Re powering an old Grady .

N

Noob

New Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2021
Messages
2
Reaction score
1
Points
1
Age
45
I’m looking to buy me an older Grady cuddy and replace the outboard with an electric one . I’m in Wisconsin up by Green Bay . 268 islander looks great .
 
Eek... $80k? That's a hefty chunk of change. Maybe if it was the $27k then I'd seriously consider it if/when I went to re-power. While I love the idea of going to electric... all of my lawnmowers, weed-eaters and other power tools are now electric as opposed to gas... $80k for only 180hp is definitely nowhere near my price range or in my budget.
 
Guessing you want something more eco-friendly . Honestly the electric option for boats right now is nowhere near realistic compared to gas powered outboards. You can take comfort in that the modern 4 stroke outboards like a pair of Yamaha F200’s are far less polluting to the environment than the 2 stroke outboards that were produced some 15 -20 years ago.
A pair of F200’s shouldn’t be more than $34,000 new.
 
Mustang65fbk said:
Eek... $80k? That's a hefty chunk of change. Maybe if it was the $27k then I'd seriously consider it if/when I went to re-power. While I love the idea of going to electric... all of my lawnmowers, weed-eaters and other power tools are now electric as opposed to gas... $80k for only 180hp is definitely nowhere near my price range or in my budget.
Click to expand...
Having your mower run out of charge is a lot different than running out of propulsion at sea.

That said, the electric option mentioned ( where did that post go?) is not available. The manufacturer was taking pre orders at $300 but isn't taking those anymore. Who knows what is going on.
 
seasick said:
Having your mower run out of charge is a lot different than running out of propulsion at sea.

That said, the electric option mentioned ( where did that post go?) is not available. The manufacturer was taking pre orders at $300 but isn't taking those anymore. Who knows what is going on.
Click to expand...
Looks like they were doing them but stopped. They did a boat show back in September as well as one coming up this weekend in Florida, which might be a reason for not taking anymore pre-orders. And of course it's much different... my mower running out of a charge I can walk the battery into the garage and put it on the charger. Can't really do that with a boat.
 
One other point on those electric motors: The motors are either 450 or 600 volts. I didn't understand why the difference but regardless, I would not be comfortable having either voltage in my vessel, especially in a wet, salty environment.
 
  • Like
Reactions: wires38
seasick said:
One other point on those electric motors: The motors are either 450 or 600 volts. I didn't understand why the difference but regardless, I would not be comfortable having either voltage in my vessel, especially in a wet, salty environment.
Click to expand...
Higher voltage carries the same power at lower current - there's no wire which can carry current without melting. The eMotion drive is about 140kw. That's 11,000amps at 12v, or 230amps at 600v
 
Mustang65fbk said:
Looks like they were doing them but stopped. They did a boat show back in September as well as one coming up this weekend in Florida, which might be a reason for not taking anymore pre-orders. And of course it's much different... my mower running out of a charge I can walk the battery into the garage and put it on the charger. Can't really do that with a boat.
Click to expand...
Can always bring a gas powered generator ;)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mustang65fbk
rockpool said:
Higher voltage carries the same power at lower current - there's no wire which can carry current without melting. The eMotion drive is about 140kw. That's 11,000amps at 12v, or 230amps at 600v
Click to expand...
I understand the power relationship but my point was that if I ended up grabbing a bare 12 or 24 volts conductor or connector, I probably wouldn't feel anything. If I grabbed a 400 or 600 volt bare wire, I would most likely be killed ( especially if DC current
 
seasick said:
I understand the power relationship but my point was that if I ended up grabbing a bare 12 or 24 volts conductor or connector, I probably wouldn't feel anything. If I grabbed a 400 or 600 volt bare wire, I would most likely be killed ( especially if DC current
Click to expand...
Lol - indeed you would. That's what worries me about electric drive on boats - long term insulation of the high voltage systems.
 
Bach in the early 90s the automotive industry was forced by the EPA to convert over to organic sheathing on wiring in cars. I don't know about boats but electronic components have taken over the world. Electric in the water .....nah I'll pass
 
Think you scared him away guys. He didn't say he wanted to plane out. Maybe he just wants to cruise at hull speed. Very doable. Yamaha just announced it's making electric motors. Don't know the details but I think they are for going slow.

BTW a 27' boat just completed the 1200 mile inside passage trip from Washington state to Alaska under all eclectic power, only used the solar panels on top to charge. Never plugged in as they couldn't stop in BC for COVID.

New Rim drive Harmo Yamaha system: https://www.boatingmag.com/story/boats/yamaha-outboards-harmo-electric-boat-motor/

1636126604621.png
 
Last edited:
27 nautical miles a day averaging ~3kt. Charles Hedrich rowed twice across the Atlantic and averaged 40 nm per day

Powerbars > solar.

​

 
I'm kind of surprised that with the huge push to electric vehicles and solar powered this or that, that the marine/boating industry hasn't followed suit. Obviously it's a lot different fitting an electric motor into a vehicle engine bay and running it on the road as opposed to fitting it into the size of an outboard motor and running it on the water. I'm also assuming that it might not be cost effective to do that for an outboard motor? I'm also assuming that an all electric outboard motor probably has a lot less that can go wrong with it as opposed to gasoline and that people would never have to bring their boats in for maintenance? Or at least nowhere near as often as they do currently? Kind of makes sense as they'd lose a ton of money in selling extra parts and kits and so on. I'd love an electric outboard with solar panels on the roof of my boat to always have it charged up. I'd love to see something like this happen but it also seems like gasoline powered outboard motors are here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.