Mercury’s first electric engines lock in 2022 CES debut
The first of five new Mercury electric drivetrains is expected to make its debut early next yearBrunswick Corp recently flagged that it wanted to have five new marine electric propulsion units by 2023, with the first of them launching next year.
The engines under development are believed to be geared towards the MerCruiser range of inboard engines rather than electrified or electric outboard engines.
The on-water roadmap towards electrification was a key part of Brunswick Corp’s Next Wave strategy announced at its annual investor day in May, shaping how the company would focus its future efforts.
However, the company indicated this week that it is preparing to show the next step in its strategy early next year.
“We will debut some of the electrification and connectivity products [at CES] that we teased during investor day, in addition to some advanced autonomy and visualisation concepts,” Brunswick Corp chief executive Dave Foulkes said.
“All of this within a deeply immersive and engaging overall experience that will transport visitors from the [Las Vegas-based] convention centre [that hosts CES each year] to richly simulated on-water environments.”
Brunswick, which also owns boat brands including high-performance Protector centre console RIBs, and leisure brands Boston Whaler, Sea Ray and Bayliner, also said it would have battery-powered boats across four separate segments developed and on the water by 2023.
Replacing gensets
In yet another benchmark, Brunswick has set itself the goal of having 15,000 boats on the water by 2023 that use advanced battery systems instead of fossil fuel-powered generators to manage day-to-day power needs.
The concept was teased at last year's CES with the showing of the Sea Ray SLX-R 400e Outboard, an outboard-powered dayboat powered using three conventionally fuelled Mercury Racing 450R outboard engines.
However, instead of using a petrol-driven genset to handle the on-board power needs, the SLX-R 400e featured a bank of onboard lithium-ion batteries called Fathom e-Power to run everything from a stabiliser to entertainment systems.
Showing its ACES
Since announcing its Next Wave strategy, Brunswick has announced it would buy marine electronics group Navico, which owns brands including Simrad, Lowrance, B&G and CMAP, which it will start to integrate with its new battery-powered drive systems.
The company is ramping up its “ACES” rollout covering “autonomous”, “connected”, “electrification” and “shared access” programs.
It has also developed and launched smartphone apps that connect owners with their Boston Whaler or Sesa Ray boats.
The 2022 CES will take place in Los Vegas from January 5-8 next year.
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