PETROL VS ELECTRIC

FOX MORGAN COMMUTES DAILY BY INFLATABLE TENDER, SO GIVES A REAL-WORLD COMPARISON AND WEIGHS UP THE PROS AND CONS OF PETROL AND ELECTRIC OUTBOARDS

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In an age where comfortable electric cars are capable of faster acceleration than any petrol supercar, where we have home solar power, house power banks and portable lithium power banks instead of noisy generator sets, it's curious that many sailors still cling to their noisy, smelly petrol-powered outboard motors.

I have used both petrol and electric motors regularly on my daily commute by tender so have had plenty of opportunity to investigate the pros and cons of each.

At no point did I consider what I might save on petrol as a consequence of switching to an electric outboard. That wasn't part of my initial decision-making process, but it's worth doing the sums anyway. I'd say I use between £7 (5lt/1gal) and £14 (10lt/2gal) each week on petrol, so for a seven- to eight-month season fuel would cost me approximately £380.

If we add the servicing costs and my time taken to service the engine, it would cost roughly £500 per year to run a petrol outboard on my tender, used as a frequent commuter to and from a pontoon to my boat on a mooring.

I bought my Remigo One electric outboard as a slightly used model for approximately £2,000. Once I switched to electric, the first thing I did was calculate my power consumption and how many times I could go to and from my yacht without needing to charge it. Surprisingly, I found I was able to go all week before I had to charge the outboard.