Anyone tried an electric outboard for their tender?

[motorb 41]

I know electric is a big challenge for general boating, but for a little tender to get to and from the beach or a mooring there seems to be some half decent options.

My little Honda 2.3 is starting to reach retirement and I was looking at the ePropulsion eLite. Has anyone tried one of these? What's your use case and how far do they go?

Back on my old mooring, I was looking for a way to not have a smelly/oily outboard in the car and the eLite was a far more manageable 7kg to carry up and down the pier. However,  in my new mooring that's no longer the case as I can keep the outboard in a dinghy locker, so suddenly the old 4 stroke is actually looking more convienient as it's easier to refuel....

Do these little outboards have the power and range for a small inflatable tender? Will I need to pay for the 12v charger, too?

[alibaba 83]

Yep- I was  not looking forward to buying a new 2HP outboard for my dinghy when I changed boats.

So - I spent around 250 on a little electric trolling motor , and a cheap 40AH ordinary 12volt battery.

I then made up some solar power leads on the battery and put it inside a strong plastic dry bag to waterproof

it. Now, no more balancing on the transom with a heavy outboard trying to put it on the dinghy, the trolling

motor weighs under 5KG, so it's one hand to carry the motor and one hand for me.

when in the dinghy, I plug the OB into the battery, and press the button.

so far so good, I think I'll get up to 60 minutes before recharge, I can recharge off my solar panel

Not to say, that I won't come across SOME snags, but so far so good.

[Lindsay 36]

I can’t comment on the ePropulsion eLite but I’ve had an ePropulsion Spirit 1.0 Plus for 3 years. Pricey ($4k) but fantastic. From memory the motor = 12kg; battery = 8kg so way easier to handle than a petrol outboard. Battery floats! It clips onto the motor easily.
 

Best toy I’ve ever bought. No noise, smell, or fumes. No mixing 2-stroke. No need for petrol on boat. No carbureter problems. 
 

Battery is 1000 watts. I usually only run it at 200-300 watts. If I motor at 3 knots I get over 5 hours run time. Last weekend pootled up and down Bon Accord several times. Last summer went up to Matakana from Sandspit; heaps of charge leftover on return. I keep it charged between 40 and 80 percent.
 

It comes with a 240v charger which I keep at home, but I’ve found I never need to use it as I just whack it on the 12v charger whenever I’m on a passage of 2 hours or so.