <boat_works@...> wrote:
>
> $250K for each runabout? I'm interested in hearing how you'd allocate the money for converting them, and what kind of performance you'd expect to achieve.
>
> -Tom
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