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Nautique announces its first100% electric wakeboard boat


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I do not really care about wake board boats but it is interesting to see this experiment continue

 

Here is a link to that front page thingie some of you have heard of... http://www.ballofspray.com/general-ski-news/1214-nautique-announces-100-electric-wakeboard-boat

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I could list a full page of Waterski hot women but to the life of me I can not name a wakeboard girl one.

 

Nautiques have been working hard to bring forth an alternative powered boat to fruition and market it. With today's current battery technology a Electric wakeboard boat makes sense. Great forward thinking from a great company.

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Any news on the electric ski boat? I'm sure the technology has improved since it's début. Last I recall the ski to charge time ratio was about 1:3. When it's 3:1 then it will really start to be viable.
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@crashman as a skier who pays the bills working in Oil and Gas, I love the idea of a Coal Powered CC200. (Clean Coal only please but go ahead and strip mine it :-)
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even if it was powered with 100% coal generated electricity, it would still be 'greener' than a gas powered boat. for power used, the emissions to generate enough kWh's is less than running a gas engine for the same amount of time. not to mention safer as a wakesurf boat with no CO and other nasties to breathe in.
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Wakeboarders don't go out, ski 10 minutes and come back like us skiers. They load up and go out for the day. They aren't going to live with an hour of runtime.

 

While I applaud the effort, the application isn't conducive to electric. I question spending money on a design exercise such as this when we're having trouble selling their wakeboard boats due to their dated design and small interiors.

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I have make this comment before and I will make it again. Wakeboarding is what is keeping the industry going. Any wally can learn it quickly, it can be done very successfully in rough water and it allows more people in the boat. I love to ski and own a slalom boat but I also realize no one would be making boats for us without the wake tubs flying out the door of the boatshop and paying the man.

"Do Better..."

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I think an electric could make sense when a lake has noise restrictions perhaps, but being a green machine is misguided. Perhaps it's 0 emissions while underway, but if it has a carbon footprint like the Prius, it's not protecting the environment. Battery manufacturing, charging and disposal are factors not taken into consideration by many. But if it helps them so boats, I'm all for it!
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I can find nothing wrong with trying to push the technology bubble. When I went to film school one of my profs claimed computer generated films were ten years out - Toy Story came out a couple of months later. Battery technology is on a similar technology curve... I hope!
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I think an electric could make sense when a lake has noise restrictions perhaps, but being a green machine is misguided. Perhaps it's 0 emissions while underway, but if it has a carbon footprint like the Prius, it's not protecting the environment. Battery manufacturing, charging and disposal are factors not taken into consideration by many...

 

In a recent offhand discussion on the subject of hybrid electric cars I had a very experienced and respected local auto mechanic tell me that the only thing you could dump in a landfill more toxic than lithium ion batteries is nuclear waste. Just saying...

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We LOVE our Prius. At 50-53 MPG, it is unreal (not a car, but a life-style). They have found that the battery pack lasts a lot longer than first expected (they haven't been failing, well beyond the initial 8 yr. warranty). To say that there is no help to the environment over a car getting 1/2 (or less) that in mileage doesn't make sense.

 

That said, I wonder why the boat manufactures don't make a hybrid boat? So, it could run on a battery when idling, and the gas engine when pushed over 1k rpm? In our sport, I believe the gas savings would be enormous.

 

Idling plays a very big part in boating, in fact, many boats spend MORE time idling, than running at high rpms.

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Dan, You are right about the Prius, my Wife has one and it is a Blast to drive. If you place it in PWR mode, the torque is unreal. This comes from a Guy who drove Exotics and Race Cars for years. The Electric Motors give you INSTANT RESPONSE. It is also nice to fill up and your pump is in the twenties, while the Guy next to you is in the eighties.

We also Solarized our house three years a go with a 10K, 48 panel system, so there is no electric bill. That is a great feeling. My goal is for the Sun to power our cars and boat and not use any Gas!!!!

 

 

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Epic already has a hybrid wake boat on the market.

 

I agree on the fun factor of electric cars. I was fortunate to drive a Tesla, and wow, it was crazy quick. With that said, the manufacturing of the battery is not a green process. Charging the battery requires burning coal, or a nuclear reactor. And Ed already covered the disposal issue. From a dollars & cense stand point, I'm curious how long it would take to recoup the higher purchase price from fuel savings? I heard the Epic hybrid was around $20k more than the gas version. That's a LOT of gas money!

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Same mechanic also told me you'd have to get around 600K miles of service life from a hybrid to break even on the cost to purchase, cost to operate, maintain etc versus a small economy car that gets say 35 mph per gallon and gives you 200K service life. Not trying to start an arguement or anything, just making a point. Agreed, it would have to be a lifestyle choice.
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I don't get his math. I paid 13,800 for an 08 in '10. The price of gas is not static, so who know's what tomorrow's price will be. That must be considered into the math of the savings as well. Maybe it's a gamble, but, we don't worry about the cost of gas for trips (anymore), but just go.....feels sooooo good!
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@ShaneH How big of a battery (and motors) do you think it would take to idle a boat propeller? Hybrid cars are able to run @ 35 mph on flat land, I'm sure that spinning a prop in water (slow) isn't anywhere near that much power.

 

I'm just saying, that with all of the idling boaters do, a battery spinning the prop that would kick over to the motor upon "load" would give you the power you need, for the amount of time you'd need it, (as well as throw a charge back to the battery) would be pretty cool, and much more efficient than what we have now....Probably won't happen, but sure makes sense to me.

 

 

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The problem, this was mentioned earlier, is that a wakeboarder dosnt go out for 1 or 2 hours. They go out all day and on public lakes (for the most part). To get this kinda charge would require HUGE battaries. However this would just add weight which is ok because wakeboarders want more weight for the wakes.
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@Brent...You bring up an interesting point, and I applaud their creativity and desire for the all electric boat. If there are that many waterway's that have been banned to gas powered boats (I was unaware of this), then all electric would be the only way the industry can go, or it's bye-bye time. If the motivation for the ban comes from fisherman, who really just want the water to themselves, then they'll just lobby to turn the waterways into "no wake" zones (probably claiming that the quiet, "fast" boats are dangerous).
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I'm assuming Brent means CC doesn't build a boat until it's sold to a dealership? (which they mandate a minimum order) There are a handful of new non-current 2011 200's out there, which weren't originally ordered by customers. I was also thinking on the lines of danbirch too. We have a couple electric-only lakes around here, which would immediately turn into no wake lakes, should we start running electric Nautiques on them. Perhaps Europe is different though?
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If there are waterway restrictions on gas powered boats, it is just a matter of time before they (the mysterians) ban the electric boat. The fact is that there are people on this planet that do not like other people having fun and they want everyone else gone so they can live life in their own little world. Burning more coal, nuke and filling landfills with dead batteries is not going to help the planet.
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The thing that is going to shift people's thinking toward buying electric vehicles, is the price of petrol... Period!

Most people probably realize the "Hoax" behind the Prius being good for the environment (refining Nickel for the batteries etc). And sure some people have bought them because they use a little less fuel, but only suckers have bought one thinking they're saving the planet.

It's great news that Nautique are currently looking into this technology though, as although there's probably not much of a market for an electric boat now, there will be in 10 years or so when fuel prices start going through the roof.

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@Ryno "a little less fuel"?...... What is your current gas mileage? I agree that it is wonderful that Nautique is looking into the electric technology as well.

 

You criticize the Prius "hoax" for using batteries, but, don't electric boats use batteries? Even MORE batteries than a Prius? As I understood what Nautique was saying, they wanted you to have multiple re-chargeable batteries, so you could swap them out as needed..... Also, the myth that the batteries will fill the landfills is false. Toyota recycles every part of those batteries, and pays a $200 bounty for every prius battery (to the dealers who recover them). There is an 800 # on every battery they sell for that purpose.

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Having the price of fuel artificially jacked up just to promote a worthless idea is not the way we need to be going. I am all for new clean energy but overweight useless batteries that need to be plugged in to the already taxed power grid is not the answer. All the money CC spends on the R&D gets put on the price of a gas powered CC. The free market will produce the next generation of clean energy not forced price fixing of fuel. Natural Gas is a much better way to power boats and we have a boat load of it right here in our own country.

@danbirch, thats crap, It costs the consumer cash to bring them back. Its like the new light bulbs. How much Mercury do you think is hitting the land fills as we speak? If one breaks in your house you need to have a team come in and clean up the toxic waste.

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I'm not convinced petroleum prices go through the roof in the future, but we'll see - that'll be decided by the politicians, not the reality of existing oil reserves. It'll be a tough sell when putting pen to paper for an E boat (how many Epic E23's are being sold?). Price premium for the boat, then the cost of charging the batterys. Want to use a wind turbine or solar panel to charge it instead? Those items aren't free either. I guess I just wish CC would invest R&D into the things owners/ballers are clammering for - like a less expensive 3 event boat. How many threads on PN, BOS or CCF do you see where people are complaining that they can't buy an electric powered boat?
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My VW Jetta TDI was a 2003, and would get into the 50 mpg range and it was 10K less than the Prius. I'm getting sick of this GREEN push. Every time I hear something is GREEN I cringe because I know it is some how a gimick or being pushed by the government. My new diesel truck gets horrible fuel economy but it sure burns clean, my old truck got great fuel economy and still burned pretty clean. Not to mention this new truck cost over 10K more due to all the emmisions crap on it. It seems like one step forward two back.
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@MS Have you ever sat in a traffic jam? Notice how many of the cars around you are pouring fuel vapors into the environment? Is that green?

 

Maybe not where you live, but in all major cities, traffic jams are a problem. The Prius sits (and runs) in those jams quietly, and cleanly; with no motor running at all. I suppose all of the naysayers (who probably haven't ever even SAT in a Prius) feel that all of that fuel getting dumped into the environment is a good thing.

 

@Sully You should have held onto that 03 the, because according to VW, the 12's best mileage is only 42 (hwy), and 28 in the city. http://www.vw.com/en/tdi/jetta.html The Prius does 50 in the city. Big difference. Have you ever driven one?

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The market would be better served by a diesel powerplant, such as the 42+mpg VW diesel mentioned before(I had an 02 vw and it got insanely good mileage), than an electric powerplant.

 

FWIW..........many of the 2011+ clean emissions vehicles exhaust is cleaner than the surrounding air. Meaning they actually clean the air they take in. Think about that.

 

 

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@danbirch, We all want clean air and water. I think that of all the inventions the Prius is one of the best inventions because you dont have to plug into the coal to power up. The Nautiques are plugged into coal and nuke. If the whole industry turns electric, what do you think will happen to the price of electricity? How much more coal do we have to burn? I also pay upwards of .75 tax per gallon of gas that is supposed to build roads to prevent traffic jams. I do not feel sorry for people that live in large cities and sit in traffic. They have a vote and it usually goes in the direction of not building more roads.

 

@Brent, thinking out of the box is not electric boats or cars, those ideas have been around for years. It is a new source of power that burns clean and is cheap that is thinking out of the box. A free market will bring this to us and whoever gets it done will be rich.

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