Eclass offers electrification kits for outboard engines

The electric motor kits are available to retrofit on Yamaha, Mercury and Tohatsu two-stroke engines, as well as 15hp Yamaha four-stroke engines. The kits can also be used for other outboard engines ranging between 4kW to 30kW, although they will need a customised connector plate to be made up.

Eclass director Lynelle Johnson said the aim of the Kiama-based company had now developed a conversion kit for those customers who wanted to tackle the job themselves.

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Johnson said boat owners were still slow to warm to the idea that they could convert their older engines to electric motors, but the higher price compared with a conventional petrol outboard engine, particularly for batteries, was still a factor, as was range anxiety.

“They [potential customers] love the technology and a lot of people love the idea of an electric boat motor,” she said.

“But the biggest resistance to the idea of electrification so far is price, and for a few of them, it’s the run-time – what if they’re a kilometre from the shore and they run out of charge.

“They have a heightened fear beyond what is normal that they’ll be stranded. 

“Anyone who is worried about running out of range can just buy a bigger battery – it’s like putting a larger fuel tank in a boat if you’re worried about running out of fuel.”

Eclass is also working hard to bring down the price of the batteries used to power its engines, with one solution coming from an unexpected source – batteries once used to power petrol-electric hybrid cars such as the Toyota Prius, and fully electric cars such as the Nissan Leaf.

The repurposed batteries may have hit the end of their life for automotive use, but according to Johnson, they’re still well-suited to boating.

“These batteries’ charge cycles and voltages may have dropped, but you don’t use a boat every day so the charge cycles aren’t an issue, and the [outboard] motors don’t use as much power,” she said.

“But the big thing is the price is around 40 per cent less than the cost of a new battery – it’s why we have a ‘from’ price on the website for the repurposed batteries – so it’s removing one of those barriers to going electric.”

According to Johnson, buying the DIY conversion kit for an outboard engine and installing it will save anywhere from $2000 for a pre-built low-powered conversion to up to $5000 for a high-power application.

“These DIY kits are a real test of the market to see how ready it is for this kind of technology,” she said.

“We believe there are around 500,000 two-stroke outboard engines out there, and a lot of them are ready for conversion [to electric].

Eclass is also close to launching its conversion kit for the Kawasaki Ultra Jet Ski that’s been in development since early last year.

The company is waiting for the specialised battery that will power the ski before launching on-water trials in about February to test the platform.

Once testing is done, the kit will be for sale for around $20,000, or the equivalent of buying a new jet ski, but the electric version won’t use a drop of fuel.

Johnson said one of the issues Eclass faced with potential customers was explaining that while the initial cost of the electric technology was higher, in the long run they would be saving money.

“Pepple aren’t used to paying for their fuel up-front,” Johnson said. “But you compare the lifetime cost of an electric motor with a petrol one and the difference is eye-watering.

“Owners don’t realise that over 10 years some of them may have spent up to $50,000 in fuel.”

Eclass also plans to offer electric conversion kits through marine service centres that will also be able to install them for customers.