CORRECT CRAFT ACQUIRES ELECTRIC BOAT DRIVE SYSTEM

[Golfguy]

Yep, that is for sure true. If you live in Germany or even the East Coast, the energy is probably from coal. Considering line drop and associated production methods it may be difficult to say electricity is much of a carbon foot print reduction. On the other hand petroleum is not created in a vacuums either.

[eleeski]

@Golfguy You have a good insight. Solar panels take years of operation to recover the energy to build them (but that's just a fraction of their life). Of course if the solar manufacturer runs only when the sun shines and is powered by solar there's not a carbon issue. Delivery losses are real but less than 10%. A desert solar farm energy transmission to northern, coastal or cloudy cities does make sense.

 

Delivering energy from a dirty coal generator is less environmentally sound.

 

Electric motors are fairly efficient. The Tesla claims an equivalent of over 100mpg. Not too bad for electric motors.

 

Batteries suck on efficiency. The recharge has losses and the power storage is very limited. It takes energy and toxic rare chemicals to build the batteries. Their life is limited. Replacement schedules might make electric vehicles not cost or environmentally better.

 

Private lake ski boats are a reasonable electric application. Backup batteries can be swapped in from a dedicated hoist. For just the couple rides of a lot of typical skiers, a recharge in the boat can work. PP controls are suited nicely to an electric motor. The electric MC 197 is certainly on the to do list - but the to do list is pretty long.

 

Electric powered boats are interesting, relevant and the future.

 

Eric

[BraceMaker]

@Golfguy It's quite inefficient overall. But then again everything is.

 

Typical gas engine might make 20% of the fuel into forwards motion. Power plant make 35% of the coal into electricity at the generator and get 90% of that energy through to your house.

 

@vtmecheng in re gearing I think the single largest reason to use a gear train is to compensate for available props and hull architecture. It might be unreasonable for instance to engineer a prop to the specific pitches and diameters we are expecting but very easy to gear the motor to the correct motor and shaft rpm. Also the angles, to me instead of bringing a motor above the floor into a motor box it makes sense to incorporate a down angle gear box with the reduction necessary to mount motor below floor or ahead in now while keeping shaft angle as demanded by the hull.

[bigskieridaho]

Enjoying all the dislikes and thumbs down! Sorry I actually like the power and sound of a gas engine......

[j2nh]

It's fun to speculate but again, we are a long way away from having batteries and charging that will produce the results the vast majority of people will demand. Correct Craft did this already with the 196 as a demonstration of what is possible, if, big if, the battery manufacturers and research can develop a quantum breakthrough. That hasn't happened despite hundreds of millions spent and it may be decades before it does.

 

Who wouldn't want a tug that was silent and didn't require hauling gas? That doesn't mean it will happen.

 

On the other hand who wants to haul a boat to a level 3 charger for an 80% charge when that charge will give you an hour on the water? And what are you going to haul it with?

 

Not a naysayer just a realist whose looked at this closely.

 

 

[Than_Bogan]

Hardcore slalom skiers are not the vast majority of people. Our unique characteristics provide hope to tolerate some limitations and exploit some advantages.

 

Early adopters are a special audience. I often avoid being an early adopter -- I went much longer than most without a cell phone for example. But in some cases it makes sense for me, with my most recent examples being Denali, Markforged, and OnShape. Upside outweighed genuine disadvantages in each case.

 

I'd be pretty interested in bleeding a bit on the bleeding edge with an electric ski boat.

[DaveD]

I think it's great that Nautique is trying to be at the forefront of this technology. Just do all of us a favor and make safety first. I don't want to be in an electric boat that has a wave swamp the front of the boat until they work out a way to to make electrical systems safe when wet.

 

I also want a boat that doesn't run out of power when the entire ski club shows up to ski after work. It's frustrating enough to have to run the boat back to the boat house to fill the gas tank.

[Drago]

Seriously? You get frustrated when you have to put gas in the boat?

[DaveD]

When there's a line on the dock waiting to ski and it's getting dark, yes.

[BraceMaker]

@DaveD same thing when you're driving the AM set and the wind starts kicking up but you need fuel to run your set. The feel of a breeze shift into a wind while you're standing there with a fuel can.

[Andre]

First world problems guys... :)

[Laz]

This is great news. I've had an electric car for the last 6 years and I could never go back to gas.

 

An electric ski boat has a number of advantages and challeges.

 

Pro

- very quite, can talk (well, shout) to the skier

- clean (may open up lakes with gas engine restrictions)

- high torque motor means it only needs about 150 hp

- instantaneous power control: no more ABC,123 for Zero Off

- operating cost: way fewer moving parts, way less maintenance. Electricity is 1/10th cost of gas (in Canada)

 

Cons

-expensive. This is still the case with cars, but improving. It will take a long time for the cost to come down for ski boats. However, with the new 2019 Nautique's price, this may not be a problem. ;-)

-battery capacity: it takes about 10 kWH for an 8 pass slalom set. That's no more than 10 sets per full charge fora 100 kWH battery

-charge time: industrial power could likely charge the battery in less than an hour, but it's no so easy to get this kind of power to the dock. 240V, 80amp could probably recharge a set's worth of power in 30 minutes. (I didn't do the math)

-battery tech: Tesla has the best batteries in the business but they may not be good for a ski boat which needs to maintain high output for a 30 second pass. Cars generally accelerate for a much shorter time. Different chemisty may be needed.

 

When an affordable electric Nautique is available, I will be first in line. Kudos for Correct Craft for getting the ball rolling.

 

 

 

[jipster43]

Bring on the electric boats! I just cornered the market on two-stroke incense sticks.