When I bought my cruising cat a few years back, the un-loved, raw-water cooled 18hp Volvo diesels were one of my biggest concerns, and I set aside some cash for new diesels and saildrives. As luck would have it, I found a couple new, still-in-their-crates, 27hp Yanmar diesels with matching saildrives, being sold by an inventor who decided he’d rather not build his own catamaran. Since then, the crates have been sitting in my shop waiting for the old Volvos to give up their places. But, lately, I’ve been thinking seriously about going diesel/electric hybrid instead.
Electric drives for sailboats have been gaining noticeable momentum in the last few years, and it no longer seems to be such a bleeding edge proposition. Here are some of the systems I know about:
Solomon Technologies
These guys have been at it for several years, and their setup has even been adopted as a factory option for some cruising yachts, including Lagoon and Privilege catamarans, so it’s a pretty well proven system. They have long pushed the benefits of regenerative charging while under sail, meaning that while under way the turning of the props charges the battery bank.
My main reservation about the Solomon Technologies solution is the need for a 12 battery bank to power the 144 volt motors.
Glacier Bay OSSA Whisperlite
Glacier Bay is a company that seems to really do their engineering homework. Cruisers have likely heard of them for their impressive refrigeration systems for yachts. In the last few years they’ve also developed a nicely refined hybrid diesel electric system that integrates their OSSA generators with high efficiency, electric drive motors. Glacier Bay has also created very effective sound dampening material, that contributes to their generators being very quiet. The owner of one of their installations on his catamaran has said that the generator is so quiet, it can be hard to tell if it’s on. Like the Solomon Wheel system, the OSSA solution uses high voltage, but they are actually pushing a battery-less hybrid approach. Cons: expensive!
Fischer Panda
Cruisers may know Fischer Panda as a maker of generators, and it makes sense that generator manufacturers may be looking to capitalize on growing interest in hybrid propulsion systems. Like Solomon Technologies and Glacier Bay, they have a high voltage system, in this case a 400 volt AC system (actually, it is not fixed voltage, but varies with the power needed). There’s a good electrical engineering reason for this—you can trade amps for volts for the same amount of power and use smaller wires with less current loss. This way you don’t have giant battery cables snaking all over your boat.
Fischer Panda offers a really interesting steerable pod electric motor which they call the Aziprop, which could give you outstanding maneuverability, as well as freeing up interior space by putting the motor outside the boat.
Re-Epower Epod
I’ve written about the E-pod before—an external electric motor pod that mounts super-simply, just by bolting to the bottom of your boat. It’s a 48 volt system, so you can have a workable battery bank with just four batteries. Re-Epower recommends mounting the motors forward-facing for greater efficiency, especially for sailboats where the keel provides some protection for the props. The system has regenerative capability, too, which can charge the batteries while under sail.
I’m especially intrigued with this system as a repower option for my 38 foot cat. It’s more affordable than the other options above. And combined with a compact and efficient 48 volt DC generator like the ones from AmplePower, it looks like a pretty attractive proposition.
One of the desirable aspects of a hybrid system like this is better weight distribution. My cat’s engine compartments are way aft, and the bilges are too shallow to fit engines or shaft drives. However, locating a compact generator and battery bank more centrally would be considerably more doable.
Anybody else have a system to recommend? And who wants to a buy an unused Yanmar 3GM or two? (I’m serious). Saildrives, too!
7 responses so far ↓
RLW // Jul 26, 2007 at 6:44 am
A couple of years back I converted my CAL 34 over to electric drive and before doing so looked at all of the various options ( Solomon etc) but went with a system mre befitting the resale value of a 1969 CAL 34 being silly I thought to put in a system greater than the price I might get if I ever decided to sell the beast…
Thrunderstruck EV makes an excellent kit for pennies on the dollar compared to the other folks trying to pimp the EV conversion market and using off the shelf componets from the golf cart industry makes repairs and spares simple for us folks out cruising.
After three years of running the boat with an eletric motor I’m still happy and at a cost of only $1000 more or less with no fuel bills and no repairs to date seems like the way to go.
Aaron Tinling, Publisher // Jul 26, 2007 at 5:42 pm
Hey, thanks for the lead…we hadn’t heard of the Thunderstruck system. Will look into it!
Bruce Kirkpatrick // Aug 16, 2007 at 12:59 am
The diesel in my ‘83 Newport 28 started running poorly about 3 years ago. The cost of a replacement seemed beyond justifiable given the value of the boat. I opted for the Thunderstruck Etek conversion also. The boat shop (that would have done the diesel R&R) did all the work. This was their first electric conversion and they got through it fine. The “all in” parts and labor cost was about one fifth of what the diesel replacement would have been. I love the quiet simple power system and the absence of diesel fumes. Throttle runs through the original Edson pedestal controls. Startup procedures are virtually non existent: flip the power switch, put the forward/reverse switch in the position you want and nudge the throttle.
The biggest and heaviest piece of the entire system is each battery at about 50 lbs. The boat lives in the Marina at Lake Pleasant just outside of Phoenix AZ. The maximum running time I needed was just once or twice up and down the lake so 4 - 12v marine batteries have proven more than sufficient (4 x 12v in series, 48v). If it hadn’t, additional battery sets in parallel to the first would have been super easy and cheap to add to give more range. Removal of the old engine, transmission, cooling, and exhaust systems left room and weight for the electric motor setup and 3 - 4 sets of 4 batteries if needed. The system is direct drive and uses the same output shaft and prop that were used with the diesel. The system easily recharges overnight from the shore power connection at the slip.
If I had it to do over again, I would do the exact same thing. How many things can a boat owner say that about?
Tim Atwood // Oct 2, 2007 at 12:59 pm
Hi:
Can’t say that I ever thought about going electric, but I am in the market for a replacement Yanmar 3GM. If you’ve still got them, send me a note.
Tim Atwood
Jason Russell // Apr 15, 2008 at 11:04 pm
I was searching the words, “sailboat repower” for sometime with only diesel engines ranking high enough to get mentioned.
I really like all of the technology on this page and think that the solutions make sense each in their own way. I have lived aboard for years and can’t say that I ever powered up my engine without some trepidation and never shut it down without feeling some relief.
A few years ago I was looking for an option and couldn’t find a single one that fit into a cruising kitty. I am hardly impartial as I manufacture electric sailboat drives for repower but I am also very happy to see some real options showing up.
Ia m a sailor first and I think that it is very, very good to see some real alternatives. Bravo to Aaron Tinling and the people who are helping each other by posting on here.
Electric power works so well that the more that are installed, the more that will be installed. If anyone has questions about their own installations or getting started with a commercial installation (I do regularly suggest my competition if I do not fit your bill) . shoot me an email and I be happy to give you my two cents
Jason
Thank you again for working on true repower options .
Lee Snyder // Jun 17, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Can this retrofit be done on say 50 to 60 ft displacement hull ?
Can you off set the power requirements with a very efficient diesel generator for the power supply ?
Navagear Top Content, Thanks to Google | Navagear.com // Oct 12, 2008 at 9:51 am
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