We answered several common questions in our last article about the range of electric outboard motors. Below are some straightforward strategies to get the most range out of your electric outboard motor.
Reduce Speed
A simple rule of thumb with electric propulsion in water is that it takes 8 times the power to go twice as fast. The Spirit 1.0 Plus has a 1276 Wh integrated battery. At full throttle (1000 watts of power), you get 75-min runtime travelling about 10 km/h or 6.2 mph. This will take you 12.5km (8 miles).
However, if you reduce your throttle to 25%, which is 250 Watts, your speed will be about 7.1 km/h (4.4 mph) which is only 30% slower. If you travelled travel 3.2 km (2 miles), you would arrive only 8 min later than at the full-throttle speed. This gives you extra time to enjoy the silence of your electric outboard and relax—8 min won’t ruin your life! At this speed your range is greatly increased—you could run the motor for up to 5 hours and travel 36.5 kms (22 miles)! In short, you sacrifice 30% in speed, but you get 214% more range.
The actual speed-range curve varies between different boats, load, water conditions and etc, but the logic behind is the same: Go slower, and you can travel further.
Extra or Larger Batteries
You are not confined to the single integrated battery of your Spirit 1.0 Plus. It’s modular and can be swapped out in seconds, so an easy way to double your range is to buy an extra Spirit Battery Plus. For serious range that rivals or exceeds what you’d get with a tank of gas, you could even get one of the larger external batteries used with the larger electric motors like the Navy series.
Extra batteries don’t need to be genuine ePropulsion batteries—you can use 3rd-party batteries that meet the specs and save some money (although be aware you do lose some features like hydrogeneration). A smart strategy is to purchase a 3rd-party battery as a spare in addition to the standard ePropulsion battery. Note that an external battery cable is required to connect an external battery.
Solar Charging
With the Solar Charge Controller, you can connect a solar panel that outputs up to 180W or power. On a sunny day you could potentially double your range at the same speed. Solar charging works when even while the electric motor is operating.
Hydrogeneration
Hydrogeneration is another way of recharging your battery cleanly and for free. Hydrogeneration pushes charge back into the battery with water passively spinning the propeller which generates electricity through electromagnetic induction. It requires your sailboat to be powered by wind and travelling at least 7.4 km/h (4.6 mph), and if travelling at 18.5 km/h (11.5 mph) you’ll be generating 300W of power, enough to charge your depleted Spirit battery to 90% in about 3.5 hours.
Hydrogeneration is available only on the Spirit 1.0 Evo, Pod Evo motors and the Navy series motors.
