Electric VS Gas Outboard Sea Trials Cape Dory 36 Refit Part 4

We replaced the old diesel inboard engine with an electric drive motor while also having a gas outboard available to extend range when needed. We tested the Epropulsion Navy EVO 6.0 electric outboard motor and Tohatsu 9.8 hp extra-long shaft gas motors on a Cape Dory 36 sailboat of approx. 17,000 lb loaded displacement. The Tohatsu 9.8 pushed the boat at 5.9 kt in calm waters. We gained about a 1/2 knot over an earlier test by not dragging the inboard prop and by eliminating turbulence from the prop aperture.

The electric motor with composite low pitch (high thrust) prop gave us 5.7 kt top speed. Not as good as its advertised 10hp gas motor equivalence but still acceptable since our goal was at least 5k. The electric motor is 15 lbs lighter than the Tohatsu. The high pitch (low thrust) prop gave us 5.35 knots which is about 6.5% slower than the low pitch prop.

The construction of the outboard well was covered in this earlier video:    • Diesel to Electric Outboard Motor Conversi...  

Components:
1. Electric motor: Evo 6.0 $3,599 long shaft (79.4 lbs, 125A, 3-blade composite propeller, static thrust 279 lbs)

2. Gas motor: Tohatsu 9.8 HP MFS9.8BSPROEFUL $2,850
https://onlineoutboards.com/collectio...

3. Battery: E175 9kw (175AH) LiFePO4 (Lithium Iron Phosphate) $4,399. This Epropulsion battery is required to enable the regeneration charging under sail feature.

4. 120v AC to 48V DC battery charger: Epropulsion AC battery charger (20A) $480. The 20A charger takes about 8 hours to recharge the battery but a 40A charger is available to cut that in half.

5. Evo Side Mount Throttle Control $499.

6. Two 00-0601-01 Communication cables 5m and one Y-type communication cable to connect motor, side mount controller and battery $90 each.

7. Epropulsion battery remote on/off switch $149.

8. Extra battery cables and fuses for your installation.

9. Charging 12v house bank from 48v motor battery:
20 Amp Victron Energy Orion-Tr 48/12-20A DC-DC Isolated Converter $118.
https://www.solar-electric.com/victro...

Solar Charging:
10. 48v Solar controller: 48V 300w boost MPPT for $31 each. We used two for two 200W panels:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/314132016491

11. 12v solar controller: Victron Energy SmartSolar MPPT 100V 30 amp 12/24-Volt Solar Charge Controller (Bluetooth) $224
https://www.amazon.com/SmartSolar-MPP...

12. Two transfer switches for solar charging 12v and 48v banks: Szliyands Universal Rotary Changeover Switch LW26-32, 32A, 3 Position, 8 Terminal $16 each.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08...

We can be reached at atomvoyages.com or if you have a classic sailboat and want to share your experiences or have questions on fitting out, consider joining the Plastic Classic Forum at https://plasticclassicforum.com/forum/
I'm a moderator on the forum and answer questions there.