Hi John,
While I understand the pocketbook perspective, there isn't a really good way around it. I had the same problem when I realized that my Catalina 22 needed new sails, they cost more than I had spent on the entire boat. I guess that I could have made my own from Tyvek and duct tape (anybody trying to drive their boat with a 500W blender motor?), but let's be real. I once had a truck where new tires cost more than the truck was worth, but I still needed tires.
I have notived that many people end up here because their boat needs a new engine, a new gas or diesel engine is expensive and they figure that why not go electric, it must be cheaper, right?
I'm not sure why anyone would think that, because it's not true in any other electric vs. gas product. Let's look at a couple of gasoline and battery powered products. Don't get distracted by corded appliances, your boat would need a reallllly long cord.
Cordless electric mower = $300 - $400
Similar gas powered mower = $150 - $300
Electric standup scooter = $500 - $1200 (not the toy versions)
Similar gas powered scooter = $400 - $1000
Electric Nissan Leaf = $28,000
Similar Nissan Versa = $15,000
For each of these, the gas version is typically faster, more powerful and has much greater range.
So why do we think that a repower with electric should be less expensive than a new gas or diesel engine?
In my case, the electric repower installed by me cost almost exactly the same as if I had installed a new diesel engine myself. For me,it was well worth it, for another boater, it might be a horrible idea. In fact, after converting my 30' ketch to electric, I had to replace the outboard on my 27' trimaran. I wanted to go electric, but a new outboard was much lighter, more powerful, cheaper, easier, easily sourced, had the range required by offshore racing regulations, etc. etc. The trimaran got a new 4 stroke outboard, and I'm already a strong supporter of electric conversions.
Honestly, did anybody here get into boating because it is so inexpensive? Sure, many of us operate right at the edge of our ability to spend, me included. I never want to spend more than I have to, but sometimes trying to save money can cost me more in the long run. And my personal safety is priceless....
Electric is just another drive option, it is not a universal panacea. Installed for the right reasons in the right use case, they are brilliant. Otherwise, they can be too much of a compromise.
Just something to think about....
Eric
Marina del Rey, CA
PS. Yes, I had a friend that made sails for a Chrysler 23 from Tyvek and duct tape, and they worked.... kind of. IMHO, the money that I've spent on sails (and my electric conversion) has been well worth it.
--- In electricboats@yahoogroups.com, oak <oak_box@...> wrote:
>
> Eric,
> Â
> While I can "intellectually" appreciate the wisdom of all that you're saying, my pocketbook doesn't want to hear it...  <grin>
> Â
> Seriously, I get what you're saying, and it makes a lot of sense.
> You make a good point about the sizing of the props on the trolling motors. I can tell you that the prop on my Torqeedo 4R is BIG compared to any trolling motor, and definitely even any kind of outboard up to the same size. If you believe the Torqeedo literature, they specifically designed the prop on that motor for the electric outboard application, and it seems to do a good job (though I'm anxious to get more experience with it).
> Â
> This afternoon, I came across the Minn-Kota Riptide that has dual motor units and is rated at 160 pounds thrust - close to what the Torqeedo 4R is, and at 24V (I didn't see anything that listed how many amps it would draw).
> Â
> At 1/2 to 1/3 the price - it's very appealing.
> But again, your points about prop size, motor speed, etc, are all well taken.
> Â
> I happen to already have the Torqeedo 4R that I will experiment with on the C-22. But if I could afford to get down to a 24V system instead of a 48V system, it becomes much more reasonable to get a single 24V lithium pack than to have to buy two. If only money weren't an object.
> Â
> The unfortunate reality there is that I can easily spend 3x the price of the boat on the outboard and batteries!
> So yes, there are tradeoffs to be made. And fortunately - in MY case - I don't have to go terribly far on battery power.  It would be really nice to be able to cruise 2-3 hours.  Typical case (at least if I was sailing) would probably be 30 min. to less than an hour, and a good amount of that could be at reasonably low power.
> Â
> I really wish I had the spare disposible cash to buy one of each of several and try them all out!  If the 80 foot pound motor was enough to push the boat around a little bit, it would be fun to have the Torqeedo 2.0 as the main engine, and the trolling motor in a locker as a backup. Then it would be fun to have the 24V lithium as the main battery, probably with two cheap FLA batteries as a standby bank that I knew would get me at least 30-60 min at low speed to get me home if I exhausted the primary bank...
> Â
> I need to buy more lottery tickets...
> Â
> John
> (aka "oak_box", but not really - just John.)
>
>
| Reply via web post | Reply to sender | Reply to group | Start a New Topic | Messages in this topic (43) |
No comments:
Post a Comment