The small ICE outboard.

[ithet]

Noticed at SIBS that the little Suzuki 2.5 is being sold everywhere at £499, with what looks like Suzuki supplied display stands marked at that price. This is quite a reduction on recent retail price.
We asked a dealer what was going on and was told that the small OB market is beginning to feel the competition from the electric market, so Suzuki wanted to increase the price saving for ICE.

 

[wonkywinch]

I thought it was cheeky for one of the electric outboard retailers (in dinghy alley) to have a petrol outboard comparison set up in a tank of very dirty water. Talk about setting consumer expectations. They didn't show the filth surrounding lithium production

 

[B27]

Earlier this year I seemed to be the first to get moving in the Yealm, and my 2HP outboard seemed excessively noisy in the circumstances.

I'd quite like an electric outboard, but those I've seen look like a lot of money.
Was there anything groundbreaking at SBS?

 

[fredrussell]

As someone who has done the switch from IC to electric I’d say I’d not be surprised if the big IC players see a change coming. Whilst I think it’s a bit early to write off the diesel inboard engine, the massively user-friendly aspect of electric outboards is hard to overstate. They’re a joy to use, clean and quiet.

 

[B27]

...the massively user-friendly aspect of electric outboards is hard to overstate. They’re a joy to use, clean and quiet.

But, like electric cars, expensive and prone to causing 'range anxiety'.

as with cars, most of the time, most of us don't need much range or power, but you have to plan for the most demanding use you reasonably expect. If I never expected to need to get from a distant mooring to town in Salcombe, against wind and tide, I'd probably just get some better oars.

 

[Mark-1]

But, like electric cars, expensive and prone to causing 'range anxiety'.

as with cars, most of the time, most of us don't need much range or power, but you have to plan for the most demanding use you reasonably expect. If I never expected to need to get from a distant mooring to town in Salcombe, against wind and tide, I'd probably just get some better oars.

Agree. Electric's better in every way to ICE, except range. (...and cost?) But range is critical. If you need range or might ever need range there's no substitute. (Unfortunately.)

Also agree re oars. If I was that certain I'd never need to stretch the legs of an OB, human power is clean, quiet and good for me.

I'm am jealous of the (rightly) smug people who can manage with an Electric outboard/car, though.

 

[Bouba]

But, like electric cars, expensive and prone to causing 'range anxiety'.

as with cars, most of the time, most of us don't need much range or power, but you have to plan for the most demanding use you reasonably expect. If I never expected to need to get from a distant mooring to town in Salcombe, against wind and tide, I'd probably just get some better oars.

Range anxiety doesn’t apply to dinghies because you have oars

 

[Gixer]

Still can't afford a electric outboard so bought the Suzuki 2.5

 

[B27]

Range anxiety doesn’t apply to dinghies because you have oars

So, you expect people to pay a premium price for a motor which might leave them rowing against the tide?
That's not really a safe way to behave in a tender at night in many locations.
You could get in a lot of trouble in Plymouth, Salcombe or other West Country ports.

Like the cars, they're fine if you've got a proper motor for the demanding jobs or you only wanted to do trips which could have been done by manual/pedal power.

 

[dunedin]

Agree. Electric's better in every way to ICE, except range.

And price, and consequently theft risk.
I recognise the convenience benefits, and in the wider scheme of things might consider biting the bullet and paying a couple of grand for an electric outboard. BUT I don’t because I fear it would be too much of a worry when we leave the dinghy and/or mother ship unattended.
Our eBay purchase outboard lives on the tender stern from April to October, and regularly left unattended on the dinghy when we go ashore. There is no way I want to detach a battery and take it on hikes with me. And I don’t want to have to take the outboard off the dinghy, which sits on davits, when we leave the boat.
Also, there are quite a few reports of slight issues with some electric motors. Not common but somewhat pricey when they happen. Hence the running costs may prove more than my eBay purchase which just jets a new spark plug every 2 years and a sip of gearbox oil every 4-5 years. Oh and an impeller as a 20 year birthday celebration.

 

[Bouba]

So, you expect people to pay a premium price for a motor which might leave them rowing against the tide?
That's not really a safe way to behave in a tender at night in many locations.
You could get in a lot of trouble in Plymouth, Salcombe or other West Country ports.

Like the cars, they're fine if you've got a proper motor for the demanding jobs or you only wanted to do trips which could have been done by manual/pedal power.

There’s no form of propulsion that is totally reliable....except oars...kings of unreliability are small outboards

 

[Bouba]

And price, and consequently theft risk.
I recognise the convenience benefits, and in the wider scheme of things might consider biting the bullet and paying a couple of grand for an electric outboard. BUT I don’t because I fear it would be too much of a worry when we leave the dinghy and/or mother ship unattended.
Our eBay purchase outboard lives on the tender stern from April to October, and regularly left unattended on the dinghy when we go ashore. There is no way I want to detach a battery and take it on hikes with me. And I don’t want to have to take the outboard off the dinghy, which sits on davits, when we leave the boat.
Also, there are quite a few reports of slight issues with some electric motors. Not common but somewhat pricey when they happen. Hence the running costs may prove more than my eBay purchase which just jets a new spark plug every 2 years and a sip of gearbox oil every 4-5 years. Oh and an impeller as a 20 year birthday celebration.

I agree...a repair to an electric outboard can be devastatingly expensive... and very difficult to find anywhere to fix it. But as a rule they are more reliable

 

[dunedin]

There’s no form of propulsion that is totally reliable....except oars...kings of unreliability are small outboards

Well actually with rubber dinghies, oars are not necessarily the most reliable. The cheap rowlocks sometimes break, or even become detached from the dinghy. Happened to me on a charter boat, and lost an oar end (nicked?) this year.
Old 2 stroke outboards tend to be very reliable if fed decent /recent petrol and the right mix of oil.

 

[Bouba]

Well actually with rubber dinghies, oars are not necessarily the most reliable. The cheap rowlocks sometimes break, or even become detached from the dinghy. Happened to me on a charter boat, and lost an oar end (nicked?) this year.
Old 2 stroke outboards tend to be very reliable if fed decent /recent petrol and the right mix of oil.

I don’t have a lot of experience with two stroke outboards...but I have loads of experience with two stroke motorcycles...an of course that two stroke experience is the reason why I never got a two stroke outboard

 

[Aja]

I don’t have a lot of experience with two stroke outboards...but I have loads of experience with two stroke motorcycles...an of course that two stroke experience is the reason why I never got a two stroke outboard

Missing a trick there then

 

[B27]

Seriously, if I needed a new outboard, and a 4st Suzi was £500, I'd be very keen to buy something like a 500W electric with 500Wh of battery for not more than twice the price, if I was assured it would last as long.
My Yamaha may well last long enough for electric outboards to get cheaper than that?

 

[TSB240]

I recently had to aid an 8M yacht with an overheated engine into a narrow harbour entrance with a 4kn ripping crosstide.
Managed with an alongside tow using a 4hp two stroke on the back of a 2.7m sib.
Electric will never replace the long term full power endurance and grunt that ICE can provide in an emergency.

 

[Bouba]

I recently had to aid an 8M yacht with an overheated engine into a narrow harbour entrance with a 4kn ripping crosstide.
Managed with an alongside tow using a 4hp two stroke on the back of a 2.7m sib.
Electric will never replace the long term full power endurance and grunt that ICE can provide in an emergency.

Never is a long time

 

[Kelpie]

Re: lithium mining, bear in mind that the battery then lasts many years, and most of the lithium can be recycled to make new batteries. The biggest producer of lithium is Australia, by the way, who are relatively well regulated.
Contrast with crude oil extraction and refining which is hugely polluting and energy intensive, and which needs to be done again and again for every litre of petrol. You can't recycle smoke

Sorry if it's a bit off topic but there's so much BS being put out there about electrification, without facts people will make poor choices.

 

[fredrussell]

I recently had to aid an 8M yacht with an overheated engine into a narrow harbour entrance with a 4kn ripping crosstide.
Managed with an alongside tow using a 4hp two stroke on the back of a 2.7m sib.
Electric will never replace the long term full power endurance and grunt that ICE can provide in an emergency.

Electric IS replacing all that, right now! These changes don’t happen overnight. There’s Torqeedo and other leccy outboards on loads more tenders than there were, say, 5 years ago. Obviously majority of ob’s are still petrol, but there’s more and more of the other sort appearing.