EMO Electric is excited to announce that we have become a dealer for Elco Motor Yachts' line of electric outboard and electric inboard boat motors. Based in upstate New York, Elco Motor Yachts ("Elco") manufacturers six different electric outboards between 5hp and 50hp. Elco's line of electric inboard motors includes seven models between 6hp and 100hp.
Elco's EP-50 electric outboard on a classic 13' Boston Whaler
Elco Motor Yachts was originally called The Electric Launch Company and was founded in 1892! The following year, they produced the world's first commercially available electric motor boats, which carried over a million passengers at the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago. During the 20th century, The Electric Launch Company dabbled in the production of non-electric motor boats and manufactured vessels for the allies in both World Wars. More information on Elco's history can be found on their website and wikipedia page.
Today, Elco has returned to its roots of manufacturing and selling electric boat motors. Elco's electric outboard motors are available in kilowatt ratings equivalent to 5hp, 9.9hp, 14hp, 20hp, 30hp and 50hp. The EP-5 electric outboard runs at 24 volts, the EP-9.9, EP-14 and EP-20 run at 48 volts, and the EP-30 and EP-50 run at 96 volts. All of Elco's electric outboards are available in tiller or remote steering models. Manual trim is standard, but electric trim is also an option on all of Elco's electric outboards.
Elco's electric boat motors run at relatively low voltage, so it's easy to integrate solar charging. The same is true for Torqeedo's line of low voltage electric outboards. It's much more difficult to integrate solar charging on high voltage systems like Torqeedo's Deep Blue Line, Pure Watercraft's 50hp electric outboard, and Flux Marine's line of electric outboards.
A classic Elco electric launch.
Elco is one of the few electric outboard manufacturers that produces a system which allows AGM batteries to power an electric boat. While lithium batteries are lighter and have a deeper depth of discharge, AGM batteries are more affordable. AGM batteries can be a good choice for customers who want an electric boat but don't have the budget for lithium batteries and don't need to get their electric boat to get up on the plane.
Elco's electric motors power thousands of electric boats across the United States. They have a page on their website dedicated to stories about these electric boat repowers. In 2022, we purchased one of Elco's EP-50 electric outboards to repower our Trophy Bayliner. You can read more about our experience repowering our Bayliner on this page of our website.
If you'd like more information on Elco's products, the electric boats that they've repowered, or would like to order one of Elco's electric boat motors, please send us an email to luke@emoelectric.co and we will be happy to help!