We purchased an electric car in 2021. We will never own another gas powered vehicle. Maintenance is basically zero Performance is awesome and charging time on a long trip averaging about 20 minutes for every 2 hours of driving. We usually charge at home for around one dollar a day for my wife’s commute. Electric is the right choice for us. Love your channel
I prefer hybrid. I have owned a toyota prius and bmw i3 with range extender. I prefer the prius because I like the convenience of having a gas station everywhere while charging stations are rather scarce and even if you do find one, they are either occupied, not maintained, someone is parked there inexplicably, or cost too much money. I cant drive outside my state with my electric car but with my prius, I can drive two states away on a single tank of gas.
Lol, my face was hurting from smiling and laughing so much when you were testing that Zero Jet. Then when you said it’s no longer a need it’s a want because it’s so coooool! If you want help deciding, remember he can’t put a price on happiness!
You two are amazing in being able to line up these options to test. That must have taken a lot of time to arrange. Congratulations on a very informative video, as you always do.
I recently made a similar conversion from a heavy RIB + petrol o/b to a lighter catamaran dinghy (True Kit 3m) + electric o/b (ePropulsion Spirit). Love it. Range anxiety is more significant than range limitation itself. Also bought the solar charging panel. Have kept my petrol o/b as a temporary measure ‘just in case’ but haven’t used it the entire season.
If you are basing your decision on “smiles per watt” I would say the jet propulsion was your favorite. I also think that’s it’s ability to run in shallower water, faster top speed, and the ability to run from danger/weather makes it a good option.
and don't forget that with a jet, there's no spinning propeller or other moving parts under the water, so for a diver, this is a huge plus too, from a safety point of view. Sure has my vote!
All good arguments for sure. But I would point out the relative fragility of a jet drive. They have wear items like wear rings, and it can be difficult to clear debris that gets lodged in the intake or impeller. Impellers are also precision items, which means you can't get one that isn't perfect in a remote location and deal with the imperfection, but on a traditional drive if the available prop isn't quite the same as the old one you can still make it work. Also not being able to pull the drive leg and take it somewhere for service is another maintenance drawback. I think where I live in the US I would love that jet tender, but I'm not sure I'd want to take it anywhere remote and rely on it at all.
@@JheregJAB eh, The impeller in my 200 hp supercharged Sea-Doo from 2006 has never been changed is rusty as and so is the drive shaft haven’t changed the wear ring in years Rarely pick up any debris and I definitely run through a lot of seaweed and still does the factory top speed of 70 miles an hour like a champ
When we were cruising in our trawler we carried two motors…a 15 HP Yamaha and a 3 HP. The small motor was our “harbor” motor. Light weight, easy on and off and we used it traveling the ICW. Unfortunately this was before Torqueedo. In the Bahamas and the Keys we mounted the 15 HP for speed and range for trips to the reefs and going to town. Something to consider.
What an awesome test series- and, really relevant to the times. I'm NOT surprised at how few choices there are and the weight cost of ever increasing reserves- but, it's really nice to 'see it' in real life- working, running and providing service. Even though LiFePO4 is the best thing since sliced bread- it's NOT the answer to our dreams...yet!
That ZeroJet is similar in speed/maneuverability to our Yamaha jetski/wave-runner (had it going about 70mph/113kmph this past week on a lake in northern Wisconsin only our machine is gas powered)! That battery speed though, was super fast!! And looked SOOO FUNNN!!! Loved the comparison of all the motors. Nikki- "My cheeks are starting to hurt!" (from smiling so much!) 🤩👍
I am wondering, how much of the desire for electric dinghy is for the show you produce? For the optics. If I were voyaging I would want range and weight capacity. Load one of these electrics down with a month or so of stuff to transport and I just don't see it.
Thanks Nikki and Jason for this! We are currently researching for a tender and electric engine without the ability to get our hands on some of these new ones out there to try. This is immensely helpful.
Don't normally comment but I appreciated this 2 part series. I have been intrigued by the OC tender and the idea of an electric power system. You did a fine job of displaying the different options. Thank you.
I've been using an epropultion spirit 1 on a wooden dinghy (seahopper scamp) for a couple seasons as a full time live aboard on a fully electric monohull. It has been great, so much better.
The jet looks like a blast! Bad thing about jet impellers are high wear parts that need to be replaced more often as a bit of wear with significantly decrease your efficiency and thus range...from what I'm told.
The zerojet looked like a good option, but as others have commented, impellers can get damaged pretty easily. Check on availability of replacement wear rings and impellers as you will become very familiar with changing them out.
You were both smiling ear to ear the WHOLE TIME you were in the zerojet.... That motor on that OC is a winning combo! What a perfect dinghy, especially if you can hot swap a "get home"/"limp home" backup battery...
Seems like waiting for the hydrofoil would make sense since you probably have a year or two to wait on the new boat. Also investigating if the 440 lbs weight limit can be raised would make sense or figure using your boom to lift a second battery pack that you would only load if you were going on an extended range trip.
That was some great information on the tenders. It is really helpful for you and these nice companies to put this stuff out there for all of us. More demos please.
I would go with a hybrid option. Gasoline outboard for high speed long-distance runs. Electric outboard for short trips to the beach or the dock. If the gasoline outboard fails to start you have the electric outboard as a back up.
Extra batteries for longer trips. If it were me, I'd carry a backup motor on the HH44 rather than a gas outboard as a backup. It'd be great if the same battery model and form factor were used for both the HH44 and the tender
Best test video’s ever. Love the fact you will be turning sailors onto electric motors. These technological break through will change sailors green, practical and future outlooks and our marinas forever!
I vote for the Zero Jet : ) Recharge time will be of interest. The beauty of electric is that you will not need to store gas cans (that are a fire hazard) and with your HH44 electric infrastructure you have free solar power for unlimited use of your new Zero Jet.
If they have 3kW of solar and if they have the 10kWh battery then charging from. ~0 to 100% will take 3hours. 5kWh of solar 2hours. A 240v standard wall socket (international standard socket) ~4h 15min. A weak 110 10 amp USA socket ~9 hours.
You're not lying about things being scarce and becoming even more scarce for remote places. Take a look at the Inuit towns of northern Quebec for example. There, you can get your hands on a bottle of fruit punch for 10.79 Canadian Dollars, a package of vanilla cookies for 18.29 Canadian Dollars, and a box of frozen chicken nuggets for get this...26.89 Canadian Dollars, *NEARLY THIRTY DOLLARS!* I'm not kidding, but why is it this way? Because everything is flown in on a Combi plane (as in a dual passenger-freight aircraft) since there are no roads connecting these places to the rest of Quebec, and so whatever is taken off that airplane is what you're stuck with. And it doesn't help when there's an economic crisis. And don't sweat it, it is okay to make and admit a mistake, we are humans after all. We're bound to because nobody's perfect
Electric engine is ten hours charge time, for two to three hours max use time, even with solar. You need AT LEAST one spare battery. I just got Torqueedo 1103CL - good in calm water which is not common in good sailing weather! - but its great to start and be sure it will start!!!!
The best part about the electric jet drive is that you can flip the boat up on its side or upside down for storage and not have to worry about taking the gas engine off. The best part is no part. I love the concept and the tender. And with all that solar from the cat to boot... The initial cost might seem high now, but think of all the money and headaches you'll save. One less thing to worry about.
We have the ePro Spirit 1.0 plus. We love that thing. It pushed our 5k pound sailboat just fine. It did well in the wind and current although those conditions drained the battery more. We also would use it on the dinghy .
Amazing that you got to test all those prototypes, super fun to watch and does indeed make me hopeful that my future tender will be electric! Thanks so much for making these videos guys!
I am so happy for you guys, you have worked hard to archive your dreams! Praying for you your new boat and that you find the right Dingy! Good Vibes and Positive Energy to you through this part of the journey! Cheering you on!!
Just out of curiosity lol no pun intended. How long does it take to charge each one of those, I don’t think I heard you guys mention it? How pricey is that jet boat. I really liked that one.
You gotta do the missile test, it's the most important one! Allow me to aim a missile at your new catamaran, and if it survives, then it's a _Wynn_ in our books. And it's very important to thank Scranton for being the Electric City. Make sure you stop by Cugino's for the tasty bread Self-reliance is important especially when you have nothing else to turn to, that's been our situation and we're still going strong
Who knew that the Supreme Leader has both a decent sense of humor and a fine taste for local Italian eateries in the Wyoming Valley? I credit his Swiss education.
Some very cool options there. The zerojet looks like a hoot. Problem is, you folks beach your tender a lot. With no way to cover the intake, you end up sucking a lot of sand through your jet impeller. Though it is intended to be beached, having run a jet into shallow beaches a ton, I just see maintenance headaches ahead. Hint: when you kick it sideways, do a half-reverse on the deflector bucket, it will keep the rotation going. :-)
We went electric a couple of years ago and would never go back. After a false start with an electric outboard that wasn’t any good we found the ePropulsion Spirt Evo and it’s been amazing for the last 18 months. We got it when we were in Venice which was good as a lot of areas are starting to ban petrol engines (I’m sure there will be more of that around the world, something to bear in mind) we had a problem with it in Turkey this year but they fixed it within a week, they have brilliant worldwide service ( they actually sent us a new unit!) something else to bear in mind. Loving the OC dinghy and that amazing jet pack, exciting times! Great review guys.
For safety reasons, if you ever had to abandon the Cat, a gas tender will give you the range to possibly make it to land. Or, the speed to make it to shore if someone is injured.
Gas will also allow you to go multiple tanks worth of range. While it may be possible, it would be VERY difficult to bring solar panels. Charge controller, and enough batteries aboard the tender to accomplish the same on electric
Thanks for showing this. My tender came with a Yamaha 6HP 4 Stroke. But between the tender and the engine its too heavy for me and I don't have a pulley lift. So I've gone with the epropulsion Spirit 1.0 Plus. Plenty enough power for what we need and just as you show, I can carry it with one hand. I got the case and the back-pack for the battery to make transport and storage even easier. Appreciate all your videos!
This is exactly what we have been wanting to see. The electric outboard motors test was great. We have to vote for the zero jet. that looked like you two were having a blast. Thank you for sharing this info. Maybe in 2 years the price will be more affordable.
The Jet drive looks like so much fun! You probably already thought about this. Is there a marine grade portable solar charger to take with the dinghy? You could let it charge while you’re on shore
I saw the your NEW boat!! She is beautiful and I absolutely love her color!! I will NOT say how I saw it, because I do NOT want to spoil it for you, but I am sure that you can make an educated guess. 😉 It was on another channel ever so briefly. I cannot wait for the Official Reveal!!!
Lots of testing and 3 good possibilities to choose from. That really looks like a lot of fun to test the various skiffs and it looks like your criteria keeps you focused on what works for your new boat. However, from a purely looks-really-fun perspective, the ZeroJet testing looked like it got you to smile so much that it hurt. Looking forward to seeing what you end up with. BTW: We finally got our storage facility consolidation finished and are officially at our first campground that starts our 2+ year adventure being full-time in an RV. Staying in hotels from May 16th until July 6th got old quickly, not to mention it was awfully expensive. I wouldn't call us nomads, but we're finally free to move about based on our own discretion and interests for the first time in 37+ years of our married life. We're still looking for a RU-vid name before we start filming our adventures.
Zerojet will involve a lot of rowing if it breaks and you're in the back of beyond. Can you attach an outboard to it if needs be? With the other options you could easily. But ultimately Ill stick to combustion till e-outboards become more ubiquitous, are faster and the batteries have much better energy density.
Fantastic video! So cool to see all the options in action, I really like that MotoSkiff option as a auxiliary back up. We are going with ZeroJet, and it would be cool to have a custom bracket made so you could slap the Moto on in a pinch if something were to need repaired. What are your opinions on the larger battery bank option from ZeroJet? Is it necessary is the range good enough for cruising with the single battery? That foil option could be a game changer!
@@gonewiththewynns I’ve been chatting with Delcan for a while now and timing our order to be delivered to Balance in St. Francis for when our 526 Mk2 is completed in ‘24. Hoping that there are a couple of improvements in battery capacity between now and when we take delivery. Right now it’s roughly a 9 month delivery we are planning on. Only debate is if we go with the 2 battery system and live with the added weight. First world problems : )
@@kirkb3473 I placed an order from ZJ but I think the batteries are a bit weird. Heavier than necessary (I'd use NMC for a dinghy on davits; fire isn't as big a concern, it falls in the sea if it happens...) and they're 3-4x the $ of the rest of the market. Sure they have high rated amperage but they're not alone like this and SuperB is milking it with the 3-4x price. Batteries are largely a commodity now. Hence; Zerojet, yes. SuperB battery: really not sold. We have a Navy 3.0 with E80 on a Highfield 290CL right now and it's too heavy to be convenient, and I'll experiment making a custom NMC pack to replace the E80. That'll inform whether I order the ZJ with or without the SuperB packs.
@@AntoineGrondin very cool, thanks for the info Antoine. I’m thinking battery tech is going to rapidly advance over the next 5 years or so. Once solid state becomes a reality to consumers it’s going to make a huge difference in weight and range.
Hi @@AntoineGrondin we are glad to have you on board as our customer. If you have any questions regarding the battery, flick us an email at sales@zerojet.com :)
Bravo Jason👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻love your good spirit on comment section beatings. Didn’t see cost compare. What is the time period for battery replacement over engine replacement. If engine lasts forever, and you have to replace gas engine in 10yrs, when do you replace batteries at what cost of new engine vs battery. Also just bc something lasts 20yrs+ what does it look like after that time.
Nice video and, in part, shows our experience with an e-outboard. For about four years now, we have had the E-propulsion spirit 1.0. Initially as an outboard for an 18-foot wooden sailboat, now as the outboard driving the tender of Slàinte, our Beneteau Oceanis 40. After switching from Gas to E, we were pleased to have eliminated the gas smell and noise. It's a dream to glide quietly up a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay in the early morning and watch wildlife without the noise of a gas engine. However, there are downsides, and you already named them. At some point, we wished to extend range and speed, but battery cost and system weight are outright prohibitives for our 310 Zodiac. There is another vital point to consider, especially for those looking forward to leaving "civilization" as you did in the past. If one of those modern electric motors fails, it will be hard to get them repaired, depending on where in the world that happens. Our E-Propulsion battery dropped on a wooden deck from a couple of inches, and the lower housing part broke (almost shattered in pieces). No replacement part was available from E-Propulsion, and repair was not considered an option; instead, we were suggested buying a whole new battery. Finally, we were lucky to buy a used part from a defective battery and repair it ourselves. If that had happened somewhere away from the beaten path, it would have rendered the motor unusable. We like our E-Propulsion, no question, but service and repairability are something to consider. Sorry for that lengthy comment...😔
Great episode - love the zero jet. Fair ilse like the epropulsion. I think the issue is the same with elec cars 2 years ago - great round town, terrible on a long run due to range issues. So I suspect you are 2y early with adoption. If it were me I'd have a big petrol hanging on the back of the cat for occasional (10%) use AND the electric for 90% of the time
Have you looked at the Aquanaut tenders? Pretty interesting engineering and specifically designed around the idea of electric drive... What do you think?
Yeah, for me personally, the only real dinghy option for electric would be at least a 5-10kw motor and with external batteries, which of course, increases the weight of the dinghy. Oddly, the smaller the craft, the harder it is to go electric if you want that gasoline level of performance and range. One creative option would be making a bimini with one or two flexible solar panels to act as a range extender, lol. If you made a point of getting as high efficiency as possible ($$) it might just mean the difference between go and no-go if you can fit a couple hundred watts on.
absolutely! PEROVSKITE solar cells are making flexible film a viable alternative performance and especially weight-wise. Soon available on the market and especially for Bimini's 😃.
That jet drive was awesome,…. I was cracking up watching you guys doing the donuts. Hey, you’ve got time to save a little for it… your boats not ready yet. Go for it… you only live once, and it could end up having safety implications when & if you need to get somewhere quickly. It’s something to consider.
Late to the episode & comments: The Motoskiff seems like an excellent option as a backup for _anyone_ cruising with a gas motor. You may need a hoist to yank the ICE motor off the dingy, but installing the lightweight electric would be so easy. I hope their production version is as impressive as the pre-pro you tested. Excellent video.
One thing that the Zerojet has over all the other options you looked at is its battery chemistry. It has LiFePo4 cells, not NMC like the others. NMC cells have only a fraction of the life span of LiFePo4 and even more important on a boat is the safety issue. If something goes wrong with NMC cells, then you have a huge problem on your hands.
Lifepo4 is safe as safe as can be. It’s the lithium Ion that can catch a light. Even then they shouldn’t, I think it’s mainly the way people install these things that can be scary.
The thing I get more concerned about is lightning. We kept our starter battery lead acid so it’s separate from and BMS that will turn your batteries off.
Big car companies cheap out for mass production. You can get quality batteries with controllers to match. Keep the charge between 20-80%, and have a fault meter on every cell with an auto disconnect for the banks if one is detected. Electrical systems will catch fire when abused, and different chemistries require different care. If it’s a phobia, you could install the batteries like a life raft under the hull with a quick disconnect and a temp system that auto-releases if a fire starts. Horrible for the oceans, but better than a whole boat being crisped.
@@monksuu Lithium batteries are capable of spontaneous ignition and subsequent explosion from overheating. Gas/Diesel is very stable. Gas/diesel is an accelerant, that helps spread the speed of a fire, but doesn't start a fire.
That jetboat is awesome! Reminds me of our little Fling jetboat we have on the lake here in MN. You can do the same thing and 360 at high speed, we have yet to flip it, but try hard not to! 😆
I've had a Honda Aquatrax PWC jet that I rode for 400 hours over the years. I then transitioned to a Yamaha SX210 21' twin-jet boat. Jets have well defined advantages like super high reliability and low cost maintenance. The only downside is if you suck something up into the intake like seaweed, or a rope. They are also safe given there is no exposed propeller. It's been fun watching you test the dingys and now the electric motors.
That was one serious battery you were lugging around. Good way to throw out your back! You definitely have some considerations to make but the options were amazing!! Good luck with your choice! You definitely have done more than enough research! Hope you can make the best decision for yourselves without too much blood, sweat and tears!! Looking forward to the results!!
Keep in mind that the battery will in about 3 years be 50% of what it was. Also I like quiet and such but it is pretty nice electric if slow speed is fine. I would be afraid of going to dock for food and not having energy to get home. Also TEST the batteries for floating you will test this in real world even if you don't want to.
Using the same technology as our current electric cars they can expect about a 2.3%-4.2% loss each year in efficiency. That is of course dependent on how much they use it and their overall maintenance on the batteries themselves. If they follow the manufacturer's guidelines for maintenance and recharging they can bet on closer to the 2.3% loss. Even still you can chalk it up to the same kind of expenses they would incur over time from keeping up with fuel, oil, and maintenance of a gas powered tender.
Not with LiFePo4. None of these electric motor companies are using AGM’s anymore. Give it a year or two an no boat builder will be using AGM’s. LiGePo4 can go 100% to 5% 500 to 1500 cycles with only a 20% loss of capacity. With good management and not dropping below 30% you can get 6 years out of a battery. Relion makes a good battery but they are expensive.
@@Michael-dh2sw the battery tech is finally starting to snowball… like it should of 10 years ago. Solid state tech is just around the corner and capacity will increase 5 fold.
The only big downside to electric outboard s is range, they last a couple of hours at best where a gas can last 6-8 hours on a tank (runtime) And the batteries alone cost more than the gas outboard .
At this stage of the game, it would be extremely easy and inexpensive to ask the hull manufacturer to design more structurally robust davits! One never knows what needs the future might bring.
Unfortunately right now, Electric motors can't come close to comparing to Gas Motors. Maybe one day in about 25 years. The Motorcycle industry is having the same issue, it all comes down to pretty much this, when electric can beat gas in distance, effectiveness, charge 100% as fast as a tank can be refilled, and be less expensive as gas, then people will see it as a viable option to gas. Until then, it's just great for stuff under 10 miles. I once listened to a representative of BMW say that unless an Electric motorcycle can do 1000 miles on a single charge, with an average speed of 100 mph, recharge in under 10 minuets to 100% and have a retail price the same as a comparable gas bike, it's not going to sell to 80% of customers. welcome to the world we live in.
Funny. I just read "1000 miles (!!) on a single charge" and "AVERAGE (!) of 100mph". Hahahaha. Wait. That's really what you're saying this guy said? We would someone say this?
@@Krumelur lol We asked him that as well, he said that, that was a benchmark that the industry was holding. I am a technician, what the CEO's and shareholders think is far different then the rest of us. personally I ride a 2011 HD Road King, for me I would not even look at an Electric bike that could not at the very least equal my bike. Depending on where I get fuel I can do between 285 and 310 miles per 5 gal tank. but for me it's an entire package deal. Range, total yearly cost, ect. I ride long trips, AZ to AK and the like. I like the idea of ele bikes and cars, but imo right now the technology is far to limited and cost prohibitive.
Watch electric destroy gas in the next few years - decade and it will do it for cheaper . It’s not a matter of if but when . Electric motors already slaughter gas motors . And it’s going to change reeally fast
the nice thing about an outboard- its universal around the world. have problems with a one off custom electric craft- well it won't be fun tracking down parts/repair on the wrong side of the ocean.
The electric motors I’ve used couldn’t handle any serious weight in a dinghy going into any kind of noticeable current or wind. Trust me, you will regret it. Plus if it breaks down…. Good luck with that. Although combustion engines are dirty and require fuel and maintenance, those electric ones are going to let you down just like they let me down. They are weak and the batteries are very easily damaged
Makes no sense, electric motors will always out perform an mechanical engine. The problems was and still is fuel density; which affects the range. Fuel is more energy dense per kg than batteries. If you had such experience, then my guess is, it happened ages ago before recent lithium breakthrough, which means they had to use smaller motors with less torque and power in other to get some range.
@@Tr3xShad nope it happened two months ago with two different motors, but yes one was nix lithium ion but the other was less than a year old and current with the trends. On paper bla bla bla yes, they look great. These are not electric cars that have giant batteries that alone cost more than a used car. These are small portable little cute green toys. For horse power and reliability in real life conditions where shit can get hectic, I need fire. Not a cute little busy bee. If it’s just a calm Marina or calm Anchorage I’d go with the electric. But in Hawaii on the Pacific Ocean haha shit gets real and real fast.
We love our Highfield CL310 rigged with a Torqeedo Cruise 12 (25hp) outboard and two 5000 Wh batteries. Our range at a top speed of 15 mph is 25-30 miles and is well over 70 miles at 3-4 mph. We use our dinghy named “Wilson” for days between charges, which can be solar or from her mothership “MV Dolphin”, a 40’ hybrid electric off-grid cruiser.
I like the small form factor electric motor for a kayak or canoe. That would be awesome. I got to say that zero jet seems to be the one if the smiles on your faces are any indication
Awesome vid guys! Electric is so where it's at these days that jet looked like a blast. , I'm planning on doing a conversion on an old ski boat from a yahama to an E outboard, looking at elco.
We've heard lots of good things about the Elco. Our friend we filmed in Tonga made his boat with an Elco. The vid and his boat are called Escape Pod in case you want to see it on his boat :)
would be awesome if you could connect it to a scooter battery like the dualtron which it might be possible with, its an extra output on it for external betteries et.c
The ZeroJet is for me, the way to go. Especially if a spare battery is available, It's a no brainer. 15 K Boat & motor plus speed. The other ones are just big fishing motors.
