I am looking for a motor of around 9 HP to drive a 20 ft pontoon boat on a small lake as transportation. The location id Off Grid. Currently I am using 2 55 lb thrust Minn Kota trolling motors connected to 2 12 volt deep cycle batteries charged by 1 55 watt solar panel. The entire setup with charge controller cost just over $1000. An equivalent output electric outboard would start at around $2500 then the cost of solar charging. Electric outboards are interesting but I don't understand why they are all so expensive.

The benefit to everyone else of not stinking up the waterfront with outboard fumes should not be underestimated.

I see no reason to compete with high-horsepower outboards, as their whole reason for existence is easy removal to cope with their perpetual maintenance needs. The inboard model makes more sense for anything over 50 hp or some other, more clever configuration.

I live in a salt water coastal community, traditionally lithium ion batteries erode quicker in these areas or catch fire. Interested to see the testing data, time to recharge, 110v/ 2240v recharge time, solar capabilities,etc. I am not an engineer but why not develop a hybrid system, I Don,t want to run out of charge in the water or on dry land!

I don't think I trust the idea of all electric power 80 miles off the coast fishing for a few nights. I bet it would be nice for trolling though.
Putzin around some lake seems about it.

I would love to have one of these on the back of my bass boat. With one of these at low-setting, you could troll for a while then throttle up and sprint off to a new spot and then troll some more all in silence. No more need for the extra trolling motor setup.

The only downside I can see is when the batteries are done, you are done. Charging the batteries at a marina isn't as easy as buying a couple of gallons of gas and filling a tank. But with the addition of a good-sized solar panel (or two), this really isn't a hardship.

The silent and powerful revolution cannot come soon enough. Dirt bikes, jet skis, everything silent, odor free and extremely powerful.

As mentioned by a previous commentator, Aross, these things are needlessly expensive, but the manufacturers have a good reason for charging so much money. They figure people are willing to pay!

The Evoy powertrain graphic needs updating - those high voltage lines are required by law to be orange :)

Hi Aross,
I have a 21' Sylvan pontoon with an Elco 20HP electric Outboard. Elco also has 30HP and a 50HP models. I choose the 20HP because it uses 4 12VT batteries (48Vt System) vs the 30HP using a 96VT system. It goes about 8 Kts and I calculated the 30HP on the pontoon would not go much faster. Feel free to E-mail me if you have any other questions. Rick@Jetmailbox.com
Here is Elco's Link
https://www.elcomotoryachts.com/product-category/electric-outboards/