I generally agree with the pros and cons in the post above but have some additions. The pros of electric outboards are well covered.
Some additional cons of electric: Many people have fire concerns related to lithium batteries (especially non-LiFeP04 lithium). If you are planning to recharge aboard, you may have to upgrade your battery bank and/or charging systems to provide the additional power to meet the need. Most of the electric outboard batteries are proprietary. Not clear what happens if they move on to a new model/format in a few years and your original battery is at the end of its life. Will they continue supporting legacy models with replacement batteries? Additional batteries are eye poppingly expensive. If you want to swap among two or more batteries to have extra capacity it significantly ups the cost of going electric. Electric may not hold their resale value once battery declines or as new technologies come out.
Additional pros of gas: For now, gas is readily available almost everywhere. Parts for gas outboards are readily available as legacy manufacturers have been around forever. Gas motors hold resale value relatively well.
Additional cons of gas: Gas doesn’t store well. If you are just using the outboard occasionally you have to plan carefully how much gas to buy and keep at once, draining it, disposing of old gas, etc. A gas outboard is often a terrible choice for someone who uses their engine sporadically/seasonally. 4-stroke gas outboards with enough power to plane a dinghy get very heavy.
A comparison of outboard fuel types isn't complete without putting propane outboards in the mix too.
Propane pros: Propane can store indefinitely, which makes it a much better choice for the sporadic user. No fouling of fuel system. An established brand – Tohatsu – now offers a propane engine. Initial purchase price closer to gas engines. Minimal risk of fuel spillage.
Propane cons: Power/weight ratio worse than gas. Fuel tends to be more expensive, especially when purchased in the small quantities needed for running a dinghy. Propane is not usually readily available at dockside. Resale can be lower as they are still a bit of an unknown quantity.
For now, my choice is propane, though I’ll be happy to go electric once I feel the marketplace is a bit more mature and competition brings the costs down. It seems there's a lot of room for both innovation and standardization around the battery issues I noted above.
Some additional cons of electric: Many people have fire concerns related to lithium batteries (especially non-LiFeP04 lithium). If you are planning to recharge aboard, you may have to upgrade your battery bank and/or charging systems to provide the additional power to meet the need. Most of the electric outboard batteries are proprietary. Not clear what happens if they move on to a new model/format in a few years and your original battery is at the end of its life. Will they continue supporting legacy models with replacement batteries? Additional batteries are eye poppingly expensive. If you want to swap among two or more batteries to have extra capacity it significantly ups the cost of going electric. Electric may not hold their resale value once battery declines or as new technologies come out.
Additional pros of gas: For now, gas is readily available almost everywhere. Parts for gas outboards are readily available as legacy manufacturers have been around forever. Gas motors hold resale value relatively well.
Additional cons of gas: Gas doesn’t store well. If you are just using the outboard occasionally you have to plan carefully how much gas to buy and keep at once, draining it, disposing of old gas, etc. A gas outboard is often a terrible choice for someone who uses their engine sporadically/seasonally. 4-stroke gas outboards with enough power to plane a dinghy get very heavy.
A comparison of outboard fuel types isn't complete without putting propane outboards in the mix too.
Propane pros: Propane can store indefinitely, which makes it a much better choice for the sporadic user. No fouling of fuel system. An established brand – Tohatsu – now offers a propane engine. Initial purchase price closer to gas engines. Minimal risk of fuel spillage.
Propane cons: Power/weight ratio worse than gas. Fuel tends to be more expensive, especially when purchased in the small quantities needed for running a dinghy. Propane is not usually readily available at dockside. Resale can be lower as they are still a bit of an unknown quantity.
For now, my choice is propane, though I’ll be happy to go electric once I feel the marketplace is a bit more mature and competition brings the costs down. It seems there's a lot of room for both innovation and standardization around the battery issues I noted above.
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