Torquedo electric outboard - feedback

After three or fours years ownership of a 1003.
For: Clean and easy to store. Easy to fit to a moving dinghy alongside in the water in three parts. Powerfull enough to push a tender against wind and tide when needed. Little noise and no fuel or oil.
Against: cost still far too high. Battery range only 35 mins if used at full power (but four times that if used gently). Takes far too long to charge. (new fast charger will help).

Note: My battery has not lost any charge over extended idle periods.
 
lw395 said:
There is a long history of electric boats on smooth lakes and rivers.
The Americans love Torqueedos for lake fishing, where I can see they would be exactly the right thing.
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Exactly - I wouldn't hesitate to recommend a Torqeedo for inland waters (if you can justify the cost!). If I was in the Lake District, probably a nice engine to use. For tidal waters you need to bear in mind the limitations. For me the range and power were insufficient to make it a viable proposition. I needed full power to shift against wind and tide, and I needed more than 25-30 mins!
 
Just an update. I used my new Torqeedo 1003 for the first time last weekend, whilst in Brighton Marina. Put it on my Zodiac 240 dinghy, wandered around the marina at both trolling speed and flat-out spells. After an hour and a half, went back to the boat and the Torqeedo battery was showing 50% remaining. I thought that was pretty good. It certainly has some power, and the built-in GPS electrickery is very clever. Best of all, completely c!ean and easy to stow.
 
pvb said:
Just an update. I used my new Torqeedo 1003 for the first time last weekend, .......... It certainly has some power, .......
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Yes 480 watts or approx 0.64 hp.

How they can claim this is equivalent to the propulsive power of a 3hp petrol outboard baffles me.
 
VicS said:
Yes 480 watts or approx 0.64 hp.

How they can claim this is equivalent to the propulsive power of a 3hp petrol outboard baffles me.
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Bit like Seagull - they claim it is based on efficient thrust from the gear and prop design. Thrust is good - but mine was defeated by a piece of seaweed - so not good enough imho!
 
VicS said:
Yes 480 watts or approx 0.64 hp.

How they can claim this is equivalent to the propulsive power of a 3hp petrol outboard baffles me.
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I was sceptical too, but now I'm impressed. Max input power by the way is 1000w. If you ever have the opportunity, try one.
 
Rogershaw said:
All you need to do now is mount a small solar panel to keep the battery charged up and you have free dingy propulsion.

We have at least 2 dingy's in our marina do just that.

You can see one of them in the foreground in this web cam 2 shot

http://www.netelligent.co.za/point-yacht-club-cameras/
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Trouble is its a 29.6 volt Li-ion battery so your ordinary solar panels are no good

However Toqeedo offer one specifically for the job which plugs straight in

Solarcharger.jpg


I think my Seagull will see me out


.
 
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VicS said:
I recharge my seagull from a can. Only take a few seconds too.
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But it costs more than from the sun which is free. It may take longer than a few seconds but you don't have to attend the refilling.

I am in to process of making an electric outboard from one of my old battery drills and bits from my junk box as electric outboards cos an arm and 2 legs due to the exchange rate here.
 
Rogershaw said:
But it costs more than from the sun which is free. It may take longer than a few seconds but you don't have to attend the refilling.

I am in to process of making an electric outboard from one of my old battery drills and bits from my junk box as electric outboards cos an arm and 2 legs due to the exchange rate here.
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I think payback time for most of us would be excessive.
Sometimes in port on a cruise we might use the outboard several times a day, wouldn't want to be waiting for the battery to recharge.

If I ever get a big enough yacht, I want a tender that sails!
 
The Torqeedo battery will trickle charge from the ships batteries. I made up a cable from a cigar socket on the boat to the charge socket on the T battery. For some reason which I don't understand...electrickery being somewhat of a mystery...you need 24V from a solar panel. Also you must not exceed 4 amps during charging, I put a 3 amp fuse in my cable.
The Torqeedo battery is more than just a battery. It contains electronics including a GPS receiver.
There is a discussion about this on this Aussie site...
http://thetorqeedoshop.com.au/range-extension-options-for-torqeedo-1003-and-ultralight/

See page 17 of the manual re charging http://www.torqeedo.com/uk/downloads-en/manuals
 
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foeu said:
The Torqeedo battery will trickle charge from the ships batteries. I made up a cable from a cigar socket on the boat to the charge socket on the T battery. For some reason which I don't understand...electrickery being somewhat of a mystery...you need 24V from a solar panel. Also you must not exceed 4 amps during charging, I put a 3 amp fuse in my cable.
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I think the max 4A only relates to the specification of suitable 24v solar panels. There doesn't seem to be any constraint on 12v charging, and indeed the charging lead I made up isn't fused but plugs into a socket supplied via a 10A fused circuit.
 
I don't understand Vics comparison of a seagull outboard and a new Torqeedo, two more extreme examples couldn't be found, the idea that one can compare their features is laughable. A bit like comparing a modern Hanse and an old wooden Hillyard.
 
Lazy Kipper said:
I don't understand Vics comparison of a seagull outboard and a new Torqeedo, two more extreme examples couldn't be found, the idea that one can compare their features is laughable. A bit like comparing a modern Hanse and an old wooden Hillyard.
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All right then - "I recharge my Honda 2.3 from a can. Only take a few seconds too. "
 
ghostlymoron said:
All right then - "I recharge my Honda 2.3 from a can. Only take a few seconds too. "
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The Torqeedo is far from perfect, but it is without doubt the first step on a long road which will eventually lead to a future generation saying "they used petrol to get themselves round the moorings? Yuk!!'
 
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