Torqeedo Travel 1003

[Brian Schwerdt]

After fighting with an unreliable mercury 4 for a couple of years (and I think ethanol might have finally done her in), I finally made the leap into the electric world and bought a Torqeedo Travel 1003 for my O'Day 22. I have tried to find some reviews on this motor, and have come up short so I thought I might share my own experiences.

This motor draws up to about 1KW from its 520Wh 29.6V Lithium batteries (built in). Torqeedo claims that it is roughly equivalent to a 3HP gas outboard. There are a list of specs on Torqeedo's website, and the product works as advertised.

My boat is about 2000lbs plus crew and I sail on a lake with little to no current. On a calm day, it will move my boat at about 2 knots drawing 200W, or about 5 knots drawing 1KW (the merc 4 could only push her about 1/2 knot faster). I am absolutely thrilled with this motor! The maintenance is next to nothing, it's infinitely more reliable than the old merc, and it's much quieter (although not as quiet as a true trolling motor) not to mention instant on/off.

Overall, however, I would not make a blanket recommendation for this motor. If you are considering one, make sure that you are well aware of its limitations and how you intend to use it. For example, in my case I never fight current (doesn't really exist where I sail) or wind (if it's windy, I'm using the wind, not fighting it). What's more, being on a lake, I can only get so far from my marina. I would NOT take this as my only motor on open water. On the other hand, if you are like me and are in a lake with little to no current, and bought a sailboat to sail it, not to slowly motor around, then I highly recommend you consider this motor. It is well worth the price (and the lifetime cost may well be less than or at least on par with that of a small gasser).

 

[Don12364]

I have an electric motorcycle and have developed a nervous condition where I constantly worry that I might run out of juice far from home.
Your lake looks longer than the range of the battery.
Let us know if the same medical condition afflicts you too and so then you don't sail further than the battery will allow.

 

[Brian Schwerdt]

I have an electric motorcycle and have developed a nervous condition where I constantly worry that I might run out of juice far from home.
Your lake looks longer than the range of the battery.
Let us know if the same medical condition afflicts you too and so then you don't sail further than the battery will allow.

I have heard of this so-called "range anxiety". I think a motorcycle would be more prone to it than a sailboat since I have alternative propulsion whenever there is wind. You're right, Oneida Lake is considerably larger than the range of the Torqeedo but 1) my marina is fairly centrally located (I'm never more than ~1/2 the lake away) and 2) Oneida rarely has a lack of wind. I do find myself planning trips more surrounding the expected condition, so yes it has crossed my mind. However, I do not find myself tethered to the marina by an "electric leash". I am sure that one day I will find myself temporarily bobbing too far from the marina, but as they say "In a powerboat you get there fast. In a sailboat you're already there". I sail to spend time on the water, not to get to a particular location. Therefore, the Torqeedo fits my needs quite well.

 

[Fly_H23]

How long would it take to recharge with say 30 watts of solar panels?

 

[kloudie1]

If the pack is at about 80% discharge, ya going to need say 400 Watt Hours to recharge it.. A 30 watt charger should return about 180 watt hours per day (yes sometimes it will make more..and sometimes less) so in rough numbers, it takes 2 days and 4-5 hours to recharge fully.

 

[Brian Schwerdt]

If the pack is at about 80% discharge, ya going to need say 400 Watt Hours to recharge it.. A 30 watt charger should return about 180 watt hours per day (yes sometimes it will make more..and sometimes less) so in rough numbers, it takes 2 days and 4-5 hours to recharge fully.

I would stress even more that 180 watt hours per day is highly variable. The beauty of this design is that the battery is lightweight (10lbs) and highly portable. It is easier for me to grab the battery and bring it home to recharge than to pack the cooler.

If, on the other hand, you're set on self-sufficiency on your boat and want to use the panels, I would either make sure you're not deep-discharging the battery or that you have a good margin from the above 2-3 days between trips.

 

[Steve Dion]

This is a rich mans motor. With a purchase price of $1700 and a price of $600-700 for a replacement battery you could buy a lot of rebuild kits for that old gas engine and a lot of ethanol free fuel.

I agree that it may work in your closed environment, but I would be very reluctant to use this any place that your life may depend on one of these motors.

 

[Brian Schwerdt]

This is a rich mans motor. With a purchase price of $1700 and a price of $600-700 for a replacement battery you could buy a lot of rebuild kits for that old gas engine and a lot of ethanol free fuel.

I agree that it may work in your closed environment, but I would be very reluctant to use this any place that your life may depend on one of these motors.

I wish I was rich. I just have certain priorities. I was sinking a lot of money into that old gasser. I tried doing work myself, but I just don't have the resources and always ended up making things worse. If you are paying someone else to rebuild your carburetor, it becomes very pricey. For me, the large up front cost is offset by the long-term low maintenance/fuel costs. Also, I have a young family (2 year-old and a 3 month old). I don't have time to be messing with rebuilding carburetors and things. I certainly have enough work already just maintaining the boat .

I agree 100% that you should be reluctant to use this if your life may depend on it. If you look at the OP, I made an effort to stress that point. This motor works beautifully for me. If you sail on open water (pretty much anywhere other than a small to medium sized lake), I would not recommend one. I'm not trying to sell this motor. I am simply a satisfied customer who wanted to get some more information out there about it. Like I said, prior to buying it, I could not find anyone with direct experience using it. Only second-hand at best, or simply opinions based on any number of things.

There are a lot of less tangible benefits such as instant on/off, near-zero maintenance, light weight, less mess, no space taken up in the cockpit, not to mention environmental benefits (zero pollution for me - I charge the battery with wind energy), much quieter operation...I could go on.

 

[kloudie1]

Brian, you could do a lot less expensive with one of the MinnKota transome mounts.. and a set of golf cart batts and a good charger..these are corrosion protected for salt water and should be really good in fresh water..
http://www.minnkotamotors.com/products/trolling_motors/saltwater_transom_mount/riptide_transom.aspx
They also make an "electric outboard motor" that for about the same price as the Torqueedo, has some much nicer features.. Give their web site a look..

 

[Brian Schwerdt]

Brian, you could do a lot less expensive with one of the MinnKota transome mounts.. and a set of golf cart batts and a good charger..these are corrosion protected for salt water and should be really good in fresh water..
http://www.minnkotamotors.com/products/trolling_motors/saltwater_transom_mount/riptide_transom.aspx
They also make an "electric outboard motor" that for about the same price as the Torqueedo, has some much nicer features.. Give their web site a look..

kloudie1,

I had done a decent amount of digging through their website before buying the Torqeedo. The electric outboards that I find from them 1) had less propulsion, 2) cost about $800 more AND 3) required, as you said, a set of golf cart batteries.

While the lead batteries are cheaper than lithium for sure, they are a real PITA to remove from the boat to recharge. I do not have electricity at my dock, so my batteries must be charged at home (plus I use the boat too often to rely on solar). What's more, the expected life of lithium batteries is 2-3x that of lead acid, if you take care of them. If you compare a $200 bank of Pb to a $600 replacement Li battery, the batteries are no longer cheaper.

 

[kloudie1]

Sorry, I missed the fact that you'd already bought one..
If you can get to the Practical Sailor magazine on line stuff, they did a pretty good evaluation of the Torqueedo a few months back.. I wish ya luck with the electrifying experience..

 

[Fly_H23]

Electric is a great option for inland small to mid size lakes. I once motored my old Mac 22 (no wind) for two hours across a lake with a 40 lb thrust trolling motor and a single deep cycle battery. It was a windless early morning and motoring was the only option. It wasn't fast but got the job done and total investment was maybe $200.

 

[Fly_H23]

After farting around with my gas outboard again all day to get it running, I'm about to put it up for sale and go electric. Since the torqeedo sounds pricey and easy to recharge on the boat I'll probably go with a 24 volt 80-100 lbs thrust trolling motor. Since I only need to run it for 20 minutes in and out of the lake marina, should work well for me. I figure I can sell my 9.9 Mercury for more than enough to buy a transom mount trolling motor, new batteries and an additional solar panel. And....no more stinky gas tanks on my sailboat!

 

[Brian Schwerdt]

After farting around with my gas outboard again all day to get it running, I'm about to put it up for sale and go electric. Since the torqeedo sounds pricey and easy to recharge on the boat I'll probably go with a 24 volt 80-100 lbs thrust trolling motor. Since I only need to run it for 20 minutes in and out of the lake marina, should work well for me. I figure I can sell my 9.9 Mercury for more than enough to buy a transom mount trolling motor, new batteries and an additional solar panel. And....no more stinky gas tanks on my sailboat!

Sounds like a good setup for you, since you have power at the dock. Are there good systems available for monitoring your 24V battery bank's SOC and current draw? One beautiful thing about the Torqeedo is that it has a built-in GPS and a small screen that reads out current speed, battery SOC, current draw, and remaining range under current conditions. I used it to motor 3nm out and 3nm back to get to a good fishing spot last night, and took advantage of this information to give me the best speed while safely keeping a range buffer. It does a lot to ease the so-called "range anxiety", and I recommend you look into something similar for your trolling motor.

Oh, and not having a gas tank is the best thing you could do to a sailboat! We buy sailboats to sail them, not to have dirty gas tanks to lug around... If you go this route, I hope you enjoy your new-found freedoms!