Electric vs gas boat motor, which one would you invest in?
Electric boat motor, I guess, for its silent cruising, clean and environmentally friendly nature, and if you are boating on lakes restricting gas engine.
But you might have a second thought for the electric boat motor vs gas choice, as electric outboard motor could also mean limited horsepower, battery life and range (Is it true?).
Extra batteries are expensive and heavy after all.
So is there any guidelines both new and experienced boaters could refer to decide whether to go with electric or petrol boat motor?
Here we’d like to offer some insights for you to make a quick choice on this and other important things you should care on gas vs electric outboard motor.
Content:
- Electric vs Gas Boat Motor: A Quick Decision
- Advantages of Electric vs Gas Outboard Motor
- Disadvantage of Electric Outboard Motor vs Gas
- Electric Boat Motor vs Gas: Bottom Line
Electric vs Gas Boat Motor: A Quick Decision
If you want a quick decision on electric boat motor vs gas, follow the rules:
Choose electric outboard motor if you:
- Want no noise to “spook” fish or for a disturbance-free trip
- Want no oil leak to stain your clothes
- Want no smell and no exhaust to protect family health
- Want to easily start the motor anytime
- Want reverse propulsion
- Want to save both time and energy with maintenance-free design
- Live near electric only reservoirs or lakes
- Have no need to go full speed at long time like several days
Choose gas boat motor if you:
- Are conscious of price, and don’t want to pay huge up-front money
- Want long hours of running time at high full throttle
Electric Boat Motor vs Gas: Everything You Should Know
When deciding on electric vs gas boat motor, it’s always helpful to learn the pros and cons of each in more details, so you can have a better idea of what you are paying for.
Advantages of Electric Boat Motor vs Gas
Quiet
The biggest advantage of electric vs gas boat motor is that it runs silently. No one likes the noise from the engine to spoil the fun. Your fish are boat shy, and electrics are best for shallow saltwater or bass and moving from spot to spot, sight fishing, etc. where silence is critical.
No Smell & No Pollution
Electric outboard motor gives you ultimate joy of boating without any smell. The endless exhaust from the gas outboard motor can not only pollute the water and the fish probably on your next dish, but also cause serious harm to your health.
No Oil Stains
Unlike the gas boat motor, the electric motor will never stain your clothes when you transport it, install it or start it.
Flushing engine after use is a real pain. And dealing with transporting gas/engine in van can makes van stink for a few days. With electric outboard motor, there will be no messy gas cans or fumes on your boat.
Environmentally Friendly
If you constantly run big gas motors slowly, you are burning gas needlessly and loudly. While electric boat motor could slow down the speed as you need.
Long Runtime at Low Speeds
The runtime (and therefore the range) of the electric outboards can be greatly extended with slower speed. You’ll have 4 times the running time by reducing 20% of its speed. It’s perfect for fishing.
| Power (W) | Speed (kmph/knot) | Running Time (hours) | Range (km) |
| 1000 | 9/4.9 | 1 | 9 |
| 500 | 7.1/3.8 | 2 | 14.2 |
| 250 | 6.5/3.5 | 4 | 26 |
| 65 | 4.3/2.3 | 15.3 | 66 |
Easy to Use & Store
It’s super easy to start the electric boat motor, compared with the gas motor that requires hard ignition every time. With electric outboard motor, you’ll never need to leave the motor idling the entire time just to avoid the trouble getting the engine to restart.
Safety
Another advantage of electric vs petrol boat motor is that you don’t need to use and carry flammables on your vessel which could be a safety concern for boaters.
Backup Battery
With the electric outboard motor on boat, you got extra power source from the motor batteries. So you can charge your phone if it dies or power something if you are camping out.
No Maintenance
Many electric boat motors today adopt direct-drive technology that need zero maintenance lifetime. They come without the gearbox. By contrast, the petrol motor needs maintenance every 100 hours, making it a headache for a lot of boaters.
Law Compliance
There are more and more electric only reservoirs/lakes for the environmental purposes. If you are boating on those areas, the electric outboard motors are your only choice.
Lightweight and portable
Although the extra batteries are usually heavy, the electric outboard motor itself is designed to be light weighted for easy transportation. For example, the 3hp ePropulsion weights only 24 lbs and the 2.5hp Yamaha gas outboard motor goes to 37 lbs.
Bonus advantages
There are a lot of bonus advantages of electric outboard motor that gas motor owners can never get. For example, the helm steering integration, solar charging, and reverse gear.
Disadvantage of Electric Outboard Motor vs Gas
Power
The biggest disadvantage of electric boat motor vs gas is the power range. The most powerful electric boat motor is about 80hp, and the gas outboard motor can go to 350hp, which is a huge difference.
| Electric Outboard Motor | Gas Outboard Motor |
| 80hp max. | 350hp max. |
| Torqeedo electric motor | Mercury gas motor |
Battery life
How long can an electric outboard motor last?
Actually it can be easily calculated by battery capacity (Wh) divided by power (W).
So a 3hp electric outboard motor with 1000 Wh battery capacity can last 1 hour at its full power (1000 W). And according to our test, it can pull a 12 foot aluminum boat for 9 km per charge.
It gets similar battery life in a marine environment.
It’s true that the electric outboard motor has relatively limited run time at full power. Also the battery recharge could be a little slow.
It takes like 3 hours for a 3hp electric boat motor to get fully charged with fast charger.
But the running time and range can be greatly extended with slower speeds (meaning lower power), as previously discussed. So the battery problem really comes down to the speed you need.
And it’s worth noting that the 3hp electric boat motor has even more running time vs the gas motors, making it the best option on this power range. The gas motors with such low horsepower usually has no petrol tank for additional power.
Cost
You will face a relatively huge up-front cost if choosing electric outboard motor vs gas, like $2000 for a 3hp motor. And the gas counterpart only costs about $1000.
| Electric Outboard Price | Gas Outboard Price |
| USD 1999 | USD 1050 |
| Torqeedo Travel 1003 | Mercury 3.5hp motor |
If you want extended power and range, the extra battery can cost $900, and the tiller control costs another $300 if you want to add remote control to your boat.
But you’ll save a huge amount of energy and maintenance cost in the long term compared with the gas outboard motor. Statistics show that the cost will be break-even when if use the motor for 8 years.
Gas vs Electric Outboard Motor: Bottom Line
It should be clear whether to choose an electric motor or gas motor for your boat by reading this far. If not, here is a simple guideline for your reference:
When it comes to small horsepower engine like 5hp and below (perfect for small range trip), you should definitely go with the electric outboard motor with nothing to compromise (the power and range are about the same without recharge or refilling the tank).
But when you want to have long range cruising and always be at its full power, the gasoline engine would be a more affordable plan to realize it.