Thread: The Pod Parted
View Single Post
Old 08-05-2015, 09:42 AM   #12
BandB
Guru
 
BandB's Avatar
 
City: Fort Lauderdale. Florida, USA
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 21,449
Quote:
Originally Posted by psneeld View Post

I believe PODs also claim better fuel efficiency which was a strong selling point for some? many?
Efficiency is one of the leading features, shown to be anywhere from 10-25%. Also space utilization. On a small boat it my mean a lot in that regard.

Replacing a pod unit is in line with prop, shaft, etc. repair and replacement assuming the pod did it's job and detached cleanly.

The limitation with pods to this point has been hp, requiring extra pods. Some boats with twin inboards would require 3 pods to reach the same performance. While many boats have been built with 3, that's a turnoff to most buyers. Then for more hp, you require 4 and while there have been boats built with 4 pods, that's not marketable when you can get by with twin inboards.

Zeus has hp limitations greater than Volvo because of Cummins limitations. That means a limitation of Pods on Brunswick models such as Sea Ray. At the other end, below a certain size boat it's hard to market the additional cost of pods over inboard/outboard.
BandB is offline   Reply With Quote