Mercury V10 Verado takes ‘first step’ towards electrification

The new 350hp and 400hp Mercury V10 Verados use the same 150-amp alternator as the Mercury V12 Verado. However, this time around it’s offering an optional alternator that can automatically change how much voltage it produces – 12 volts for running the boat’s electronics or 48 volts for recharging a bank of batteries that have replaced a genset.

Each engine can generate up to 6.5 kilowatts, which Mercury vice-president of product engineering and development Tim Reid says is enough to replace a genset if the boat is running multiple V10 Verado engines.

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The ability to charge at 48 volts will tie in with a new generation of Navico-developed Fathom systems optimised for larger boats – think of powering future systems such as air conditioning units that on older boats would have needed a genset humming away in the background.

It will also tie in with a new boat that Brunswick Corp is keen to have ready for next year’s Miami Boat Show that will feature a 48-volt system with DC to DC inverters to step the voltage down to 12 volts for those electronics that still need to run on it.

According to Corey Bruno, Mercury’s outboard category director – essentially the product manager for the brand – if you can handle the boat’s electrical loads with electricity generated from its outboard engines, it’s a great outcome.

“This engine gives the ability to generate 48 volts for a Navico system's Fathom without the need to have a power system on board,” Bruno said.

“You can also store it as 48 volts, and we're then distributing that around the boat to handle loads electrically without using a generator.”

The change means boats will soon start to add a new generation of features such as 48-volt gyroscopic stabilisers – we should see the first of these appear this year – and induction cooktops, all appliances that draw lots of current and heavily tax 12-volt electrical systems.

The higher voltage yields other gains, because the wiring used to supply the 48 volts do not need to be as thick, and therefore heavy, as those used for 12-volt systems.

According to Bruno, Mercury’s path to petrol-electric hybridisation needs to take a very different path to the automotive world, as boats don’t have the ability to re-generate electricity, such as when a car uses its electric motor to generate power while braking.

That means instead of looking to the automotive world for ideas on how to build a marine system, Brunswick looked inside its own four walls for inspiration.

One of the other developments for this engine is a new power steering system that arrives next year. According to Mercury, the new steering will introduce “enhanced steering responsiveness, dramatically simplified rigging”, and cut energy use in half compared with a traditional hydraulic steering system.

Brunswick Corp, Mercury's US-based owner, has already given a taste of what is to come launching the Sea Ray SLX-R 400e at the 2020 Miami boat show, a platform featuring an onboard lithium-ion system that replaced the onboard genset and – something that now makes total sense – a 400hp Mercury Verado outboard engine.