How you change an electric outboard largely depends on its size. Portable outboards under about 3kW / 6hp typically have AC, fast AC, solar and 12v DC charging options. Non-portable electric outboards are usually charged from a standard wall outlet, and high voltage outboards either do the same or use a standard EV charger.
Portable Electric Outboards (Under 3kW / 6 hp)
Most portable electric outboards that have three or four charging options: a standard AC charger, 12/24v DC charger, solar charge controller, and fast AC charger. Standard AC chargers always come with the motor when you buy a new package and are what most of our customers use. But depending on your situation, another type of charger might make your life easier!
Standard AC Charger. These chargers always come stock with a portable electric outboard and look like a laptop charger. One end plugs into a regular wall outlet, and the other plugs into the electric outboard battery (or the motor itself if the battery is built in).
Charge time varies from motor to motor, but it's usually around 6-8 hours to charge from 0% to 100%. Keep in mind that your battery typically won't be totally dead when you go to charge it, so charging usually won't take quite that long.
If you don't plan to use more power than what one battery can provide in a single day, a standard charger is probably all you need for your electric outboard.
It's worth noting that the charger is always packed with the motor itself, not the battery. So if you're purchasing a second battery and want a second charger, you'll need to buy that separately.
Fast AC Charger. Just like a standard AC charger, fast AC chargers for portable electric outboards plug in to a regular wall outlet. The difference here is that they bring the charge time down significantly, usually somewhere between 2-3 hours for 0% to 100%.
Not all portable electric outboards have fast charging options. Fast chargers are available for the ePropulsion Spirit Battery Plus (for the ePropulsion Spirit 1.0 Plus / Evo), ePropulsion Spirit Battery Ultra (for the ePropulsion Spirit 2), and Remigo One / Remigo One Neo. The ePropulsion eLite, Torqeedo Travel, Torqeedo Travel XP, and TEMO 1000 do not have fast AC chargers.
DC Charger (12v Charger). DC chargers, sometimes referred to as 12v chargers, allow you to charge your electric outboard battery from a 12v or 24v source (most boats and cars run on 12v). DC charging is much slower than using the standard AC charger, but it can be helpful to have on board if you're using an electric outboard for a tender for a larger boat. The DC charger will allow you to charge your electric outboard battery without having to run a generator or inverter to put out AC power.
Charge time depends on battery capacity and power output from the 12v outlet. Batteries for popular electric outboards like the Torqeedo Travel, ePropulsion Spirit 2, ePropulsion 1.0 Plus and Remigo One take typically take between 10 and 20 hours to charge from a 12v source if your battery is totally dead.
Solar Charge Controller. Most portable electric outboards can be charged with solar. You'll need to purchase a solar panel and the charge controller itself (or, in the case of Torqeedo Travel motors, their solar charging cable). One end of the charge controller plugs into your battery (or motor with the eLite and Remigo) and the other end connects to a solar panel with standard MC4 connectors.
Most customers purchase a 100 watt solar panel, although most electric outboard batteries (except the ePropulsion eLite) can handle up to a 200 watt panel. We have solar charging kits available for the Torqeedo Travel, ePropulsion eLite, and ePropulsion Spirit Battery Plus that include both the solar charge controller and a solar panel.
Non-Portable Electric Outboards (3kW / 6hp - 12kW / 25hp)
Once the power rating of an electric outboard gets over 3kW / 6hp, the battery and charger are typically permanently installed in the boat. If you keep your boat in the water, you'll need to have power on your dock to charge (unless you use solar, which we'll get in to in a moment).
Standard AC Charger. Standard AC chargers for motors in this size range typically plug in to a regular 110V wall outlet. Most customers choose to install the charger inside of their boat, then run an extension cord to the charger or a bulkhead fitting. You don't need 30A or 50A shore power to charge one of these batteries, a standard wall outlet will do.
Charge time depends on the capacity of your battery and power output of your charger. You can get a rough idea of the charge time by dividing the battery capacity in amp hours by the charger's power output in amps (or kilowatt hours divided by power output in watts).
For example, let's take the ePropulsion E Battery Charger with an ePropulsion E60 Battery. The charger has a power output of 25A and the battery has a capacity of 60Ah. 60Ah / 25A = 2.4 hours, or two hrs and 25 mins. On the larger ePropulsion E163 Battery, which has a capacity of 163Ah, charge time would be about 6.5 hours.
Most customers with multiple batteries choose to use one charger for both batteries, although you can use one charger per battery if you want to knock down your charge time.
Solar Charge Controller. Most batteries in this size range are compatible with solar charging, but it's not usually the best solution. These batteries are significantly larger than those for portable electric outboards, which means that it takes days to charge with solar for most boats since it's often hard to fit more than 200-300 watts of panels on board.
There are certainly exceptions to this. If you keep your boat on a mooring, solar might be your only option. And if you typically just use your boat on weekends, there might be plenty of time in between outings for your battery to charge with solar. A lot of what this comes down to is how much space you have on board for your panels, how often you use your boat, and how big your battery is.
High Voltage Electric Outboards
How you charge a high voltage electric outboard varies by manufacturer. Let's take a look at how it works for ePropulsion and Flux Marine.
ePropulsion X Series Electric Outboards (12-40kW) can be charged with a standard AC charger or with solar. Solar will take quite a long time and doesn't make sense for most boaters unless you have a lot of room for solar panels. The G Battery Charger can be wired a few different ways, but most customers choose a standard wall outlet.
Flux Marine Electric Outboards. These motors are really, really high voltage-- about 400V! This brings us into a new realm of charging. Essentially, Flux Marine electric outboards (and most electric outboards at this voltage) charge just like an EV. On top of the motor, you'll find a CCS plug. The motor can charge from an AC power source or with DC Fast.
- Level 1 & 2 Charging. Flux outboards come with a charging cable that has a few adapters. You can use level 1 charging from a standard wall outlet or 30A shore power, but it will take a few days for the boat to charge. Ideally, you'll charge on level 2 (220V / 50A shore power) which brings your charge time down to about 8 hours.
- DC Fast Charging / Level 3. Flux Marine outboards can be charged with a DC Fast Charger. There aren't too many of these on the water yet (AquaSuperpower is working to change that) but these can be a viable option for boats that are trailered. Charge time is about 60 to 90 minutes on DC Fast.