Welcome to the start of our series on the manufacturers of electric engines for boats! We're convinced that electric boats are the future, and we're here to help you understand the different options for an electric repower for your new electric boat! Going forward, we'll have blog posts that dive deeper into each electric outboard manufacturer, but this post will provide an overview. Please note that this list is not exhaustive; it includes manufacturers that are producing engines that are currently available on the US market or will be soon. For a more exhaustive list of large electric outboards, take a look at this page from Plug Boats. Plug Boats also has information on small electric outboards, electric inboards and saildrives and pods. Below you'll find information on Torqeedo, Elco Motor Yachts, Flux Marine, Pure Watercraft, ePropulsion, and Electric Voyage (Evoy).
Founded in Germany in 2005, Torqeedo is the company that's often top of mind when people think about electric outboards, and for good reason. Torqeedo's electric outboards power over 100,000 electric boats around the world. Torqeedo is active in over 100 countries, and works with over 2,000 sales, service and build partners.
Torqeedo offers inboard, outboard, sail drive and pod drive electric boat engines in a wide range of horsepower. Their line of small electric outboards ranges from 1hp to 25hp equivalents, and the electric engines in Torqeedo's Deep Blue Series are available in 40hp and 80hp equivalents for larger electric boats. Torqeedo's electric inboards are available in 25kW, 50kW and 100kW, and Torqeedo has different inboard models for slow and heavy electric boats, planing electric motor boats as well as large electric sailboats. Torqeedo's electric pod drives are available in 6hp, 9.9hp and 25hp and are primarily suited for small electric sailboats up to 12 tons.
Elco Motor Yachts, founded in 1893, is the oldest electric outboard manufacturer in the US and is based in upstate New York. They have a storied history; Thomas Edison and Henry Ford owned each owned an Elco electric boat at their Florida estates, and they produced PT boats for the allies in World War II. More on Elco's history can be found on their website and wikipedia page.
Today, Elco produces a wide range of electric outboard and electric inboard motors. Elco manufacturers seven different electric inboard models that range from 6hp too 200hp. They have six electric outboard models that range from 6hp to 50hp, all of which are available in tiller or remote steering models.
Elco is somewhat of an outlier compared to the newer manufacturers of electric outboards. For instance, Pure Watercraft, Flux Marine and Evoy's electric outboards all have closed loop cooling systems and operate at over 300 volts; Elco's electric engines are very similar to a traditional outboard below the cowling and are saltwater cooled, with an electric powerhead inside of the cowling. Elco's electric outboards operate between 24 and 96 volts. Additionally, Elco does not manufacture proprietary lithium battery packs, and their electric outboards can be used with AGM or lithium batteries. This gives the user more flexibility in their power source and also makes their systems compatible with onboard solar charging. While AGM batteries are heavier than lithium batteries and have a lower recommended depth of discharge, they are a less costly battery option for electric boats that don't need to get up on the plane.
Flux Marine was founded in 2017 in Rhode Island and is a relatively new player in the US electric outboard market. At the time of this post, Flux Marine hasn't begun shipping their electric outboards to customers yet, but are taking preorders for delivery in 2023. Flux currently has three electric outboards available for preorder: 15hp, 40hp and 70hp equivalents. They also have a 100hp in development that doesn't yet have a shipping date. All models will be available with remote steering, and the 15hp will have a tiller option as well.
In early 2022, Flux Marine raised $15.5 million in an oversubscribed series A funding round. Flux Marine is planning to use the money to expand their team of about a dozen employees to a team of 30 to 40 people. They've also begun to develop a facility in Bristol, Rhode Island, that they'll use for manufacturing, R&D and office space.
Flux Marine is also developing their own electric boats that will be powered by their electric outboards. Currently available for preorder is a 21.5' dual console, powered by their 100hp electric outboard, and a 13' RIB, powered by their 70hp electric outboard. Also listed on their website is a 21' deluxe rib, but this appears to be in the early stages of development.
Pure Watercraft was founded in 2011 and is based in Seattle, Washington. Pure Watercraft is unique compared to other marine electric engine manufacturers in that they only offer one engine, are heavily focused on repowers, and operate under a direct to consumer model. Installation is included in the price of Pure Watercraft's 25kW/50HP electric outboard system; Pure Watercraft has mobile technicians that will come to you and switch out your old internal combustion outboard with their electric outboard system. Until recently, Pure Watercraft has been concentrated on the West coast market, but they recently added a field technician based in Boston. Their first electric outboard install on the East coast was for MIT in the Fall of 2022, and the second was on Emo Electric's 130 Sport Boston Whaler!
In 2021, General Motors acquired a 25% stake in Pure Watercraft, in a deal said to be worth $150 million, putting Pure Watercraft's valuation at $600 million. In previous rounds of funding, Pure Watercraft raised $37 million in venture capital investment.
In addition to their repower market, Pure Watercraft is working to developing their own electric boats. They have an electric pontoon boat, powered by GM's automotive battery packs. Pure Watercraft has also partnered with Highfield Boats, a prominent manufacturer of aluminum rigid inflatable boats (RIBs). Pure Watercraft currently offer an electric outboard package on Highfield's 12' 6'' RIB Classic 380GT.
Founded in 2012 by Danny Tao and three other engineering students studying at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, ePropulsion offeres a wide range of electric boat engines. ePropulsion was founded in Hong Kong, is currently based in Shenzhen, China, and has an impressive global distribution network throughout Asia, Europe, Australia and the Americas.
ePropulsion sells many different types of electric boat engines; the only product missing from their lineup is a high horsepower electric outboard, but we suspect that ePropulsion has one in the works. Their current electric outboard lineup includes the 1kW/3hp Spirit 1.0 Plus and Evo, and the Navy series, available in 3kW/6hp and 6kW/9.9hp. Both the Spirit and Navy series are available with tiller or remote steering. ePropulsion also has an electric pod drive series targeted at small sailboats. These electric pod drive engines are available in the same power ratings at their Spirit and Navy outboards.
Recently, ePropulsion released their I-Series of electric inboard engines, available in 10kW, 20kW and 40kW, as well as their H-100, a 100kW electric inboard, set to be a competitor for large diesel engines that typically power 60' to 100' vessels up to 200 tons! In addition to their electric boat engines, ePropulsion offers a small electric fin/engine designed for a paddleboard, and is working on an electric surfboard and underwater drone!
Based in Norway and founded in 2018 by Leif A. Stavøstrand, Electric Voyage (Evoy) is an exciting new company that's beginning to manufacture the most powerful electric boat engines in the world. Evoy is leaving the lower horsepower electric outboards to other manufacturers; they're currently shipping their 120hp+ Breeze series and their 300hp+ Storm series, with the 200hp+ Gale series and 400hp+ Hurricane series expected to ship in 2024. Each of their electric engines are available in outboard and inboard models.
In April of 2022, Evoy announced that they raised € 7.3 million in a new round of funding. Evoy has used some of this new capital to expand their team in 2022 and will also expand their production in 2023 and 2024.
While Evoy has a few electric engine prototypes in the US, they have yet to begin selling their electric boat engines in the American market. That being said, Evoy is in the midst of a major international expansion and is currently looking for dealers in Europe, Canada, the US and Australia. They recently announced their first official sales and service partnership with a Dutch company, The Green Wave.
We are certainly in the early phase of the new world of electric propulsion for boats. Choosing an electric outboard may feel like a challenging task, but we're here to help you navigate the market and choose the manufacturer and model that's best suited for your boat and how you use it! Stay tuned for more detailed profiles on each of these electric motor manufacturers, and feel free to send us an email to luke@emoelectric.co with any questions! Happy Boating!