GM Investing in Electric Boats

[2kwik4u]

Interesting Article

GM acquires 25% stake in electric boat company Pure Watercraft | TechCrunch

General Motors has taken a 25% stake in Seattle-based electric boating company Pure Watercraft. GM's move reflects a broadening interest in all things EV,

techcrunch.com

 

[2kwik4u]

Looks like they released the first boat at CES yesterday as well. 23mph Pontoon for $60k. No mention of range in this article.

Pure Watercraft Launches New All-Electric Pontoon Boat At CES 2022

Pure Watrecraft has been working on the tough-to-crack challenge of designing and building zero emission, all-electric-powered boats that can complete with fossil-fuel powered boats since 2011.

www.forbes.com

 

[thefortunes]

This Pure Watercraft Electric Pontoon boat can be ordered with single or dual outboard configuration.

Dual Outboards
Top Speed: 23 mph
Range at top speed: 32.2 miles
Range at an average of 5mph: 100 miles

Single Outboard
Top Speed: 15 mph
Range at top speed: 36 miles
Range at an average of 5mph: 100 miles

 

[2kwik4u]

This Pure Watercraft Electric Pontoon boat can be ordered with single or dual outboard configuration.

Dual Outboards
Top Speed: 23 mph
Range at top speed: 32.2 miles
Range at an average of 5mph: 100 miles

Single Outboard
Top Speed: 15 mph
Range at top speed: 36 miles
Range at an average of 5mph: 100 miles

36 miles is better than I expected.

Neighbors LOVE to launch, cruise over to the local hangout, then cruise back to the ramp. Would work exceptionally well for them. I'm not sure he's ever put 36miles on his in a single day.

 

[thefortunes]

36 miles is better than I expected.

Neighbors LOVE to launch, cruise over to the local hangout, then cruise back to the ramp. Would work exceptionally well for them. I'm not sure he's ever put 36miles on his in a single day.

I'm all-in for electric, but a top speed of 15mph (or even 23mph) isn't enough in my opinion.

What if you NEED to get somewhere NOW (weather, accident, etc...)?

 

[HangOutdoors]

What happens when you drain your batteries and are away from safety or off shore, someone just can't bring you a new battery, vs someone bringing you a 5 gallon gas can with gas or a transfer pump.

Electric is a neat idea for inland lakes and casual boating. Perhaps as the technology evolves so will my opinion.

 

[2kwik4u]

I'm all-in for electric, but a top speed of 15mph (or even 23mph) isn't enough in my opinion.

What if you NEED to get somewhere NOW (weather, accident, etc...)?

We have a ton of pontoons on our local lakes that might not break 10mph.

I know the rentals locally barely go above no wake speed. Several have like 25hp motors on a 28ft boat with a slide. Literally takes an hour to make the same trip I make in 10min.

These are definitely inland/protected water boats. No doubt there.

 

[BlkGS]

Rental pontoons on our lake in NC were 75hp minimum, and they were slugs when loaded with people.

36 miles range is probably fine for a pontoon in a few situations.

1) all the other stuff like stereo and whatnot needs to not put much drain on the batteries
2) shore power to charge. A big benefit of pontoons is you can wet store them, and at our marina, none of the wet slips had power to them, there was an outlet at the launch area and that was it. No power in the dry storage area either. So basically, you're gonna have to keep it at home. Ideally, live on the lake and have power on your dock?
3) listed speeds have to be with max capacity of weight and people. 10mph is definitely not fast enough, 23 might be OK, but we cruise over that speed. Also, how's it gonna tube?
4) big one. Cost. Pontoons are popular cuz they're cheap. 20k gets you a nice one. 30k is super nice. No idea what they're planning to price these at, but I bet they're not cheap.

Honestly, I can't see electric boats making much of a splash in the market. But I could see them making a huge IPO and making the big money behind it a ton of money.

 

[J-RAD]

What happens when you drain your batteries and are away from safety or off shore, someone just can't bring you a new battery, vs someone bringing you a 5 gallon gas can with gas or a transfer pump.

Electric is a neat idea for inland lakes and casual boating. Perhaps as the technology evolves so will my opinion.

Put up the lightning rod and it'll charge fully in ⅛ of a second.

 

[Dumbassbass]

What happens when you drain your batteries and are away from safety or off shore, someone just can't bring you a new battery, vs someone bringing you a 5 gallon gas can with gas or a transfer pump.

Electric is a neat idea for inland lakes and casual boating. Perhaps as the technology evolves so will my opinion.

Just like the eCars, if you run out of juice all you have to do is either walk, swim, or have someone bring you a bucket of electricity!

 

[Welby111]

General Motors is making smart and profitable decisions. The company's managers have analyzed the investment market and concluded that now it is most profitable to invest in electric vehicles. You can't start investing without doing some proper analysis. Without the right knowledge, you run the risk of bankruptcy. Everyone chooses the investment niche that is most profitable for him. A lot depends on investment funds. There are different versions of exchange-traded funds on the market with different conditions. Investor chooses the one that suits them in terms of interest rates, minimum investment, and terms. Of ARKK vs ARKQ, which one will you choose?

 

[NewGuy]

High voltage + water? Yeah nothing can go wrong here.

 

[HangOutdoors]

General Motors is making smart and profitable decisions. The company's managers have analyzed the investment market and concluded that now it is most profitable to invest in electric vehicles.

I like the concept, not sure how it would fit in for us. Range would be an issue. Time to recharge. Also I am sure price would go up substantially.

 

[fatboyroy]

They're only investing in all things electric cause gov't regulation, I wouldn't be surprised if gov't force the boating to go electric too like 50 years from now, they will tackle automobile sector first lol.

Imagine fighting for charging dock station 4th of july lol

 

[BlkGS]

General Motors is making smart and profitable decisions. The company's managers have analyzed the investment market and concluded that now it is most profitable to invest in electric vehicles.

GM hasn't made smart and profitable decisions in years. They've continued to burn bridges with the main market with reconnecting expensive vehicles while a large part of the current issues is that gm knee jerk canceled production when news of covid broke.

Is Mary wasn't who she is, she'd be out a long time ago. At this point, I think GM and Ford are spiraling towards a desperation merger to stay alive.

 

[Weeb]

To bad our electric grid can’t handle what they want to do. I read the grid would have to increase by 30 % to support everyone having electric vehicle.

 

[HangOutdoors]

To bad our electric grid can’t handle what they want to do. I read the grid would have to increase by 30 % to support everyone having electric vehicle.

That is what I was reading as well. Not sure everything electric is even feasible in the near term.

 

[BlkGS]

Imagine the uproar if we required yachts to be converted to electric only... All our celebrity and elite masters would.pitch a fit that their super yacht had to be converted and they had to be inconvenienced vs telling us poor shucks that we need to adjust to less for "the good of everyone".

 

[NewGuy]

That is what I was reading as well. Not sure everything electric is even feasible in the near term.

You guys are very right. I service utilities and the whole system is duct tape and baling wire. Looks like we'll just get through the most intense demand of the summer, but to say it was tight is an understatement. There is ZERO margin for additional demand (think e cars and server farms). Problem started when utilities shuttered waaay too many coal plants, but they were under scrutiny from environmentalists. I too am a conservationist and believe we have to take care of our environment, but what radical environmentalists have done is to export CO2 and introduce tons of new SOx, NOx and mercury. Why? Because we make electricity expensive here which keeps manufacturers overseas where coal is burned without appropriate monitoring of emissions systems. For every coal plant we shut down, there are multiples popping up in India and China. But they're getting serious about emissions. Yeah right. Hope folks know where their drywall comes from - just google it.

 

[DirtHokie]

one issue with EV boats is.....they are always under engine load, unlike a car that can and will coast. A boat power train operates in the same condition as a car traveling up a steep hill, all the time. I car with 300HP, may only need 30HP to maintain cruising speed on flat ground, A boat with 300HP, will need 75% of that to maintain cruising speed. This means the relative weight and volume penalty of the battery for a EV boat will be more the then a EV car because the motor is operating under a higher avg power consumption. Compounding the issue, weight seems to effect boat performance more then cars.