We have decided to go electric for our outboard. The petrol 4-stroke outboards can be quite heavy, so we may have needed a davit to get it in an out of the dinghy. Plus, to get a dinghy on the plane a 4-5hp engine would probably not manage it. Then there's the dodgy starting; the oil, the smell of petrol; the trips to the petrol station to top up the spare can etc. The electric outboards are lighter; come apart for ease of use/transport; are quiter; have fewer working parts, so may be more reliable (?) and are recharged from our free solar panels.
The battery power only equates to a 3hp petrol. And there is the range anxiety ofcourse, but with a bigger battery and/or a spare, we should be able to avoid that worry. After all, we hope to be mooring up not a million miles from port. And we are not expecting adverse currents and wind too often.
A quick search let us discount the ugly Minn Kota trolling outboards, which use a separate standard lead acid battery. So you then come down to the Chinese made E-propulsion versus the German made Torqueedo. We have leant towards the latter for several reasons, including that they have been a market leader and been around for a bit longer.
We looked at a Torqeedo 1003C in Force4 Chandlers in Lymington. We queried the charging method and they referred to a USB adaptor. However, a bit of research and help from Tony B highlighted that this is a 'red herring' - only to use for charging other device such as mobile phones. Strangely, the Torqeedos only come with a 12v cigarette lighter charger and the Oceanis does not have such a fitting as standard - they are a bit dated and not waterproof. Tony advised that could ask Beneteau to install a waterproof 12v sockey in the workroom cabin and charge the battery there, from the service bank via a switch on the main panel. We would have to swap out the ends on the provided charger with one that fits the socket.
We may get a 915Wh battery (1003C) or the same battery in a quiter direct-drive 1103. Alternatively we get get a 532Wh battery (1003) and buy a spare that is kept on charge. One to ponder! The batteries charge at 4A, so at 12V it would take 19 hours to charger a 915Wh battery (albeit we would rarely run it flat). It's 76Ah of power we need to find, but our solar array should be up to the task.
