Pure Watercraft electric outboards

[peabody]

Hello fellow boaters -

We are considering investing in a new tender with an electric outboard: https://www.purewatercraft.com/product/rib-classic-360

It's pretty brand new technology, but the allure of a quiet engine, the lack of maintenance of a traditional outboard, and the environmental benefits are attractive.

The dinghy will need to be stored horizontally. We currently store our tender on our upper deck using a crane davit. However, this new tender is just a little too big for the deck.

1. Any thoughts on the pluses or minuses of an electric outboard (range anxiety, tech support, etc.)??

2. Does anyone have any experience or feedback with a Freedom Lift stern davit? This is what has been recommended by the company.

Thanks in advance.

Julie

 

[ranger58sb]

$24K seems like a big nut to crack. For a dinghy.

There are other electric outboards: ELCO, Torqeedo, about 5 more I think...

And then there are other boats, with and without console. St Croix used to make a bolt-on "console" (steering and gear controls) so you wouldn't have to go with a full-up console build (with related $$$$) if you don't need to.

Freedom Lift looks good to me. We had a manual davit system on our stern and that worked fine, but for a "tall cotton" version I'd chose the Freedom Lift over a TnT platform.

I've been thinking about an electric dinghy for our own use... if we ever find a big boat... partly because we don't need hardly any range at all. The Elco 5-hp (24V) and 10-hp (48V) versions seem attractive. I like the idea of a double floor and a steering wheel, don't need anything of the other fancy bits that usually come with a "console" tender.

-Chris