Did you do (or will you do) a similar electric outboard options video as you did for choosing anchors? I don’t know what’s coming over me but first I chose a TrueKit after watching your review and now I’m considering an electric o/b - but not sure where to start and you seem to be becoming an authority of the best gear. You might have to rebadge yourselves as the thinking-person’s influencers not just liveaboards!
Great review. I think the features you pointed out, like lightness, ease of use massively outweigh any range issues. We have found that the weight of our 4 stroke prohibits use unless it is an emergency. I think convenience is a key factor and will get people using their dinghy more - who knows maybe even anchoring more! Keep us informed as you use it more. 👏⛵️
I’m an e-propulsion advocate and own a Minkota, and while I was impressed with the Torquedo, I was put off by the noise. Your new motor is a quiet , brushless, direct drive unit which appeals to sailors who covet quiet, reliability, light weight, and no fossil fuel ⛽️. Thanks for showcasing an excellent alternative. 👍😎
There are several videos out that show a longer and thinner propeller that looks more like an airplane propeller than one for a boat but they seriously increase the thrust and decrease the amount of power used. Just thought you may want to look into that. Thanks so much for making these videos, very much enjoyed!
This thing is so supercool i almost got to have one !!! And imagine how much one will save on fuel in the long run with this one !!! Not to mention how good it also will be for the environment !!! Besides; what an awesome place !!!
A very informative video, I don't sail & am very unlikely to do so, however I like finding out about engineering advancement & this ticks that box. Fair winds (when you're allowed to sail again) ⛵️⛵️⛵️
Great vid as usual. We have had a Torqeedo for two years and love it. Same attributes as the epropulsion. Range about 12 miles. Very Quiet - you can have a normal conversation while underway. The battery is so light we always charge when not in use. Range anxiety does go away with experience (just like in our car). Re challenging conditions: it is about equivalent to a 3hp and is no different than a 3hp propane or gas motor.
I'm interested is your Torqeedo direct drive? I've heard they are moving / have moved away from gearboxes? There are lots of electric engines here in Venice as you can use them in places you can't go with a gas engine but you can hear the non direct drive engines almost as far away as a petrol engine by the high pitched whine!
@@svfairisle I believe it is direct drive. I have heard that noise can be an issue in older models but we have the same level as shown in your vid. Lovely being able to talk as you motor. What a wonderful way to experience Venice! Thank you for sharing. I know it's kind of a hike but you and Judy are officially invited to sail on the Penobscott in Maine!
That looks like our next electric outboard. We've never used a petrol one, and currently have a Watersnake - which is great up to a point, but it does have limitations. For example, the battery isn't integral and needs to be carried separately in a secure box in the dinghy (so the "kill cord" is just a line from the helmsperson to the cables between engine and battery), and the prop is metal. Definitely better than petrol, but it looks like ePropulsion is even better. Many thanks for the review.
Great review! I will have to review our two 130 lbs thrust trolling motors setup. Much much cheaper and very powerful. Pushes our 36 ft sailboat 4-5 knots. It does help to have a smaller dinghy such as yours to have less torque needed which means less amperage and also much longer battery life. Our dinghy is a bit large and we can get 10 miles on a charge with a 3 knot average
@@sailingoctopus1 they are great but they do Max out at 5 mph because they have set 1100 rpms and the propeller’s pitch isn’t much. Two of mine 130 lbs each pushes my 36 foot cruising trimaran at Max speed. 5 tons of weight
We have used one of these for about 5 seasons and it is great. However, in situations where your anchorage is a considerable distance from land locations, such as the Bahamas, a gas engine is essential.
Informative video in a nice location. We also have the ePropulsion 1.0, but an older version. So far for us it has been a good experience, at least for the most part. I am convinced that electric is the way to go unless you cruise in very remote locations. But, there may be a problem coming our way with these electric motors. We had a crack in the black part of the battery housing, so that the battery was not water-tight anymore. It did not take a lot of force to cause that. The black plastic is very brittle, cheaply made. Very unfortunate the company did not offer this part as a spare part. They told us to buy a new battery (> 800$) or, better, a completely new motor since there is now a newer version. Here is the problem I see. Even though more expensive like their gasoline counterparts, electric motors may become the same as an iPhone or other electronic devices. Sorry, no real repair, just replacement. This time we were lucky and able to get a used housing from a broken battery. It was for a fraction of the cost of a new battery and took only an hour to be installed. Moral, look after your battery, don't drop it on the dock, even a couple of cm on a wooden dock could be to much.
One thing: a couple of the features you list are extras I believe: solar and 12v adaptors for instance. Great video and one of these will soon be hanging off the back of my boat.
Nice review. I have a first generation e-Propulsion and use it to get put to my mooring and back which is about a mile each way on a tidal estuary. Your battery is far more efficient than mine is but perhaps that is because it is getting old now. If I keep the power down to 1/3 I can get to the mooring and back on about half the battery. If I go full power it really eats the power. I am propelling a 12’ wooden tender mind you so that will make a difference. I love the engine and the ease of use and no more petrol or breakdowns. I would advise washing in fresh water after use as mine has corrosion on the clamping bracket and the powder coating is bubbling. Other than that it is great and I might upgrade to a newer model once mine is past its best. Cheers. Andy UK
Yes they advise a fresh water wash, I think they've improved the corrosion resistance though, they seem to have a good grasp on development, every weak point that people have come up with in previous models seems to have been addressed in newer engines.
Good range. Take the solar with you when you go to the beach and it would charge up? Oh, and have a USB socket for phones and cameras 😁 Sail Safe Guys, Ant, Cid & the pooch crew.
Yes it would have been handy when we were stuck in the Mar Menor on the first lockdown, we we're going to uninhabited islands for our walks so we could have set it up charging on the beach while we were walking.
Very informative review, thanks. I've a bit of a clapped out old Suzuki and was going to go with a 4 stroke replacement, but the electric motor is quite appealing.
I'm thinking about adding a more performant ePropulsion Navy 6.0 to a 30ft trimaran - not for the range but rather the 1kw regeneration! That could be a great recipe I imagine: plenty of range when there's no wind, start sailing at around 3kn wind due to the very light weight.
Absolutely! It’ll be a game changer for those sorts of boats. You could have amazing range to get out and sail, then charge the battery while your sailing and motor all the way back
excellent review. led me to reconsider the ePropulsion unit as a possibility for us. Thank you for the lovely review. You guys do a great job. We both enjoy your work.
A truly great review of the E-Propulsion Spirit 1.0 !!! Great to watch and very practical. I wanted to purchase this motor for my Pelican Catch 100 but it was just a to big. I ended up going with a motor that I thought was a bit to small but still works well. The Bixpy Jet Drive. I know one thing for sure, if I ever get a larger boat than my Catch pwr 100, I will most definitely be getting the E-Propulsion system !!!
Having sold my previous tender and Torqeedo with the mothership, I have been shopping for a new tender and electric engine. Due to weight concerns, I narrowed it down to Takacat, True Kit, and OC Tender. As I live in the US, the only tender I could demo was the Takacat, and the Miami dealer is also an Epropulsion dealer. As far as the boat is concerned, I bought the Takacat because it was the only one of the 3 I could demo, and it stores in multiple bags, which makes it marginally easier to store when I remove the davits. Like you, I might eventually upgrade to an OC, but it would have to live on the davit. As far as the engine is concerned, I went back to Torqeedo because of the length of time Torqeedo has been around. Having read the Panbo reviews, I think they both have their pluses and minuses but Torqeedo has been in business for a long time. Having said that, I think my next one could easily be an Epropulsion, and I look forward to hearing your longer term review. Best, Maldwin
Yes it's all about how they perform long term. Torqeedo have been around a long time, but they were behind on the tech, only just going onto direct drive brushless motors like the ePropulsion. I guess if they have lots of dealers and spares available thats important, but I checked and in Europe at least there's a really strong dealer network for ePropulsion, not sure what it's like in the States. I'm still waiting to see an OC tender in real life, they do look cool on paper.
Steve great review, thanks..... I think you should add a segment showing just how easy and light it truly is by bringing it on and off the back of Fair Isle..... I think it's just not the performance we are intrigued about but the easy and stowage ability of it..... With this kind of setup I think one could even stow it in the lazarette (without the fear petrol leaking everywhere)!! All the best Richard
That was the plan, to do the whole thing out at anchor, but we are in lockdown here in Italy since the weekend so we're tied to the dock. And yes it's a very good point that with no leakage (and it does come with a bag which they are sending me as it wasn't ready) you could even just lay it on a spare bunk.
You don’t need the 12v and Solar controller. No point in charging off the solar directly - just use the solar controller to charge from the house bank - that is charged from the solar panels.. Great outboard we have had ours for nearly 5 years v little problem
I have the solar controller so that on days where I haven't got excess solar power (i.e. the house bank doesn't get fully charged) I can leave the big panels for the house bank and still charge the outboard with the MPPT. I have the fold out panels mainly for the Ecoflow Delta that we showed in a recent episode (test video coming up)
@@svfairisle yes that does make sense - though a bigger house bank tends to be simpler and cheaper - but difficult to add to without changing the whole lot out! We had a cottage in Devon that was only accessible by water and the epropulsion was a brilliant option - always starts first time ;)
It's a balance when you live aboard, the house bank needs to be BIG. But the sweet spot if for solar is having enough so you can get the house bank full on slightly overcast days. That's quite difficult to do unless you have a cat with acres of deck space for panels. So we will have quite a few days where we need the whole days sun for the house bank & the fold out panels will be good for the eprop.
Thanks again for another excellent video Steve! I must admit I've always rolled my eyes about electric propulsion, but I think you convinced me to take another look. That said, when you started on about your X67 b part 2a section 1 charger, what Judy was doing on deck in the background became a lot more interesting....was she mixing you a milk and gin cocktail? :)
there are a few sites that show how to build additional battery packs yourself - allot of scooter packs you could prob build one in a small tool box and use it with a plug in to extend your range possibly by 2 or 3x... i would like the extra gas can personally so I would carry that range extender "tool/tackle box". but it looks like a great little emotor !!!
Nice video Your too funny, Sorry to hear you are locked down again! Hope this electric motor works out better than your last one. I understand the importance of gin, my wine consumption has been way up from usual. You and Judy stay safe.
Good news is we are (hopefully) going to make a quick trip back to the UK in a week to have our Covid jabs, so that means I can pick up the fishing lures :)
Great review thanks. I think to make a fair buying decision people need to be clear on a few things here. In round figures this is a 3HP, $3000, 19kg (11.3+8.7kg) electric motor. Its about 1kw at full throttle that should last for about an hour and then needs to be charged for 3.5hrs on a fast charger. Lithium batteries have a life of around 3000 cycles then it will have to be replaced. In comparison a small 3HP 2stroke is the same weight. only a few hundred dollars and no charging requirements. Its less likely to be stolen when left at the dock and does not take precious electricity to charge up (ie 1.4kWh per charge). Its easy and cheap to step up to the next size with a petrol engine that will get a boat on the plan and save energy. Don't get me wrong I think there is a place for electric outboards but a $200 trolling motor would achieve the same thing with a DIY battery pack that can be used for other applications. Just my 2c... and I really want to like it.
I would love to see someone rig up a solar canopy and run the outboard without using any battery power - something I believe it is capable of - ie charging whilst running. You should also be able to use a cheap lead acid battery as a backup charging option for long journeys - or your solar battery pack
That thing seems awesome. I suppose if it's locked, and you have the kill key with you, and if you also take the battery with you, it's reasonably secure.
Yes & crucially the battery had a built in handle so you can thread the cable/chain we use to lock it through that as well. As these things become more common I can see the batteries being targeted.
@@svfairisle And I guess if you go ashore to eat out, you could carry battery with you and charge up in the restaurant while eating. At least you can then charge up a little while there is no solar available during the evening.
Looks like a brilliant idea. Did you ever test the regenerative changing feature? I think they only start charging around 4 knots so might not be very effective on a trailer sailer. Looks like you could turn the motor backwards when charging so that the prop has better efficiency. But then it would be charging in reverse lol. Might be a cool test for one of your videos. Great review anyways. Keep them coming ✌️⛵
Yes I showed it in one of the episodes. Towing even at low speeds put something in. We don’t usually tow the dinghy though, especially with the outboard on, so it’s not a function we use. It does work with the engine backwards.
Another brilliant, informative video guys. Great channel. Looking to purchase an epropulsion outboard. Did you order the small shaft or large shaft? I know the Evo doesn’t do XS. Thanks.
Ours is the standard shaft which works well. With a small flat bottomed dinghy the an XS would probably measure up better, but rather a tiny bit more drag from a longer shaft than cavitation which is what really kills your drive.
Worryingly buying almost everything you recommend…how are your thoughts on the Epropulsion this far down the road?? I’m hovering over the buy button as I type. 🤣 Love the channel. 👍
Yes hit that button! We did have an error code come up on the eProp last month but the dealer in Turkey dealt with it very well and very quickly. We did borrow a 10hp outboard while it was away & it only made us thankful we went electric. The weight of the petrol outboard made it a liability actually.
Hey Steve, great video. Very thorough and informative. Quick question though, have you guys got a new dingy? I seem to remember you getting a new one from a mob in New Zealand, is that still the one you are cruising around with in this video?
Please test the generator towing function. Can it be used as a hydrogenerator to charge the 12V battery in the boat? Thru a MPPT solar charger maybe? If so I would absolutely buy one.
We will absolutely test the re-gen function as soon as we are out of lockdown in Italy and allowed to sail. Charging the boat batteries would be a real stretch I think though as even if you have an external eprop battery (which you can have along with the attached one if you like) the manual says the re-gen will only charge the attached battery, not the external one.
@@svfairisle Nestaway are claiming that it will be possible to charge the house battery from the EVO at some point in the future. My thoughts are that the regen will charge the 48V and a DC to DC converter/charger like a Victron Orion can charge the 12V house battery. Any thoughts on this?
@@stuart7060 At the moment ePrupulsion state that the regen is for the attached battery only. It won't even charge a secondary 48v external eProp battery in the tender if you have one. They are really looking at innovative ways of using the power though so I think at some stage they will come up with a system that can do everything.
Pretty sure the shutdown safety halyard is NOT supposed to be around your neck LMAO.. Although in your defense, I imagine if your neck goes overboard it will still perform its job. Never seen that one before LOL.
I would buy one of these if the prices were a bit lower. As it stands they're $3,300 Canadian dollars here, and that's way too much! But they're nice and efficient, especially at lower speeds.
There's no denying that compared to petrol engines they are a more expensive initial outlay. You should claw some of that back in much lower maintenance and running costs though. But granted you are paying for the extra advantages of electric over petrol, it the light weight & reliability mainly that makes it worth it for us.
Yes I realise that. Sizes wouldn't work out to swap them over. But we do have white bits of deck and it will still get loads off the water especially when the sun is low which is key to keep the voltage high enough to charge for longer.
This is a great review thanks but I am interested in security. If I take my tender over to the marina for a pint how can I lock this all to the tender. Other than the battery handle I'm not seeing any obvious loops on the motor for a chain.
There’s a metal bar between the two clamps that screw it to the transom, it’s meant for you to padlock the handle to the bar so you cannot unscrew the motor from the boat, but I find that a bit fiddly and the handles are plastic. So I use one of those long plastic covered bike lock wires to loop through the battery handle and then padlock to the metal bar, that way the battery can’t be removed either which as these things become more common I can see being an issue
It's the short. The extra short would probably be a better fit with this dinghy though, but I got the slightly longer shaft in case we change in the future
Great little 'motor'. I doubt it will outlast a 2HP Yamaha 2 stroke? Infinitely repairable and needing only fuel/oil mix. Appreciate why you have it though, petrol, like propane, is not always available. You should really invest in a better dinghy with a chine, make life bearable when your in any kind of waves/wind. Stay safe.
Life's always a compromise. The Truekit is excellent for where we are at the moment. The lightness is such an advantage. When we get to much more remote areas we may do as you say and get something better for rough seas and have to put up with the weight making life more difficult getting it on deck. I'm interested to find out how heavy the small OC dinghys are, maybe the best option for more remote places ?
@@svfairisle Having been through a succession of inflatable dinghies, I've now concluded that a Walker Bay 275 RiD is the way to go. Rows, sails, motors, cant sink and can be lifted on deck or hung on davitts. Not easy on a 28 foot but no problem on Fair Isle.
1000 watts of solar and you could cruise forever. Even the biggest model only uses 2000 watts at full rip. And I know I could build a much bigger battery for it ;)
Fascinated by your double sided PV panels. Have you tried covering the underside temporarily to see what percentage of the output is created by the underside?
Great review but you need to see how long it takes to get fully charged,i fly a self launching eletric glider and find the time to charge the last 20 per cent takes forever.
I'll add some stats to the description when I've done more tests. It took 15 hours to charge to full on the 12v last night,but that wasnt from quite empty.
Great informative video, Steve. Thank you! Would you state that this set of propulsion is in particular suited for the cat-like True Kit Dinghy? What are your thoughts ...
Well at an equivalent rated power of 3hp it's good for smaller / lighter dinghys yes. In certainly works really well with the Truekit which I think is a really good dinghy. We should really have the extra short shaft version (we have the short) as the true kit is just under 30cm transom height, but we wanted the engine to be good for keeled dinghys too in case we ever get one. (still like the look of the OC dinghy for when we get to really remote places)
All electric motors have one problem. That is the power output deplets and slows down the preformance of the motor, other then that they are more reliable than petrol motors. Gerard.
With this battery it'll still have around 48V showing after a 90% capacity run so there is a fractional drop in performance but you'll struggle to notice it.
That is because some people use lead-acid batteries to power electric outboards. The battery voltage of the lead battery will drop very fast by large power draw. The lithium battery doesn't have that problem.
I was making a genarule statement with some experiance using a trollng motor. I live in Qld Australia and those thins are very expensive ecpechully when ona small income. unlike yourselfe. Gerard.
Very useful video thanks Steve. We are hoping to get into electric propulsion for whatever dinghy we end up with. I was wondering if you have managed to thrash this unit to a standstill? It would be useful to know at what level it gives up and you have to resort to actual physical exertion. I looked into your dinghy when you posted the episode about it and seem to recall it was quite light compared to the usual inflatable fare. No doubt that also benefits the electric motor.
Not to steal Steve's thunder (really solid review here btw Steve!) but I've a Spirit plus which is the non-evo version. In practical terms the same. I have had the motor nearly nine months and have had the chance to work out when the oars might be needed. Importantly, I've never had to though as the motor will give you a beep at 50% capacity, again at 20% and a last audible warning when it's about to give up the ghost. Since it's a low speed high torque set up you can always just drop the revs a little to extend your run time. In any case the sweet spot for running is about 350 watts of the 1Kw available (the extra throttle does increase speed a bit but is disproportionately negative on overall run time, you get the Lions share of propulsion at 350W) My longest run was 17 miles on a charge and the battery dropped to about 2%, I think there'd be a fair bit left after that in truth and the inbuilt BMS (battery management system) will prevent any damage if you do flog it, it'll shut down before any damage can be done.
I have the spirit 1.0 plus and only issue is that sometimes when I connect the battery I get an error and have to disconnect the battery and reconnect several times before the error goes away. Other than that, love not having to deal with petrol and plenty of power even with against the tide.
If you are getting the E21 error there is no need to unplug. As long as the connector is home and done up just power the motor off and on and it should work.
I'd be interested to know if the controller has program logic that enables it to instantly cut the power if it detects an increased load or reduced RPM. If so, it could reduce prop damage from a grounding or eliminate damage from a rope getting round the prop.
Yes it does. Actually we get it quite a lot going around the lagoon because in places you get blanket weed and as the prop hits it the power cuts then ramps back up.
Very cool. Always wanted one, but was waiting for the new version. How does it do when charging via inverter on boat at 110V from flat to full? What shaft length did you get? What is the best length for an average 9ft dinghy (RIB) when wanting to easily beach it?
We don't do that funny thinned down 110v stuff! It's all full fat 220v over here! But actually our ships inverter has died so I can't test it at the moment. We went for the short shaft, anything less than 30cm (just onder a foot, us older Brits can still handle imperial measurements!) transom to water should really be extra short, but I might want to use it on a bigger dinghy sometime and a tiny bit of extra drag is probably better than extra cavitation? Measure the top of the transom to water line height and air on the longer side if your rib is deep, not flat bottomed. The anti grounding feature will help you beach.
No doesn’t do any of that. Doesn’t worry me to be honest, as the phone can do that. Some have a USB phone charger ( the ePropulsion doesn’t) I think that could be useful but again on an outboard it probably wouldn’t last long so probably a gimmick
Hello Steve, thanks for the video. I'm just wondering if its possible to use the solar panel from the Ecoflow and/or the ecoflow itself to charge the e-propulsion if necessary?
Yes I do both of those things. Mainly though I plug it into the 12v system on the boat any time we are motoring or the solar has already filled the house bank. It’s nice to use the charge that would otherwise have no where to go fill the eProp battery
Do you have any info on leaving schengen? We are in Italy in a camper but now due to extended lockdown we don't think we can leave till after the lockdown but that will take us over the 90 days. Guess it's easier for you to leave in a boat but wondered if you had any extra info?
Wish we did! If Croatia don't let us in when we need to leave in a couple of weeks then we will overrun too. Word is authorities will look kindly on overruns because of Covid, but you can't rely on it. We also have the option of not checking out of Italy I suppose, I don't think Croatia are going to bother too much when we check in there, but who knows?!
I am curious which shaft length you have to pair up with your True Kit dinghy? Thanks and sail on! Edit: I just read in one of the other comments below that you have the short shaft. We currently have a Fatty Knees rigid dinghy with Torqeedo long shaft. We plan to add a True Kit 3.0 to our fleet. The long shaft just seems too deep for shallow water cruising or when approaching a beach in the True Kit. As a result, we are considering selling the Torqeedo and getting an Eprop short. Thanks again for a great review.
Yes the spec says that the extra short would be okay for the true kit. We went for the short just because we might want to use it on a different dinghy
Ive just bought one with the short shaft for my 240cm dinghy, because they told me the Evo has no extra short shaft option like spirit plus has.
3 года назад+1
Great video! Do you know if it is possible to fix the throttle? I'm thinking about buying a ePropulsion Spirit 1.0 Plus for my small open sailboat and when you have a ruder I don't want to hold the throttle on the engine.
The throttle isn't sprung loaded to the middle there is just a detent to show you where neutral is, so yes you can set the throttle and let go and still keep the speed
I watched your review anticipating some comment or reference to your Aquamot motor. I missed the issue as to why you returned that item. In an online comparison the Aquamot would appear to offer greater power, equivalent to a 5.5 hp petrol, they claim. I have a heavier dinghy than you do but am very interested in electric propulsion. I have the same driver as yourself ..... weight. As a result, last season I ended up rowing everywhere and my petrol outboard stayed in a locker! I would appreciate any comment you could make on an ePropulsion & Aquamot comparison.
Well we found that the claim of being equivalent to 5.5 hp was certainly wrong. Also it only ever took us for about a mile maximum before running out of battery. There were other problems too which aquamot showed no interest in fixing so we sent it back.
@@gerhardvanwaltsleben8944 *_Miskien so jy better gevoel as ek KAK gese het?^Ouderdom het niks met die saak te maak nie... ek is 72 en kan iets better dink as "Lekker man Lekker" .... OOM! _*
I am guessing you have had this a year now. How is the regenerative charging? Have you dragged the boat or sailed with it to see how the regenerative charging works? Peace, Mo
Yes we did show it in one of the episodes, it charges well. However having lost a dinghy before while towing we tend not to tow very often and when we do we take the engine off. We find it easy best to charge via 12v from the boat. I have a system set up with a voltage sensitive relay, I show it in the episode that will be going out this week actually.
I'd like to get one of these for my boat (18' Catalina), but I'm concerned that the tiller might not fit between the motor mount and the transom. Does the tiller tilt upward, and if it does, can the motor still operate with the tiller in an "up" position?
BEWARE. I worked on one of these on a 70ft schooner. The motor was about 1 year old by the time I came onboard. The biggest problem was that the cable from the tiller to the main body, was poorly desgined. It constantly rubs, twists and occasionally pinches, with every tiller movement. This fairly effectively destroys the hair thin information cables hidden beneath the insulation. This combined with the flimsy tiller body means we had to resolder it dozens of times. We tried ziptying the cable to the tiller body, but it only localized the weak points. My only advice would be to NEVER stow the tiller in the folded orientation this will accelerate the wear. If I were to redesign the motor I would beef up the tiller and place the main computer on the battery instead of routing tiny cables to a flimsy and very mobile tiller. I would not purchase one as a long term solution
@@svfairisle hi! Yes I'm certain it was epropulsion. I've done enough repairs to identify it with my eyes closed. You are right to some extent about the movement. However up and down movement and stowage position is the biggest culprit. Especially as the plastic starts to wear. Eventually the mechanism that is used to hold the tiller steady breaks, probably from UV degradation. Admittedly the tiller movement wouldn't be as big of an issue if the battery info cables weren't so thin. We even experienced a break in the curved section of cable that connects to the battery, which is only moved to connect the motor to the battery. The cable was just the worst of the issues. I could write a whole essay on the poor design and material quality. From the tiller grip delaminating all the way to the eventual death of our eprop, which was flimsy connector pins breaking off into our female connector. BE GENTLE with the connectors, we had them break twice on us. I will admit eprop knows how to make a great motor and battery, but their hardware design for marine application shows a great lack of knowledge and experience. Perhaps their newer versions will improve on this. Spirit 1.0 feels more like a prototype than a properly thought out product. It will probably last you 1.5 - 2 years if you baby it, that may be suitable for some, but in my opinion an outboard should last at least 5 years under rough conditions.
@@kimjongmill4445 yes I agree we are fully expecting at least 5 years service from the engine. I do think ePropulsion are good at developing their product, they have asked me questions and they have a very active owners Facebook group which they contribute to. The reason I asked if you were confusing it with a Torqeedo is I know they have flimsy looking plastic connectors on their cables. The ones on the eProp are metal and the tiller arm cable is held in a slot under the arm which means there is zero movement on the tiller end and very little movement in the engine side, none on rotation just a tiny bit as you fold the tiller down. I will be careful with the connections but I think this may be something they’ve already addressed.
@@svfairisle Well hopefully they addressed the issues. I suspect we got one very early in the production. I look foreward to seeing how your one holds up over the years. And yes I'm sure it wasn't a torquedo. I have several sketches and wiring diagrams in my logbook specifying that it is indeed a Epropulsion spirit 1.0.
We got a discount yes. Luckily we haven't had to pay above trade price for anything in the last few years, a combination of the sailing channel and knowing a lot of people in the business.
Yes it's the short shaft. Being a small flat bottomed dinghy, our Truekit would be slightly better with an extra short, but we may want to use it elsewhere. They say if the top of transom to waterline is less the 30cm you need an extra short, but I would take account of whether you have a keel or flat bottom as well.
@@svfairisle Do you envisage the regen being useful? For a yacht tender I’d be uncomfortable towing it and thus getting use of the regen. So maybe the model (Pro) without the regen would be a better (cheaper by €300) option. On first look the difference between the Evo and Pro is just this regen ability, would you agree with that Steve?
@@Jurathepuppy I'm going to hold judgement on that until we get a chance to try it. I agree it's really for the trailer sailer guys where the re-gen function is going to be key. Having lost a dinghy before on the rare occasion we did tow (happily we did take the outboard off!) we are very weary, but I will at least try towing just for short coastal stuff (we now use two seperate lines!) so we will see, if it gives good charge amounts and the dinghy behaves well when towing it could be really useful. As soon as lockdown ends here in Italy and we can try it we will.
Thank you for your nice video. I am buying a good ePropulsion which can work well for a long time and comparing a few brands. Is your ePropulsion Spirit 1.0 still working well after one year?
Yes it works well, I show it in one of the episodes, cant remember which. It's not something we do though as we like to take the engine off when towing, it would be a great function for a little trailer sailor though.
@@svfairisle brilliant thanks for the speedy reply. I've just bought one ;) incidentally I've also just bought a Truekit discovery, not directly influenced by your video but it certainly put it on my radar ;)
We didn't have a Torqeedo, it was an Aquamot. It developed a problem with the throttle and their customer service was pants so we set it back & got a refund under warranty. I have heard very bad things about Torqeedo and I don't like electric motors with gearboxes, direct drive brushless motors is the way to go.
@@svfairisle I suppose it's like any new to market concept... a lot of variation in features and quality. I wonder if it would be possible to take a feed of it and use the hyrogen to charge the main boats batteries when you're sailing. I.e. with a bracket on the transom. That would be a big selling point for yotties if eProp could make it easy and full proof.
Not as it stands at the moment. The hydro regen is can only be used on the attached battery, too high a voltage for anything else so would need a specially made step down transformer.
It was just the measuring device on google maps. Right click on the mad and you will have a drop down menu, the bottom one is measure and it will measure where ever you click.
For my dinghy which is flat bottomed with low transom I could have gone extra short but I opted for short so If I ended up with a hard bottomed ( keeled ) dinghy at some time the shaft woul be long enough. If in doubt go a bit longer, extra drag is better than cavitation
@@svfairisle If you click the link, You will see in the address bar "campaign=influencer" along with you channel name. That means they're paying you for the video or sales.
@@Neilukuk No. As I said we don’t get and have never had ANY payment from ePropulsion. If we did we would say so because as you say it would be unfair not too. We have a link to their website in our details because if we didn’t I would have lots of questions asking for details of their engines ( bizarrely some people don’t quite understand you can Google a name if you want information!) but you won’t find a code in there because we to do so might mean people would think we are saying good things about the outboard to make a commission. Honestly I wished we had made a deal with them because there really isn’t anything bad to say about this engine so would have felt fine about getting some kickback! But just to be clear we didn’t and we don’t!
So light that you can hang it around your neck without fear of strangling yourself... 😂🤣😂 Impressive. I wonder, at what battery % was left when the noticeable drop in performance occurred?.
Did you do (or will you do) a similar electric outboard options video as you did for choosing anchors? I don’t know what’s coming over me but first I chose a TrueKit after watching your review and now I’m considering an electric o/b - but not sure where to start and you seem to be becoming an authority of the best gear. You might have to rebadge yourselves as the thinking-person’s influencers not just liveaboards!
Well if we ever get boat shows again maybe we’ll get the chance to check out a whole range of gear! Kind of hard to see everything at the moment.
The
Great review. I think the features you pointed out, like lightness, ease of use massively outweigh any range issues. We have found that the weight of our 4 stroke prohibits use unless it is an emergency. I think convenience is a key factor and will get people using their dinghy more - who knows maybe even anchoring more! Keep us informed as you use it more. 👏⛵️
I’m an e-propulsion advocate and own a Minkota, and while I was impressed with the Torquedo, I was put off by the noise. Your new motor is a quiet , brushless, direct drive unit which appeals to sailors who covet quiet, reliability, light weight, and no fossil fuel ⛽️. Thanks for showcasing an excellent alternative. 👍😎
There are several videos out that show a longer and thinner propeller that looks more like an airplane propeller than one for a boat but they seriously increase the thrust and decrease the amount of power used. Just thought you may want to look into that. Thanks so much for making these videos, very much enjoyed!
Thanks, I’m going to the boat show next week I’ll ask at the stand
@@svfairisle Remember they are paid to sell you THEIR products, not necessarily the best ones :)
This thing is so supercool i almost got to have one !!! And imagine how much one will save on fuel in the long run with this one !!! Not to mention how good it also will be for the environment !!! Besides; what an awesome place !!!
A very informative video, I don't sail & am very unlikely to do so, however I like finding out about engineering advancement & this ticks that box. Fair winds (when you're allowed to sail again) ⛵️⛵️⛵️
Great vid as usual. We have had a Torqeedo for two years and love it. Same attributes as the epropulsion. Range about 12 miles. Very Quiet - you can have a normal conversation while underway. The battery is so light we always charge when not in use. Range anxiety does go away with experience (just like in our car).
Re challenging conditions: it is about equivalent to a 3hp and is no different than a 3hp propane or gas motor.
I'm interested is your Torqeedo direct drive? I've heard they are moving / have moved away from gearboxes? There are lots of electric engines here in Venice as you can use them in places you can't go with a gas engine but you can hear the non direct drive engines almost as far away as a petrol engine by the high pitched whine!
@@svfairisle I believe it is direct drive. I have heard that noise can be an issue in older models but we have the same level as shown in your vid. Lovely being able to talk as you motor.
What a wonderful way to experience Venice! Thank you for sharing.
I know it's kind of a hike but you and Judy are officially invited to sail on the Penobscott in Maine!
@@FreedomSalon1 thanks, we will get there, will be a couple of years though.
That looks like our next electric outboard. We've never used a petrol one, and currently have a Watersnake - which is great up to a point, but it does have limitations. For example, the battery isn't integral and needs to be carried separately in a secure box in the dinghy (so the "kill cord" is just a line from the helmsperson to the cables between engine and battery), and the prop is metal. Definitely better than petrol, but it looks like ePropulsion is even better. Many thanks for the review.
Looks like a great little motor, thanks for the review. Cameo of your wife relaxing topside, kept waiting for her to mix you both a G&T.
Great review! I will have to review our two 130 lbs thrust trolling motors setup. Much much cheaper and very powerful. Pushes our 36 ft sailboat 4-5 knots. It does help to have a smaller dinghy such as yours to have less torque needed which means less amperage and also much longer battery life. Our dinghy is a bit large and we can get 10 miles on a charge with a 3 knot average
Yes, would love to see your setup, I've been thinking of something similar for the catamaran dinghy I'm building
@@sailingoctopus1 they are great but they do Max out at 5 mph because they have set 1100 rpms and the propeller’s pitch isn’t much. Two of mine 130 lbs each pushes my 36 foot cruising trimaran at Max speed. 5 tons of weight
Thanks for explaining the different charging options!
We have used one of these for about 5 seasons and it is great. However, in situations where your anchorage is a considerable distance from land locations, such as the Bahamas, a gas engine is essential.
I've put two of them on the stern of my 53ft , 20tonne barge .... works a treat !! There amazing
Wow! that's not a place I would expect to see them!
The kill key chord around your neck! A very interesting individual, indeed. Great video. Many thanks.
Excellent episode, again. Informative, educational with historic scenery. Love your work.
Thanks Malcolm.
Informative video in a nice location. We also have the ePropulsion 1.0, but an older version.
So far for us it has been a good experience, at least for the most part. I am convinced that electric is the way to go unless you cruise in very remote locations.
But, there may be a problem coming our way with these electric motors. We had a crack in the black part of the battery housing, so that the battery was not water-tight anymore. It did not take a lot of force to cause that. The black plastic is very brittle, cheaply made. Very unfortunate the company did not offer this part as a spare part. They told us to buy a new battery (> 800$) or, better, a completely new motor since there is now a newer version. Here is the problem I see. Even though more expensive like their gasoline counterparts, electric motors may become the same as an iPhone or other electronic devices. Sorry, no real repair, just replacement.
This time we were lucky and able to get a used housing from a broken battery. It was for a fraction of the cost of a new battery and took only an hour to be installed.
Moral, look after your battery, don't drop it on the dock, even a couple of cm on a wooden dock could be to much.
I hope to run one of these motors in the future. They're quite nice!
That looks like a superb piece of kit.
One thing: a couple of the features you list are extras I believe: solar and 12v adaptors for instance. Great video and one of these will soon be hanging off the back of my boat.
Nice review. I have a first generation e-Propulsion and use it to get put to my mooring and back which is about a mile each way on a tidal estuary. Your battery is far more efficient than mine is but perhaps that is because it is getting old now. If I keep the power down to 1/3 I can get to the mooring and back on about half the battery. If I go full power it really eats the power. I am propelling a 12’ wooden tender mind you so that will make a difference. I love the engine and the ease of use and no more petrol or breakdowns. I would advise washing in fresh water after use as mine has corrosion on the clamping bracket and the powder coating is bubbling. Other than that it is great and I might upgrade to a newer model once mine is past its best. Cheers. Andy UK
Yes they advise a fresh water wash, I think they've improved the corrosion resistance though, they seem to have a good grasp on development, every weak point that people have come up with in previous models seems to have been addressed in newer engines.
Thank you 😊the future is looking good 👍
Good range. Take the solar with you when you go to the beach and it would charge up? Oh, and have a USB socket for phones and cameras 😁 Sail Safe Guys, Ant, Cid & the pooch crew.
Yes it would have been handy when we were stuck in the Mar Menor on the first lockdown, we we're going to uninhabited islands for our walks so we could have set it up charging on the beach while we were walking.
Love all your videos. Really enjoy watching them.
Can’t wait to watch when you finally get to move on.
Great video - thank you for sharing your experience!
Best reviw so far. Thanks.
Very informative review, thanks. I've a bit of a clapped out old Suzuki and was going to go with a 4 stroke replacement, but the electric motor is quite appealing.
Just got a Spirit 1.0 Plus….enjoying it ….we’re gonna be in Italy in Sept 6 for a Trafalgar Tour …maybe spot you in Venice
I'm thinking about adding a more performant ePropulsion Navy 6.0 to a 30ft trimaran - not for the range but rather the 1kw regeneration! That could be a great recipe I imagine: plenty of range when there's no wind, start sailing at around 3kn wind due to the very light weight.
Absolutely! It’ll be a game changer for those sorts of boats. You could have amazing range to get out and sail, then charge the battery while your sailing and motor all the way back
excellent review. led me to reconsider the ePropulsion unit as a possibility for us. Thank you for the lovely review. You guys do a great job. We both enjoy your work.
Outstanding review!
Nice review, thanks!
Danke schön 👏🏻
tolles Video
sehr informativ
Grüße aus Berlin (D)
A truly great review of the E-Propulsion Spirit 1.0 !!! Great to watch and very practical. I wanted to purchase this motor for my Pelican Catch 100 but it was just a to big. I ended up going with a motor that I thought was a bit to small but still works well. The Bixpy Jet Drive. I know one thing for sure, if I ever get a larger boat than my Catch pwr 100, I will most definitely be getting the E-Propulsion system !!!
Now you need a sexy solar panel shade over the back of the dinghy to charge the battery while you are a shore.
Having sold my previous tender and Torqeedo with the mothership, I have been shopping for a new tender and electric engine. Due to weight concerns, I narrowed it down to Takacat, True Kit, and OC Tender. As I live in the US, the only tender I could demo was the Takacat, and the Miami dealer is also an Epropulsion dealer. As far as the boat is concerned, I bought the Takacat because it was the only one of the 3 I could demo, and it stores in multiple bags, which makes it marginally easier to store when I remove the davits. Like you, I might eventually upgrade to an OC, but it would have to live on the davit. As far as the engine is concerned, I went back to Torqeedo because of the length of time Torqeedo has been around. Having read the Panbo reviews, I think they both have their pluses and minuses but Torqeedo has been in business for a long time. Having said that, I think my next one could easily be an Epropulsion, and I look forward to hearing your longer term review.
Best,
Maldwin
Yes it's all about how they perform long term. Torqeedo have been around a long time, but they were behind on the tech, only just going onto direct drive brushless motors like the ePropulsion. I guess if they have lots of dealers and spares available thats important, but I checked and in Europe at least there's a really strong dealer network for ePropulsion, not sure what it's like in the States. I'm still waiting to see an OC tender in real life, they do look cool on paper.
Good thorough review! Looking at one of these for a trailer sailer tri I'm building. Thanks.
Very very useful review.....thank you.
Steve great review, thanks..... I think you should add a segment showing just how easy and light it truly is by bringing it on and off the back of Fair Isle..... I think it's just not the performance we are intrigued about but the easy and stowage ability of it..... With this kind of setup I think one could even stow it in the lazarette (without the fear petrol leaking everywhere)!!
All the best Richard
That was the plan, to do the whole thing out at anchor, but we are in lockdown here in Italy since the weekend so we're tied to the dock. And yes it's a very good point that with no leakage (and it does come with a bag which they are sending me as it wasn't ready) you could even just lay it on a spare bunk.
You don’t need the 12v and Solar controller. No point in charging off the solar directly - just use the solar controller to charge from the house bank - that is charged from the solar panels..
Great outboard we have had ours for nearly 5 years v little problem
I have the solar controller so that on days where I haven't got excess solar power (i.e. the house bank doesn't get fully charged) I can leave the big panels for the house bank and still charge the outboard with the MPPT. I have the fold out panels mainly for the Ecoflow Delta that we showed in a recent episode (test video coming up)
@@svfairisle yes that does make sense - though a bigger house bank tends to be simpler and cheaper - but difficult to add to without changing the whole lot out! We had a cottage in Devon that was only accessible by water and the epropulsion was a brilliant option - always starts first time ;)
It's a balance when you live aboard, the house bank needs to be BIG. But the sweet spot if for solar is having enough so you can get the house bank full on slightly overcast days. That's quite difficult to do unless you have a cat with acres of deck space for panels.
So we will have quite a few days where we need the whole days sun for the house bank & the fold out panels will be good for the eprop.
Thanks again for another excellent video Steve! I must admit I've always rolled my eyes about electric propulsion, but I think you convinced me to take another look. That said, when you started on about your X67 b part 2a section 1 charger, what Judy was doing on deck in the background became a lot more interesting....was she mixing you a milk and gin cocktail? :)
Ha! No I think she was sitting with her headphones on blocking out the techno babble as well!
Great review!
I hope yours works better than mine. Less than two years in and it does work at all. Can’t get any real help from the company either.
Sorry to hear it, let me know how it goes, would be interested to see how that turns out.
there are a few sites that show how to build additional battery packs yourself - allot of scooter packs you could prob build one in a small tool box and use it with a plug in to extend your range possibly by 2 or 3x... i would like the extra gas can personally so I would carry that range extender "tool/tackle box". but it looks like a great little emotor !!!
Nice video Your too funny, Sorry to hear you are locked down again! Hope this electric motor works out better than your last one. I understand the importance of gin, my wine consumption has been way up from usual. You and Judy stay safe.
Good news is we are (hopefully) going to make a quick trip back to the UK in a week to have our Covid jabs, so that means I can pick up the fishing lures :)
@@svfairisle when you pick up the box don’t leave the file behind
Great review thanks. I think to make a fair buying decision people need to be clear on a few things here. In round figures this is a 3HP, $3000, 19kg (11.3+8.7kg) electric motor. Its about 1kw at full throttle that should last for about an hour and then needs to be charged for 3.5hrs on a fast charger. Lithium batteries have a life of around 3000 cycles then it will have to be replaced. In comparison a small 3HP 2stroke is the same weight. only a few hundred dollars and no charging requirements. Its less likely to be stolen when left at the dock and does not take precious electricity to charge up (ie 1.4kWh per charge). Its easy and cheap to step up to the next size with a petrol engine that will get a boat on the plan and save energy. Don't get me wrong I think there is a place for electric outboards but a $200 trolling motor would achieve the same thing with a DIY battery pack that can be used for other applications. Just my 2c... and I really want to like it.
I would love to see someone rig up a solar canopy and run the outboard without using any battery power - something I believe it is capable of - ie charging whilst running. You should also be able to use a cheap lead acid battery as a backup charging option for long journeys - or your solar battery pack
Yes it can charge while running I'm told.
I’m umming and erring over a e-outboard. I can see many advantages. But the power and range of a 9.9 can’t be denied.
That thing seems awesome. I suppose if it's locked, and you have the kill key with you, and if you also take the battery with you, it's reasonably secure.
Yes & crucially the battery had a built in handle so you can thread the cable/chain we use to lock it through that as well. As these things become more common I can see the batteries being targeted.
@@svfairisle And I guess if you go ashore to eat out, you could carry battery with you and charge up in the restaurant while eating. At least you can then charge up a little while there is no solar available during the evening.
Looks like a brilliant idea. Did you ever test the regenerative changing feature? I think they only start charging around 4 knots so might not be very effective on a trailer sailer. Looks like you could turn the motor backwards when charging so that the prop has better efficiency. But then it would be charging in reverse lol. Might be a cool test for one of your videos. Great review anyways. Keep them coming ✌️⛵
Yes I showed it in one of the episodes. Towing even at low speeds put something in. We don’t usually tow the dinghy though, especially with the outboard on, so it’s not a function we use. It does work with the engine backwards.
Another brilliant, informative video guys. Great channel. Looking to purchase an epropulsion outboard. Did you order the small shaft or large shaft? I know the Evo doesn’t do XS. Thanks.
Ours is the standard shaft which works well. With a small flat bottomed dinghy the an XS would probably measure up better, but rather a tiny bit more drag from a longer shaft than cavitation which is what really kills your drive.
Worryingly buying almost everything you recommend…how are your thoughts on the Epropulsion this far down the road??
I’m hovering over the buy button as I type. 🤣
Love the channel. 👍
Yes hit that button! We did have an error code come up on the eProp last month but the dealer in Turkey dealt with it very well and very quickly. We did borrow a 10hp outboard while it was away & it only made us thankful we went electric. The weight of the petrol outboard made it a liability actually.
Hey Steve, great video. Very thorough and informative. Quick question though, have you guys got a new dingy? I seem to remember you getting a new one from a mob in New Zealand, is that still the one you are cruising around with in this video?
Yes, it’s a Truekit dinghy, still holding up very well.
Please test the generator towing function. Can it be used as a hydrogenerator to charge the 12V battery in the boat? Thru a MPPT solar charger maybe? If so I would absolutely buy one.
We will absolutely test the re-gen function as soon as we are out of lockdown in Italy and allowed to sail. Charging the boat batteries would be a real stretch I think though as even if you have an external eprop battery (which you can have along with the attached one if you like) the manual says the re-gen will only charge the attached battery, not the external one.
@@svfairisle Nestaway are claiming that it will be possible to charge the house battery from the EVO at some point in the future.
My thoughts are that the regen will charge the 48V and a DC to DC converter/charger like a Victron Orion can charge the 12V house battery.
Any thoughts on this?
@@stuart7060 At the moment ePrupulsion state that the regen is for the attached battery only. It won't even charge a secondary 48v external eProp battery in the tender if you have one. They are really looking at innovative ways of using the power though so I think at some stage they will come up with a system that can do everything.
Pretty sure the shutdown safety halyard is NOT supposed to be around your neck LMAO.. Although in your defense, I imagine if your neck goes overboard it will still perform its job. Never seen that one before LOL.
In The UK the price basically puts them out of the market, they are 4x the cost.
4x the cost of what?
OMG it is so quiet ! It is so annoying how gas version of these are loud as hell.
I would buy one of these if the prices were a bit lower. As it stands they're $3,300 Canadian dollars here, and that's way too much! But they're nice and efficient, especially at lower speeds.
There's no denying that compared to petrol engines they are a more expensive initial outlay. You should claw some of that back in much lower maintenance and running costs though. But granted you are paying for the extra advantages of electric over petrol, it the light weight & reliability mainly that makes it worth it for us.
Your bifacial solar panel should be over the water. More reflection from the water unless your boat deck is white...
Yes I realise that. Sizes wouldn't work out to swap them over. But we do have white bits of deck and it will still get loads off the water especially when the sun is low which is key to keep the voltage high enough to charge for longer.
This is a great review thanks but I am interested in security. If I take my tender over to the marina for a pint how can I lock this all to the tender. Other than the battery handle I'm not seeing any obvious loops on the motor for a chain.
There’s a metal bar between the two clamps that screw it to the transom, it’s meant for you to padlock the handle to the bar so you cannot unscrew the motor from the boat, but I find that a bit fiddly and the handles are plastic. So I use one of those long plastic covered bike lock wires to loop through the battery handle and then padlock to the metal bar, that way the battery can’t be removed either which as these things become more common I can see being an issue
Thanks for the quick response. I'm sold on this motor and that sounds like an excellent solution.
Please can you tell us more about your ‘sexy’ bifacial solar panels, they look really interesting.
I will as soon as I've got it connected and have had a chance to see how it performs.
@@svfairisle what make did you go for? We are looking at them at the moment.
@@sailingdragonfly756 It an LG which have a good reputation (Pannello Solar LG405W Bifacial N2T-J5 72)
SUP with the folding panels on top, tow it, and charge a second battery for those really nice long expeditions away? (Maybe later after lockdown.)
Great video
How can you swap the throttle so it goes forward in counter clockwise?
Sadly you can't with this model, I was told you could but i tried it and it doesn't work.
That was brilliant, I must say..Is this the XS or S shaft option that you are testing..?thanks
It's the short. The extra short would probably be a better fit with this dinghy though, but I got the slightly longer shaft in case we change in the future
Great little 'motor'. I doubt it will outlast a 2HP Yamaha 2 stroke? Infinitely repairable and needing only fuel/oil mix. Appreciate why you have it though, petrol, like propane, is not always available. You should really invest in a better dinghy with a chine, make life bearable when your in any kind of waves/wind. Stay safe.
Life's always a compromise. The Truekit is excellent for where we are at the moment. The lightness is such an advantage. When we get to much more remote areas we may do as you say and get something better for rough seas and have to put up with the weight making life more difficult getting it on deck. I'm interested to find out how heavy the small OC dinghys are, maybe the best option for more remote places ?
@@svfairisle Having been through a succession of inflatable dinghies, I've now concluded that a Walker Bay 275 RiD is the way to go. Rows, sails, motors, cant sink and can be lifted on deck or hung on davitts. Not easy on a 28 foot but no problem on Fair Isle.
Next time we're in the market for one I will check it out, thanks
1000 watts of solar and you could cruise forever. Even the biggest model only uses 2000 watts at full rip. And I know I could build a much bigger battery for it ;)
Yes you could have an external battery, you can also charge it at the same time as using it if you have somewhere to put the solar panel!
@@svfairisle Perfect for a pontoon party boat.
Fascinated by your double sided PV panels. Have you tried covering the underside temporarily to see what percentage of the output is created by the underside?
They claim an extra 30%, but I will test it.
Great review but you need to see how long it takes to get fully charged,i fly a self launching eletric glider and find the time to charge the last 20 per cent takes forever.
I'll add some stats to the description when I've done more tests. It took 15 hours to charge to full on the 12v last night,but that wasnt from quite empty.
Great informative video, Steve. Thank you! Would you state that this set of propulsion is in particular suited for the cat-like True Kit Dinghy? What are your thoughts ...
Well at an equivalent rated power of 3hp it's good for smaller / lighter dinghys yes. In certainly works really well with the Truekit which I think is a really good dinghy. We should really have the extra short shaft version (we have the short) as the true kit is just under 30cm transom height, but we wanted the engine to be good for keeled dinghys too in case we ever get one. (still like the look of the OC dinghy for when we get to really remote places)
All electric motors have one problem. That is the power output deplets and slows down the preformance of the motor, other then that they are more reliable than petrol motors.
Gerard.
With this battery it'll still have around 48V showing after a 90% capacity run so there is a fractional drop in performance but you'll struggle to notice it.
That is because some people use lead-acid batteries to power electric outboards. The battery voltage of the lead battery will drop very fast by large power draw. The lithium battery doesn't have that problem.
I was making a genarule statement with some experiance using a trollng motor. I live in Qld Australia and those thins are very expensive ecpechully when ona small income. unlike yourselfe.
Gerard.
Very useful video thanks Steve. We are hoping to get into electric propulsion for whatever dinghy we end up with. I was wondering if you have managed to thrash this unit to a standstill? It would be useful to know at what level it gives up and you have to resort to actual physical exertion. I looked into your dinghy when you posted the episode about it and seem to recall it was quite light compared to the usual inflatable fare. No doubt that also benefits the electric motor.
Not to steal Steve's thunder (really solid review here btw Steve!) but I've a Spirit plus which is the non-evo version. In practical terms the same. I have had the motor nearly nine months and have had the chance to work out when the oars might be needed. Importantly, I've never had to though as the motor will give you a beep at 50% capacity, again at 20% and a last audible warning when it's about to give up the ghost. Since it's a low speed high torque set up you can always just drop the revs a little to extend your run time. In any case the sweet spot for running is about 350 watts of the 1Kw available (the extra throttle does increase speed a bit but is disproportionately negative on overall run time, you get the Lions share of propulsion at 350W) My longest run was 17 miles on a charge and the battery dropped to about 2%, I think there'd be a fair bit left after that in truth and the inbuilt BMS (battery management system) will prevent any damage if you do flog it, it'll shut down before any damage can be done.
Thanks for this information. A good addendum to Steve’s video.
I have the spirit 1.0 plus and only issue is that sometimes when I connect the battery I get an error and have to disconnect the battery and reconnect several times before the error goes away. Other than that, love not having to deal with petrol and plenty of power even with against the tide.
If you are getting the E21 error there is no need to unplug. As long as the connector is home and done up just power the motor off and on and it should work.
@@alanjacobs7302 thanks! Will give that a try next time.
Hey guys, absolutely compelling. You ordered it directly from the epropulsion website?
Yes directly from ePropulsion, they actually sent it direct from China.
Thank you for your review, is your inflatable a True Kit from New Zealand?
Yes it is, we've done a review of that as well, very good boat.
I'd be interested to know if the controller has program logic that enables it to instantly cut the power if it detects an increased load or reduced RPM. If so, it could reduce prop damage from a grounding or eliminate damage from a rope getting round the prop.
Yes it does. Actually we get it quite a lot going around the lagoon because in places you get blanket weed and as the prop hits it the power cuts then ramps back up.
Very cool. Always wanted one, but was waiting for the new version. How does it do when charging via inverter on boat at 110V from flat to full?
What shaft length did you get? What is the best length for an average 9ft dinghy (RIB) when wanting to easily beach it?
We don't do that funny thinned down 110v stuff! It's all full fat 220v over here! But actually our ships inverter has died so I can't test it at the moment. We went for the short shaft, anything less than 30cm (just onder a foot, us older Brits can still handle imperial measurements!) transom to water should really be extra short, but I might want to use it on a bigger dinghy sometime and a tiny bit of extra drag is probably better than extra cavitation?
Measure the top of the transom to water line height and air on the longer side if your rib is deep, not flat bottomed. The anti grounding feature will help you beach.
Hello! Great video, thanks. One question. Does it have GPS to indicate speed/distance traveled?
No doesn’t do any of that. Doesn’t worry me to be honest, as the phone can do that. Some have a USB phone charger ( the ePropulsion doesn’t) I think that could be useful but again on an outboard it probably wouldn’t last long so probably a gimmick
Hello Steve, thanks for the video. I'm just wondering if its possible to use the solar panel from the Ecoflow and/or the ecoflow itself to charge the e-propulsion if necessary?
Yes I do both of those things. Mainly though I plug it into the 12v system on the boat any time we are motoring or the solar has already filled the house bank. It’s nice to use the charge that would otherwise have no where to go fill the eProp battery
Do you have any info on leaving schengen? We are in Italy in a camper but now due to extended lockdown we don't think we can leave till after the lockdown but that will take us over the 90 days. Guess it's easier for you to leave in a boat but wondered if you had any extra info?
Wish we did! If Croatia don't let us in when we need to leave in a couple of weeks then we will overrun too. Word is authorities will look kindly on overruns because of Covid, but you can't rely on it. We also have the option of not checking out of Italy I suppose, I don't think Croatia are going to bother too much when we check in there, but who knows?!
great video, do you know if it can be capsized and survive? asking for a friend....
YES IT CAN! … don’t ask!
I am curious which shaft length you have to pair up with your True Kit dinghy? Thanks and sail on!
Edit: I just read in one of the other comments below that you have the short shaft. We currently have a Fatty Knees rigid dinghy with Torqeedo long shaft. We plan to add a True Kit 3.0 to our fleet. The long shaft just seems too deep for shallow water cruising or when approaching a beach in the True Kit. As a result, we are considering selling the Torqeedo and getting an Eprop short.
Thanks again for a great review.
Yes the spec says that the extra short would be okay for the true kit. We went for the short just because we might want to use it on a different dinghy
Ive just bought one with the short shaft for my 240cm dinghy, because they told me the Evo has no extra short shaft option like spirit plus has.
Great video! Do you know if it is possible to fix the throttle? I'm thinking about buying a ePropulsion Spirit 1.0 Plus for my small open sailboat and when you have a ruder I don't want to hold the throttle on the engine.
The throttle isn't sprung loaded to the middle there is just a detent to show you where neutral is, so yes you can set the throttle and let go and still keep the speed
@@svfairisle Nice! Thank you for your reply 👍
I watched your review anticipating some comment or reference to your Aquamot motor. I missed the issue as to why you returned that item. In an online comparison the Aquamot would appear to offer greater power, equivalent to a 5.5 hp petrol, they claim. I have a heavier dinghy than you do but am very interested in electric propulsion. I have the same driver as yourself ..... weight. As a result, last season I ended up rowing everywhere and my petrol outboard stayed in a locker! I would appreciate any comment you could make on an ePropulsion & Aquamot comparison.
Well we found that the claim of being equivalent to 5.5 hp was certainly wrong. Also it only ever took us for about a mile maximum before running out of battery. There were other problems too which aquamot showed no interest in fixing so we sent it back.
Any updates on the motor (opinions/findings) now that it has been about a year?
Yes I updated it in the latest episode
It’s been over 2 years!
@@svfairisle Great, keep up the good work!!
Lekker man lekker
@Gerhard van Waltsleben *_ Kom nou laaitie, op elke Vlog se' jy dieselfde "Lekker Man Lekker" en min mense verstaan wat die donner jy se' _*
@@liongod1000 hier die laatie is 95 jaar jonk en te minste vloek ek nie
@@gerhardvanwaltsleben8944 *_Miskien so jy better gevoel as ek KAK gese het?^Ouderdom het niks met die saak te maak nie... ek is 72 en kan iets better dink as "Lekker man Lekker" .... OOM! _*
Ons sien uit na ons 'nice man nice' hou so aan!
I am guessing you have had this a year now. How is the regenerative charging? Have you dragged the boat or sailed with it to see how the regenerative charging works? Peace, Mo
Yes we did show it in one of the episodes, it charges well. However having lost a dinghy before while towing we tend not to tow very often and when we do we take the engine off. We find it easy best to charge via 12v from the boat. I have a system set up with a voltage sensitive relay, I show it in the episode that will be going out this week actually.
I'd like to get one of these for my boat (18' Catalina), but I'm concerned that the tiller might not fit between the motor mount and the transom. Does the tiller tilt upward, and if it does, can the motor still operate with the tiller in an "up" position?
Yes it tilts upwards to about 45degrees without resistance and then another 10-15 degrees against the spring
BEWARE. I worked on one of these on a 70ft schooner. The motor was about 1 year old by the time I came onboard.
The biggest problem was that the cable from the tiller to the main body, was poorly desgined. It constantly rubs, twists and occasionally pinches, with every tiller movement. This fairly effectively destroys the hair thin information cables hidden beneath the insulation.
This combined with the flimsy tiller body means we had to resolder it dozens of times. We tried ziptying the cable to the tiller body, but it only localized the weak points. My only advice would be to NEVER stow the tiller in the folded orientation this will accelerate the wear.
If I were to redesign the motor I would beef up the tiller and place the main computer on the battery instead of routing tiny cables to a flimsy and very mobile tiller.
I would not purchase one as a long term solution
Are you sure that was an ePropulsion & not a Torqeedo? Haven’t beard of that being a problem & there really isn’t must movement in the design
@@svfairisle hi! Yes I'm certain it was epropulsion. I've done enough repairs to identify it with my eyes closed. You are right to some extent about the movement. However up and down movement and stowage position is the biggest culprit. Especially as the plastic starts to wear. Eventually the mechanism that is used to hold the tiller steady breaks, probably from UV degradation.
Admittedly the tiller movement wouldn't be as big of an issue if the battery info cables weren't so thin. We even experienced a break in the curved section of cable that connects to the battery, which is only moved to connect the motor to the battery.
The cable was just the worst of the issues. I could write a whole essay on the poor design and material quality. From the tiller grip delaminating all the way to the eventual death of our eprop, which was flimsy connector pins breaking off into our female connector. BE GENTLE with the connectors, we had them break twice on us.
I will admit eprop knows how to make a great motor and battery, but their hardware design for marine application shows a great lack of knowledge and experience. Perhaps their newer versions will improve on this. Spirit 1.0 feels more like a prototype than a properly thought out product.
It will probably last you 1.5 - 2 years if you baby it, that may be suitable for some, but in my opinion an outboard should last at least 5 years under rough conditions.
@@kimjongmill4445 yes I agree we are fully expecting at least 5 years service from the engine. I do think ePropulsion are good at developing their product, they have asked me questions and they have a very active owners Facebook group which they contribute to. The reason I asked if you were confusing it with a Torqeedo is I know they have flimsy looking plastic connectors on their cables. The ones on the eProp are metal and the tiller arm cable is held in a slot under the arm which means there is zero movement on the tiller end and very little movement in the engine side, none on rotation just a tiny bit as you fold the tiller down. I will be careful with the connections but I think this may be something they’ve already addressed.
@@svfairisle Well hopefully they addressed the issues. I suspect we got one very early in the production. I look foreward to seeing how your one holds up over the years. And yes I'm sure it wasn't a torquedo. I have several sketches and wiring diagrams in my logbook specifying that it is indeed a Epropulsion spirit 1.0.
Were you sponsored / gifted this engine, or given a discount when buying it? Please fully disclose when doing reviews.
We got a discount yes. Luckily we haven't had to pay above trade price for anything in the last few years, a combination of the sailing channel and knowing a lot of people in the business.
Hi Guys, love the review. We’re going to invest. But could you tell me if yours was the short shaft? Suitable for an 2.8m Avon rib?
Yes it's the short shaft. Being a small flat bottomed dinghy, our Truekit would be slightly better with an extra short, but we may want to use it elsewhere. They say if the top of transom to waterline is less the 30cm you need an extra short, but I would take account of whether you have a keel or flat bottom as well.
@@svfairisle Do you envisage the regen being useful? For a yacht tender I’d be uncomfortable towing it and thus getting use of the regen. So maybe the model (Pro) without the regen would be a better (cheaper by €300) option. On first look the difference between the Evo and Pro is just this regen ability, would you agree with that Steve?
@@Jurathepuppy I'm going to hold judgement on that until we get a chance to try it. I agree it's really for the trailer sailer guys where the re-gen function is going to be key. Having lost a dinghy before on the rare occasion we did tow (happily we did take the outboard off!) we are very weary, but I will at least try towing just for short coastal stuff (we now use two seperate lines!) so we will see, if it gives good charge amounts and the dinghy behaves well when towing it could be really useful. As soon as lockdown ends here in Italy and we can try it we will.
Thank you for your nice video. I am buying a good ePropulsion which can work well for a long time and comparing a few brands. Is your ePropulsion Spirit 1.0 still working well after one year?
It’s coming up for two years now. We have the Spirit 1.0 Evo, can’t recommend it enough, it’s excellent
@@svfairisle Thank you very much for this important information.
1kw = 1.34 hp Google it NOT 3hp
great review, btw whats the cost per metre for the venice marina?
Best thing is to give them a call +39 041 5208588
I'm not sure they've pinned down a standard price yet! call them you might get a deal.
What type / size dinghy are you pushing with the epropulsion engine?
It's a 2.5 meter TrueKit dinghy, so light and flat bottomed
Hi Steve, great review impressed with performance. Can I ask how much did it cost. It must compliment the performance of your Truekit dinghy👍
It's just over €2,000, the MPPT is extra, I didn't realise but they just put one in for me.
Did you ever check the regen function while towing?
Yes it works well, I show it in one of the episodes, cant remember which. It's not something we do though as we like to take the engine off when towing, it would be a great function for a little trailer sailor though.
@@svfairisle brilliant thanks for the speedy reply. I've just bought one ;) incidentally I've also just bought a Truekit discovery, not directly influenced by your video but it certainly put it on my radar ;)
What was wrong with the Torqueedo?
from my research, propulsion connects together easier, has more range and is cheaper.
We didn't have a Torqeedo, it was an Aquamot. It developed a problem with the throttle and their customer service was pants so we set it back & got a refund under warranty. I have heard very bad things about Torqeedo and I don't like electric motors with gearboxes, direct drive brushless motors is the way to go.
@@svfairisle I suppose it's like any new to market concept... a lot of variation in features and quality. I wonder if it would be possible to take a feed of it and use the hyrogen to charge the main boats batteries when you're sailing. I.e. with a bracket on the transom. That would be a big selling point for yotties if eProp could make it easy and full proof.
Not as it stands at the moment. The hydro regen is can only be used on the attached battery, too high a voltage for anything else so would need a specially made step down transformer.
WONDERFUL Video!
Can I ask which GPS software you used for the waypoint tracking? Just Google Satellite view? or a Phone App and Google Satellite view
It was just the measuring device on google maps. Right click on the mad and you will have a drop down menu, the bottom one is measure and it will measure where ever you click.
what shaft length ? short or long ? please let me know
For my dinghy which is flat bottomed with low transom I could have gone extra short but I opted for short so If I ended up with a hard bottomed ( keeled ) dinghy at some time the shaft woul be long enough. If in doubt go a bit longer, extra drag is better than cavitation
Why not say that you get a commission on sale if people use your link? That would make it an honest review.
Because we DONT get a commission on the sale!
@@svfairisle You get paid for everyone buying if they use your link.
@@svfairisle If you click the link, You will see in the address bar "campaign=influencer" along with you channel name. That means they're paying you for the video or sales.
@@Neilukuk No. As I said we don’t get and have never had ANY payment from ePropulsion. If we did we would say so because as you say it would be unfair not too. We have a link to their website in our details because if we didn’t I would have lots of questions asking for details of their engines ( bizarrely some people don’t quite understand you can Google a name if you want information!) but you won’t find a code in there because we to do so might mean people would think we are saying good things about the outboard to make a commission. Honestly I wished we had made a deal with them because there really isn’t anything bad to say about this engine so would have felt fine about getting some kickback! But just to be clear we didn’t and we don’t!
@@svfairisle So how did you get this link with your referral name in? "referral&" .
So light that you can hang it around your neck without fear of strangling yourself... 😂🤣😂
Impressive. I wonder, at what battery % was left when the noticeable drop in performance occurred?.
I think it's incremental all the way down to be honest. It goes like scalded cat when you first put it on!