And if the electric motor boat cost you the same as the endothermic one, which one would you choose? We are not talking about the next century, but already this decade. Technology often goes much faster than our way of thinking can metabolize, and we may soon see what, sindall at first, is one of the biggest obstacles to electric propulsion come down sharply: price, mainly due to the expensive battery pack.
Batteries: -40% by 2025
Starting with automotive, Goldman Sachs Research estimates that battery prices will drop to $99 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) of storage capacity by 2025, a 40 percent drop from 2022 (the previous forecast was for a 33 percent drop).
An argument that can also apply to the boat world, which, despite profoundly different volumes, draws frequently on technological developments in automobiles.
Returning to batteries, the decline is mainly related to lower prices of raw materials such as lithium, nickel and cobalt. To this should be added that, again according to forecasts, battery prices will drop by an average of 11 percent per year from 2023 to 2030 depending on various factors.
“As battery prices fall, Goldman Sachs Research estimates that the electric vehicle market could reach cost parity, without subsidies, with internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles around the middle of this decade, on a total cost of ownership basis.”
If the price falls as expected, effectively reducing the spread between electric and entothermal to almost zero, here is a whole new world of prospects opened up. Let us also not forget the innovation in terms of materials, which over the years should also increase the efficiency of the batteries, increasing the range.
Electric Boat. For the same cost, electric yes or no?
Making comparisons is still premature, and we need to see how the market will evolve, the receptivity of producers and all that goes with it. It must be said, however, that with numbers in hand, the average use of a boat in a day is such that it is also within the range of an electric propulsion. Excluding, in fact, those boaters who when they go out do hundreds of miles in a day, the average yachtsman often, does not sail so much as to need too much range.
Assuming, then, that you could spend the same amount in both cases, and have similar usability, which one would you choose? Write it in the comments.
Check out 7 electric motor boats already on the market today:
Boot Düsseldorf 2023, 7 barche elettriche (7-9 m) da tenere d’occhio
