If you're in the market for a battery like this or if you are interested in purchasing any of the lithium batteries, battery chargers, or ePropulsion products featured in this video you'll get a 5% discount if you use the code "WAYNE" at checkout from Tiny Boat Nation! Click the link below to see what they have for you. ▶︎ Tiny Boat Nation tbnation.net/?ref=wayne ▶︎ Use coupon code WAYNE at checkout to get 5% off your purchase in the Tiny Boat Nation Shop!
great segment Wayne. it was good showing the LiFePo4 battery as an add or back-up battery. ranges and duration are getting much more refined. I think its hilarious you fished the bunk out of the river only to find out later it was yours. See, good deeds do pay off. thanks for sharing.
I remember when you first got the whaler You weren't sure if you would do anything with it. looks like it has become you test bed for other things. I always enjoy your videos'. I'm a 73 year old with a 17' Alumacraft fishing boat with a 65 hp motor. Keep up the good work. from Taylor Texas
Hi Wayne. Nice video. I've tested a few batteries with my ePropulsion and I find that they work well, other than they don't quite report the battery levels like the Original battery does. This means that on full power, the non-original battery does have a tendancy to cut out when 25% full or less. You can manage it but it still works, just have to be careful at full power.
Are you concerned that if the cable from the battery when no connected hits a pool of water, there will be a large discharge which could be quite dangerous. I saw another company that’s extension cable whould not energize unless it was connected to the motor, then the coupling was water tight
WACKY story about that bunk. It was probably stuck to the bottom of the hull (the bolts corroded away) and it hitched a ride with you out into the river. Really weird that you found it. Years ago a pal of mine ripped the lower unit off his outboard when they were doing 25 knots and hit a *10-foot wooden picnic table* floating just below the surface.
8:43 Man it reely is a small world. You'd be surprised how many things I find floating around out on the water, picking it up then realizing that some of it was mine 😅
@WayneTheBoatGuy isn't it. My first thought was sweet, something I can recycle, and use... then get back to the wharf and be like what's missing, then realize that what I picked up was missing. I have a pair of floats linked together with a walk way float. And the main stern line fer the boat get caught in the crack sometimes, and we'll I use an ole 12ft x 2x8 I found floating around, and it turns out it was a bunk for my old boat trailer from the mackerel trap boats
You have good karma my friend! Kudos for going to the effort of removing the board. I recently rescued an ICE (internal combustion engine) boater with my electric 75hp 16' runabout EV outboard. What a great feeling! He got a kick out of it too.
@WayneTheBoatGuy Thanks for the review. Another comment about using another separate battery: If you have a battery system for your home or shop, you could integrate that battery into your home\shop system, when you're NOT boating. That would help offset your battery powered boat cost. I love EPropulsion's concept there. ... Now, if it were only made in America...
Do you want 28ah or 60ah? I know which one I would choose! The fact that it's quite a bit less expensive certainly helps! :) You can absolutely leave the charging cables connected; fishermen have been doing this for their trolling motor batteries for decades. I would also mention that building your own 48v battery, from component parts, isn't all that difficult...it's keeping it somewhat waterproof that's challenging!
1:18 If you do not record the battery's voltage and current (amperage), you cannot accurately determine the remaining energy in the battery. Furthermore, if you do not also log the speed over water, you cannot estimate the distance the battery's full charge will allow you to travel. Even with this information, without considering the speed and direction of the water current, you will have no precise way of knowing your final location before the battery is completely drained.
In my experience over several trips with various batteries attached to this motor the run time/speed estimate table listed on the ePropulsion web site applies to all situations. For example if they estimate the standard ePropulsion battery (which is 28 Ah will last X amount of time at X speed) then a 32 Ah LiFePo4 battery at full speed might last an extra 10-15 minutes and a 100 Ah lasts more than twice as long (I have a video showing that).
That’s amazing! What were the odds of you finding your own trailer bunk? As far as the other stuff, it’s still too much money to go that slow, for a limited period of time. It’s always comforting to know you have the speed to get off the water should a storm come up, which you have with a gas outboard. I’d like to see the same tests with a boat that doesn’t weigh 800 pounds. Maybe it’s a different story with an aluminum 12’ or 14’ boat.
Yeah I honestly had no idea that my bunk came off, let alone it was mine. And yeah, 3 hp isn’t good for many situations because even on a 12 foot empty boat it only gets up to about 5-6 mph.
0:43 A 48V battery with a capacity of 32Ah provides a total energy of 1,536Wh. If a load of 1,600W (equivalent to 2.15 horsepower) is applied, the battery will be fully drained in less than one hour.
The maximum draw of this motor according to ePropulsion is only 1,000 Watts and the smaller 28 Ah standard battery lasts over an hour. They use the fuzzy "3 hp equivalent" rating that all the electric outboard companies use (Torqeedo, Newport, ePropulsion etc.) and I know the actual watts vs horsepower numbers don't align but that's how this stuff goes.
Interesting, thanks. I was surprised that the battery said 91% not 100 or nearly since you freshly charged it. But for the couple hundred less, you get 1/3 the power in the battery, not a good tradeoff in my opinion, especially since you're paying that much for the outboard itself, not to mention if you get the built on battery.
The ePropulsion battery is 28 Ah and costs $1,149 - it does not come included with the Spirit Plus which costs $1,549. This battery costs less than the ePropulsion battery and has more range being that it is 32 Ah. But you do also need to buy the special cable to connect it.
@@WayneTheBoatGuy Ah, thanks for the correction, I was comparing (forgot price) the 100Ah battery price, or thought you were. Of course, getting two of those batteries, you'd only need one of the adapters. Any idea why the battery you'd just charged was only listing as at 91% capacity on first use?
@@richardwernst The 91% could be variety of reasons but none of them much to worry about. For example, it actually was several days since I charged it and I tested it before putting it on the boat. I also think that these drop from 100% really quickly - but I'll double check that theory in the spring!
Powerhouse Google Pixel undate- Just found that either Powerhouse or Google have "fixed" the app, so now the Pixel DOES show the dashboard. Glad they fixed it!
The alternative is use 12v battery with 12-48v inverter. If willing to accept 1/2 power then can buy cheaper 20A inverter. Save epulsion battery for when you need full power.
Shame that you need a proprietary looking cable. Depending on the current, a waterproof XT90 might be sufficient... but I can't tell the gauge of the cables or the size of the connector's contacts from a video frame all that well. Though that large quick disconnect looks standard enough and more than large enough to handle those currents... but manufacturers like things proprietary.
I do not. Look under the battery for the voltage specs of the battery - and if the voltage and connector cable is the same - then it seems like it should work.
@@WayneTheBoatGuy correct but under $700 for them total is a good deal...granted, more wires and connectors. I'm using 12v still however started playing with 24v trollers for more upriver power and WOW!!! 24 vs 12v, the battery Ah uses much less! Love the vid's Wayne. Cheers!
Hey Wayne, have you compared the ePropultion Spirit to the dirt cheap Hangkai 48V motors? I'm hearing more and more about them and some favorable reviews. They cost under $300 and seem to have comparable power. Possibly even more. They can work with a standard 48v battery (no expensive adapters needed) or can be run with four 12v batteries in series. I love my Torqeedo Travel 1003s I've had for over a decade (the motor the ePropultion Spirit directly copied). I've always felt there should be something a lot cheaper on the market from a competitor, but the ePropultion never really seemed much less expensive or offered any great advantages, and I have less trust of it as a copied product from a Chinese company vs "the real thing" from Torqeedo made in Germany.. But these Hangkai 48v motors are dirt cheap. When my Torqeedo can no longer be serviced (there is a factory service center just an hour from me since Torqeedo is much more widely distributed & in circulation than ePropultion), I might consider a Hangkai 48V motor. The Torqeedo design over all is very convenient. The 31 ah battery is a tiny fraction of the weight of a standard 31 ah battery, or ePropultion's copy of the Torqeedo battery design for that matter. I have a very small Sea Eagle Paddleski that comes out of the trunk of my car. The boat, motor & accessories all fit in the trunk of my small sedan. I'd like to see your reviews on the Hangkai 48V motors. They've been a hot topic lately, I'm sure your viewers would love to see your review on them.
Than you for sharing your experiences - and yes, I have been looking into the Hangkai. One of the big differences seems to be that the Hangkai is built like a traditional outboard with the motor up top.
@@WayneTheBoatGuy I'd love to see your review on them if you end up going one. I love my Torqeedo, as it's getting old I'm not sure I can afford to buy another one when it eventually can't be serviced any more. And just a single service fee might be similar to the price of buying a Hangkai 48v motor. Granted I'd still have to invest at least $500 in a battery. Also, I'm not sure if a battery nearly as light weight as a Torqeedo Travel battery is available in a 48v with a similar about of juice. 915 Wh, 31 ah. The Torqeedo battery (or Chinese knock off ePropultion) are very light weight compared to the typical 48v batteries I'm seeing available. Part of the Torqeedo charm is the great portability and ease of operation, and ability to have them repaired too.
Powehouse Battery bluetooth- can't do the parameter setup or read the "dashboard" with a Google Pixel phone. Must be an i-phone, or maybe other adroid phones. % Charge level will read, but nothing else. Im had to borrow my wife's i-phone to do the setup. (I bought the 183AH Powerhouse- HEAVY)
If you're in the market for a battery like this or if you are interested in purchasing any of the lithium batteries, battery chargers, or ePropulsion products featured in this video you'll get a 5% discount if you use the code "WAYNE" at checkout from Tiny Boat Nation! Click the link below to see what they have for you.
▶︎ Tiny Boat Nation tbnation.net/?ref=wayne
▶︎ Use coupon code WAYNE at checkout to get 5% off your purchase in the Tiny Boat Nation Shop!
great segment Wayne. it was good showing the LiFePo4 battery as an add or back-up battery. ranges and duration are getting much more refined. I think its hilarious you fished the bunk out of the river only to find out later it was yours. See, good deeds do pay off. thanks for sharing.
Grabbing that floating debris is exactly how Jaws 4 started... LOL🦈Great job on the video as always!
One in a million shot Doc! Finding the very same bunk that came off your trailer.
Great job Wayne on batteries and motor.
I remember when you first got the whaler You weren't sure if you would do anything with it. looks like it has become you test bed for other things. I always enjoy your videos'. I'm a 73 year old with a 17' Alumacraft fishing boat with a 65 hp motor. Keep up the good work. from Taylor Texas
Thank you!
Hi Wayne. Nice video. I've tested a few batteries with my ePropulsion and I find that they work well, other than they don't quite report the battery levels like the Original battery does. This means that on full power, the non-original battery does have a tendancy to cut out when 25% full or less. You can manage it but it still works, just have to be careful at full power.
Are you concerned that if the cable from the battery when no connected hits a pool of water, there will be a large discharge which could be quite dangerous. I saw another company that’s extension cable whould not energize unless it was connected to the motor, then the coupling was water tight
Hey. I like how chill your videos are. I’ll bet you were wild in your younger days. Keep up the good content
WACKY story about that bunk. It was probably stuck to the bottom of the hull (the bolts corroded away) and it hitched a ride with you out into the river. Really weird that you found it. Years ago a pal of mine ripped the lower unit off his outboard when they were doing 25 knots and hit a *10-foot wooden picnic table* floating just below the surface.
Yeah and with the low power of this motor it hung in there for a while.
8:43
Man it reely is a small world.
You'd be surprised how many things I find floating around out on the water, picking it up then realizing that some of it was mine 😅
It’s wild!
@WayneTheBoatGuy isn't it.
My first thought was sweet, something I can recycle, and use... then get back to the wharf and be like what's missing, then realize that what I picked up was missing.
I have a pair of floats linked together with a walk way float. And the main stern line fer the boat get caught in the crack sometimes, and we'll I use an ole 12ft x 2x8 I found floating around, and it turns out it was a bunk for my old boat trailer from the mackerel trap boats
You have good karma my friend! Kudos for going to the effort of removing the board. I recently rescued an ICE (internal combustion engine) boater with my electric 75hp 16' runabout EV outboard. What a great feeling! He got a kick out of it too.
Ha ha ha that is something else, that bunk was yours😵💫😂👍
great video and awesome story!
Glad you enjoyed it!
@WayneTheBoatGuy Thanks for the review.
Another comment about using another separate battery: If you have a battery system for your home or shop, you could integrate that battery into your home\shop system, when you're NOT boating. That would help offset your battery powered boat cost.
I love EPropulsion's concept there.
... Now, if it were only made in America...
Funny you say that - I have recently been testing a 48 Volt inverter with this battery!
Man you got lucky w the bunk....
Do you want 28ah or 60ah? I know which one I would choose! The fact that it's quite a bit less expensive certainly helps! :) You can absolutely leave the charging cables connected; fishermen have been doing this for their trolling motor batteries for decades. I would also mention that building your own 48v battery, from component parts, isn't all that difficult...it's keeping it somewhat waterproof that's challenging!
You forgot to mention the $145 charger for the new battery
1:18
If you do not record the battery's voltage and current (amperage), you cannot accurately determine the remaining energy in the battery. Furthermore, if you do not also log the speed over water, you cannot estimate the distance the battery's full charge will allow you to travel. Even with this information, without considering the speed and direction of the water current, you will have no precise way of knowing your final location before the battery is completely drained.
In my experience over several trips with various batteries attached to this motor the run time/speed estimate table listed on the ePropulsion web site applies to all situations. For example if they estimate the standard ePropulsion battery (which is 28 Ah will last X amount of time at X speed) then a 32 Ah LiFePo4 battery at full speed might last an extra 10-15 minutes and a 100 Ah lasts more than twice as long (I have a video showing that).
That’s amazing! What were the odds of you finding your own trailer bunk? As far as the other stuff, it’s still too much money to go that slow, for a limited period of time. It’s always comforting to know you have the speed to get off the water should a storm come up, which you have with a gas outboard. I’d like to see the same tests with a boat that doesn’t weigh 800 pounds. Maybe it’s a different story with an aluminum 12’ or 14’ boat.
Yeah I honestly had no idea that my bunk came off, let alone it was mine.
And yeah, 3 hp isn’t good for many situations because even on a 12 foot empty boat it only gets up to about 5-6 mph.
@@WayneTheBoatGuy I was curious about what the run time difference would be with a lighter boat.
Is the plug to the motor for power something proprietary to ePower?
It seems that way - it certainly isn't common like an Anderson connector, but there are people who have come up with other wiring solutions.
0:43
A 48V battery with a capacity of 32Ah provides a total energy of 1,536Wh. If a load of 1,600W (equivalent to 2.15 horsepower) is applied, the battery will be fully drained in less than one hour.
The maximum draw of this motor according to ePropulsion is only 1,000 Watts and the smaller 28 Ah standard battery lasts over an hour. They use the fuzzy "3 hp equivalent" rating that all the electric outboard companies use (Torqeedo, Newport, ePropulsion etc.) and I know the actual watts vs horsepower numbers don't align but that's how this stuff goes.
@WayneTheBoatGuy You are comparing watts to ampere-hours, and similar units. However, you must begin with work, which is expressed in joules (J).
@WayneTheBoatGuy
1000 watts is approximately 1.341 horsepower (mechanical).
Interesting, thanks. I was surprised that the battery said 91% not 100 or nearly since you freshly charged it. But for the couple hundred less, you get 1/3 the power in the battery, not a good tradeoff in my opinion, especially since you're paying that much for the outboard itself, not to mention if you get the built on battery.
The ePropulsion battery is 28 Ah and costs $1,149 - it does not come included with the Spirit Plus which costs $1,549. This battery costs less than the ePropulsion battery and has more range being that it is 32 Ah. But you do also need to buy the special cable to connect it.
@@WayneTheBoatGuy Ah, thanks for the correction, I was comparing (forgot price) the 100Ah battery price, or thought you were.
Of course, getting two of those batteries, you'd only need one of the adapters.
Any idea why the battery you'd just charged was only listing as at 91% capacity on first use?
@@richardwernst The 91% could be variety of reasons but none of them much to worry about. For example, it actually was several days since I charged it and I tested it before putting it on the boat. I also think that these drop from 100% really quickly - but I'll double check that theory in the spring!
Powerhouse Google Pixel undate- Just found that either Powerhouse or Google have "fixed" the app, so now the Pixel DOES show the dashboard. Glad they fixed it!
Oh that’s cool - thanks for sharing!
Do you need the proprietary battery to connect another brand battery?
No the cable connects to the motor - I could completely remove the ePropulsion battery.
The alternative is use 12v battery with 12-48v inverter. If willing to accept 1/2 power then can buy cheaper 20A inverter. Save epulsion battery for when you need full power.
have you tried the different prop they have for it?
Not yet - but I may someday.
Shame that you need a proprietary looking cable. Depending on the current, a waterproof XT90 might be sufficient... but I can't tell the gauge of the cables or the size of the connector's contacts from a video frame all that well. Though that large quick disconnect looks standard enough and more than large enough to handle those currents... but manufacturers like things proprietary.
I have the original spirit 1, do you know if the battery you are referring to will work with it? Thanks.
I do not. Look under the battery for the voltage specs of the battery - and if the voltage and connector cable is the same - then it seems like it should work.
lithium lipo's going for (on sale ) $160 now. 4 in a row @ 100Ah each... go for the week ;)
I think those are 12 volt so if wired up for 48 volt the Ah wouldn’t increase.
@@WayneTheBoatGuy correct but under $700 for them total is a good deal...granted, more wires and connectors. I'm using 12v still however started playing with 24v trollers for more upriver power and WOW!!! 24 vs 12v, the battery Ah uses much less! Love the vid's Wayne. Cheers!
Hey Wayne, have you compared the ePropultion Spirit to the dirt cheap Hangkai 48V motors? I'm hearing more and more about them and some favorable reviews. They cost under $300 and seem to have comparable power. Possibly even more. They can work with a standard 48v battery (no expensive adapters needed) or can be run with four 12v batteries in series.
I love my Torqeedo Travel 1003s I've had for over a decade (the motor the ePropultion Spirit directly copied). I've always felt there should be something a lot cheaper on the market from a competitor, but the ePropultion never really seemed much less expensive or offered any great advantages, and I have less trust of it as a copied product from a Chinese company vs "the real thing" from Torqeedo made in Germany.. But these Hangkai 48v motors are dirt cheap. When my Torqeedo can no longer be serviced (there is a factory service center just an hour from me since Torqeedo is much more widely distributed & in circulation than ePropultion), I might consider a Hangkai 48V motor.
The Torqeedo design over all is very convenient. The 31 ah battery is a tiny fraction of the weight of a standard 31 ah battery, or ePropultion's copy of the Torqeedo battery design for that matter. I have a very small Sea Eagle Paddleski that comes out of the trunk of my car. The boat, motor & accessories all fit in the trunk of my small sedan.
I'd like to see your reviews on the Hangkai 48V motors. They've been a hot topic lately, I'm sure your viewers would love to see your review on them.
Than you for sharing your experiences - and yes, I have been looking into the Hangkai. One of the big differences seems to be that the Hangkai is built like a traditional outboard with the motor up top.
@@WayneTheBoatGuy I'd love to see your review on them if you end up going one. I love my Torqeedo, as it's getting old I'm not sure I can afford to buy another one when it eventually can't be serviced any more. And just a single service fee might be similar to the price of buying a Hangkai 48v motor. Granted I'd still have to invest at least $500 in a battery. Also, I'm not sure if a battery nearly as light weight as a Torqeedo Travel battery is available in a 48v with a similar about of juice. 915 Wh, 31 ah. The Torqeedo battery (or Chinese knock off ePropultion) are very light weight compared to the typical 48v batteries I'm seeing available. Part of the Torqeedo charm is the great portability and ease of operation, and ability to have them repaired too.
They need to lower the price of that cable though.
Yeah it's a bit steep
What are the odds that it was yours! 😅
I'm glad I picked it up!
@@WayneTheBoatGuy Yeah io bet you are!
Powehouse Battery bluetooth- can't do the parameter setup or read the "dashboard" with a Google Pixel phone. Must be an i-phone, or maybe other adroid phones. % Charge level will read, but nothing else. Im had to borrow my wife's i-phone to do the setup. (I bought the 183AH Powerhouse- HEAVY)
183 - wow. I had no idea that the app isn’t cross platform. That’s a bummer
That cable is a rip off, it should be maybe 25 dollars.
Yeah it isn't cheap - and the special eProp plug end doesn't help.
Too much money for a tiny outboard. And batteries.