Connect with us

Published

3 years ago

on

chinese electric boat alibaba

Oops, I did it again. I bought another quirky, cheap, yet kind of awesome-looking electric vehicle on the Chinese mega-shopping site Alibaba. This time it was a five-seater electric boat.

Here’s how it happened.

You may or may not be familiar with my weekly tongue-in-cheek column The Awesomely Weird Alibaba Electric Vehicle of the Week. It’s a chance to take an eye-opening dumpster dive through the weirdest electric vehicles that Chinese engineers dream up and bring to life.

Usually, it’s just a window shopping exercise where I pluck something interesting out of the pile – like a ride-on backyard electric train. But occasionally I find something so fun-looking and so cheap that I just have to have it.

It happened with an awesome little $2,000 electric mini-truck. And now that I’ve found this $1,080 five-seater electric boat, it’s happened again.

This one actually took me a while to pull the trigger. I featured this electric boat in my column well over a year ago, but was trying to justify the purchase for a long time. After my experience with the pickup truck went so well though, I decided it would be worth the risk to give the electric boat a try. And since my family lives in Florida with plenty of river and bay access close by, it would surely get some good use.

It certainly can’t hold a candle to the best premium electric boats on the market, but it will hopefully be good enough for some nice use on the lake and cruising the calm mangrove-lined rivers of Florida.

cheap electric boat
How our graphics guy imagines this Chinese electric boat would look in the Maldives, apparently…

Designing my electric boat

The first thing to decide on was the model. The factory that I found on Alibaba had a ton of options to choose from.

There were cute little two-seaters, massive 8-10 seaters, and everything in between.

I decided on the 14-foot (4.3 meter) flat-bottom boat you see below due to its compact size (and thus cheaper shipping) and its general utility.

It would be big enough to bring the family on, and also wouldn’t be too cramped if I just wanted to take it out with my wife. The two-seater options seemed like little dinghies, so this felt like the Goldilocks option.

I also really liked the front entry design, since I could just nose it in right on the bank of a lake or river even without a dock, making it easy for everyone to hop on and off. It could also likely serve as a nice swim platform. A short rope ladder mounted on the front cleats would be a great way to get back into the boat after taking a dip.

I spec’ed the boat with the factory, where I was communicating with Frank over the various details. I decided to have them build mine without batteries since I could pick those up stateside and wouldn’t have to worry about international shipping issues with lithium batteries.

The electric boat requires 24V, meaning I could go with a pair of 12V 100Ah LiFePO4 batteries. But to increase my range further and just give me some added peace of mind that I won’t have to use my emergency folding paddle, I plan to use a pair of 12V 200Ah batteries. At 12.8V, that will give me 5.12 kWh of battery.

Theoretically you could save a bit of cash by using lead acid marine batteries, but those are heavy as hell and also don’t last as long. I’d rather have the peace of mind of good-quality LiFePO4 that will surely outlive the boat itself.

The 12V 200Ah batteries I plan to use

The boat comes with a 500W motor, but the thing looks beefier than any 500W motor I’ve ever seen, so I think it should be plenty powerful.

It’s also a belt drive setup with an inboard motor, which is kind of funny because normally inboard motors are found in higher-end boats and sailboats. With an ICE setup, outboards are a simple and easy solution. But since this is an electric boat, I get to brag about my inboard and make it sound like a much fancier boat… until someone actually sees it.

The belt drive setup also means it will be very easy to upgrade in the future, which I plan to do. A larger motor might snag me a bit more speed.

The specs sheet says this electric boat can get up to 10 km/h (6 mph or 5.4 knots), but I think that’s probably with a single occupant. I don’t expect this to be a speed boat by any stretch of the imagination.

My motor mounted inside the ship’s hull

There were a number of different cleat options for me to choose from, from traditional to eyes, and several options for their placement.

I decided to delete the eye cleat that was right in the middle of the front entry because it seemed like a trip hazard.

I’ve found that when purchasing from China and designing a product, it helps to be as clear as possible with your instructions. Since they offered so many different cleat styles and placement options, I made the image below to send to the factory so they’d see exactly what I meant.

It helps to be as clear as possible with your instructions to the factory.

The last decision was color. Frank told me he could paint it any color I wanted, and could mix it up as well.

I decided on yellow for two reasons: I think it will pop nicely in the eventual YouTube thumbnail, and in the same token, if I ever break down in the middle of the channel, I’ll be nice and visible to oncoming boat traffic. Making it easy for the Coast Guard helicopter to spot me isn’t a bad thing either.

Hopefully that will never be an issue, but if I’m going to be a sitting duck, then I might as well be a yellow duck.

Buying an electric boat on Alibaba

My boat was now designed, and the last thing to do was pay for it. The boat itself was $1,080, but I nearly keeled over (c’mon, I get one!) when Frank told me the shipping price was over $3,000!

Sea freight ain’t cheap, especially in the waning months of the COVID-19 pandemic when everyone is having supply chain issues and ordering like crazy. He advised me that if I waited a bit, prices would likely come down since that had been the trend in container pricing over the last few months.

I waited and it turned out that Frank was right. Each week the price dropped a bit. After a few months it was around $2,000 and I decided to go for it. That’s still twice the price of the boat itself, but I didn’t want to wait any longer. and I also wanted to make sure the boat arrived for prime boating season in winter (when Florida is actually super nice to be in).

I paid a down payment of 30%, and Frank got to work building my boat. He showed me pictures of the partially assembled boat several weeks later, and eventually the boat was finished. I paid the final 70% of the balance and Frank got my little boat on a bigger boat.

Progress picture of my boat during production

I chose to do LCL shipping (less than a container load) because it was the most economical. Basically, that means my boat goes in a shipping container with everyone else’s stuff that also chose LCL shipping. We all split the price of the container and we actually get a pretty good price because the container is packed efficiently and the cost divvied up among all of us. I had to wait a few more days, but my container was finally packed and it was on a ship.

After my electric boat was ready, but before it was packed though, I had a video call with Frank to see the boat up close. It was great to see a live view of the boat and to get a walk-around with an explanation of the parts.

I also got a little tour of the other awesome boats in Frank’s factory, which include a smattering of weird, silly, normal, and surprisingly high-quality boats. He even has some boats with enclosed cabins. I made a whole video of it if you want to check it out.

Screengrab from my video-chat video with the factory after my boat was ready.

What comes next?

Frank packaged up my boat in a massive wooden shipping crate, which I fully expect to be harder to open than I would like.

The boat itself is now on the water, having already passed through the Panama Canal and en route to the US East Coast. For those that live on the US West Coast and are balking at the shipping price I paid, understand that it would have been a good bit cheaper to ship to California since it’s a straight shot from China and you don’t have a couple of continents and one expensive canal in the way.

Now I’m waiting for my boat to arrive so I can get it through customs and then trucked over to my parent’s place in Florida. Customs is always a crapshoot in terms of how quickly it goes through. In this case, the boat is electric and so I don’t have to deal with any EPA certifications on a boat engine. And since I shipped it without batteries, I don’t have to worry about those certifications either. So with any luck, it will slide through fairly smoothly and the duties will be minimal. Even with import taxes, how much can they be on a $1,000 boat?

The last step will be to register it in Florida. I’ll add some life jackets, an emergency paddle or two, navigational lights, and a few other bits and pieces. I’m also planning to put around 500W of solar panels on the canopy too, which should give it nearly as much charging power as it is draining, making it capable of infinite range (when the sun is out, at least).

Meanwhile I’m looking for a used trailer so I can move it around, and I’m still trying to decide on a name for the boat. I’m partial to Current Affair, but if you have any good electric boat puns for the name then I’m all ears. One of my YouTube subscribers suggested Sunny Side Up, so that’s the high point to beat.

Once the boat arrives and I get a chance to test it out, I’ll be sure to update you all on how it looks and, of course, I’ll share the maiden voyage. The first “sea trials” will likely be in a private 1-acre lake, but assuming it stays hull-down and generally above the water then I’ll be taking it to a river that feeds out into a nice little bay with beautiful mangroves and plenty of manatees and dolphins.

I don’t think I’ll plan to take it out of the bay into the Gulf of Mexico. It could do it, but the little boat probably wouldn’t have the power to fight the strong current required to make it back into the bay. I’ve done it in a kayak before and was probably using all of my own 500W of Wheaties power in a much lighter boat to fight the current at the inlet.

But hey, if I do get swept out into the Gulf, then at least I’ll be in a bright yellow boat! Why make the Coast Guard’s job any more difficult?

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Related Topics:
Continue Reading

Environment

Amid affordability crisis, White House unveils its plan to raise your fuel costs

Published

55 mins ago

on

December 3, 2025

By

Amid affordability crisis, White House unveils its plan to raise your fuel costs

Former reality TV contestant Sean Duffy. Photo by Gage Skidmore

The White House formally announced its plan to hike US fuel costs by $23 billion today, in the form of a new proposed rule cutting fuel efficiency requirements.

Update 12/3: This article has been updated to reflect the formal announcement of the proposed rule.

Since the beginning of this year, the occupants of the White House have been on a mission to raise costs for Americans.

This mission has encompassed many different moves, most notably through unwise tariffs.

Advertisement – scroll for more content

But another effort has focused on changing policy in a way that will raise fuel costs for Americans, adding to already-high energy prices.

The specific rollback today focuses on a rule passed under President Biden which would save Americans $23 billion in fuel costs by requiring higher fuel economy from auto manufacturers. By making cars use less fuel on average, Americans would not only save money on fuel, but reduce fuel demand which means that prices would go down overall.

The effort to roll back this rule was initially announced on the first day that Sean Duffy started squatting in the head office of the Department of Transportation. Duffy notably earned his transportation expertise by being a contestant on Road Rules: All Stars, a reality TV travel game show.

Then in June, Duffy formally reinterpreted the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standard, claiming falsely that his department does not have authority to regulate fuel economy.

Republicans in Congress even got into effort to raise your fuel costs, as part of their ~$4 trillion giveaway to wealthy elites included a measure to make CAFE rules irrelevant by setting penalties for violating them to $0. In addition, it eliminated a number of other energy efficiency and domestic advanced manufacturing incentives.

Duffy’s department then told automakers that they would not face any fines retroactively to 2022, which saved the automakers (mostly Stellantis) a few hundred million dollars and cost American consumers billions in fuel costs.

Today, Duffy formally announced the proposed changes to the CAFE rules, lowering the required fuel economy for 2022-2031 model year vehicles, even despite all of the other changes in trying to make the rules unenforceable. The theory behind this would be to make it harder to later enforce the rules, and to allow automakers to get off with more pollution, and to increase fuel demand and fuel prices for longer until a real government returns to power and starts doing its job to regulate pollution.

Specifically, the announcement changes the planned 2031 50.5 mpg target to 34.5 mpg, cutting vehicle efficiency by nearly a third, which will lead to a commensurate increase in your fuel costs.

CAFE targets have been in place since the 1970s. In the last two decades, they helped drive a 30% improvement in average fuel economy, saving an average of $7,000 over the lifetime of an average vehicle – and they did this without increasing vehicle prices.

Rollback supported by auto CEOs who want to increase your costs

Today’s announcement was praised by the CEOs of the Big Three American automakers – GM, Ford, and Stellantis (formerly Chrysler). Ford CEO Jim Farley and Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa attended the announcement at the White House, along with a manager from GM, though Barra signaled her support while speaking at another event.

Despite both Barra and Farley recently making statements claiming their support for electric vehicles, both cravenly supported the rollback in fuel economy standards that will cost you more money at the pump.

Barra said today that “I’m always going to advocate for one national standard and making sure regulatory requirements don’t get in front of the consumer,” despite the fact that GM lobbied against the single national standard that had been agreed to between Obama and California, and that today’s move only increases the gulf between the federal government and California on auto standards.

And Farley, despite acknowledging that the Chinese are trouncing us on EVs, said today that “we can make real progress on carbon emissions and energy efficiency while still giving customers choice and affordability,” which is detached from reality given that today’s moves will reduce affordability and efficiency and increase carbon emissions.

Their support suggests that their prior commitments to energy efficiency and electrification were not serious, as they are now joining in an effort to increase your fuel costs, just to save themselves a few engineering dollars on having to provide something other than the disgusting, deadly land yachts that are a blight on the nation’s roads and are murdering pedestrians at a 50-year high.

This isn’t the only way the White House is trying to raise your costs

Today’s announcement is just one many efforts currently being undertaken by executive departments to try to raise your fuel costs.

One of the largest is the EPA’s attempt to delete the “Endangerment Finding,” the government’s recognition of the scientific fact that climate change is dangerous to humans. The EPA is undertaking this effort so that it can then eliminate other rules intended to reduce pollution, with the goal of making you more beholden to fossil fuels.

Even the Energy Department’s own numbers, signed off on by oil shill Chris Wright, say that changes sought by the White House will increase gas prices by $.76/gal.

Like most other governmental changes, today’s change will likely go up for public comment, as required by the Administrative Procedures Act. We’ll let you know when it does.

The 30% federal solar tax credit is ending this year. If you’ve ever considered going solar, now’s the time to act. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.

Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.


Add Electrek as a preferred source on Google
Add Electrek as a preferred source on Google

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Continue Reading

Environment

Hyundai keeps IONIQ 5 EV leases affordable at just $189 a month

Published

2 hours ago

on

December 3, 2025

By

Hyundai keeps IONIQ 5 EV leases affordable at just 9 a month

Hyundai-IONIQ-5-EV-lease-deal

2025 Hyundai IONIQ 5 Limited (Source: Hyundai)

Hyundai is keeping one of the most affordable EV lease deals alive with the IONIQ 5 still available for just $189 a month through December.

What EV deals does Hyundai offer in December?

It’s hard to find any vehicle available to lease for under $200 a month nowadays. The IONIQ 5 is not only one of the most affordable electric vehicles in the US, but also one of the most efficient, fastest-charging, and overall practical options if you’re looking to go electric.

After a major refresh for the 2025 model year, Hyundai’s electric SUV now features a driving range of up to 318 miles, a sharp new look inside and out, and a built-in NACS port so you can recharge at Tesla Superchargers.

Hyundai slashed prices on the 2026 model year by up to $9,800 to compensate for the loss of the federal tax credit, which expired at the end of September. It’s now one of the few EVs with a starting price under $35,000.

Advertisement – scroll for more content

Hyundai-IONIQ-5-EV-lease-deal
The Hyundai IONIQ 5 (Source: Hyundai)

Although many were worried the savings would disappear, Hyundai is keeping the deals alive with discounts across its entire EV lineup this December.

Hyundai is extending the $189-per-month IONIQ 5 lease offer through January 2, 2026. The deal is for the 2025 Hyundai IONIQ 5 SE Standard Range model with a driving range of 245 miles.

Hyundai-IONIQ-5-interior
Hyundai IONIQ 5 Limited interior (Source: Hyundai)

You can still upgrade to the long-range SE RWD trim, with up to 318 miles of driving range, for just $199 per month. Or, if you’re really looking to get crazy, the souped-up XRT model is on sale for only $289 per month.

Hyundai’s lease offer is for 36 months with $3,999 due at signing. If you’re looking to finance, Hyundai is offering 0% APR financing for up to 60 months on all 2025 IONIQ 5 trims.

Hyundai IONIQ 5 Trim Driving Range (miles) 2025 Starting Price 2026 Starting Price* Price Reduction
IONIQ 5 SE RWD Standard Range 245 $42,600 $35,000 ($7,600)
IONIQ 5 SE RWD 318 $46,650 $37,500 ($9,150)
IONIQ 5 SEL RWD 318 $49,600 $39,800 ($9,800)
IONIQ 5 Limited RWD 318 $54,300 $45,075 ($9,225)
IONIQ 5 SE Dual Motor AWD 290 $50,150 $41,000 ($9,150)
IONIQ 5 SEL Dual Motor AWD 290 $53,100 $43,300 ($9,800)
IONIQ 5 XRT Dual Motor AWD 259 $55,500 $46,275 ($9,225)
IONIQ 5 Limited Dual Motor AWD 269 $58,200 $48,975 ($9,225)
2025 vs 2026 Hyundai IONIQ 5 prices and range by trim

The 2026 Hyundai IONIQ 5 is listed for lease starting at $289 a month, or $299 for the longer-ranger SE RWD model.

Looking for something a little bigger? The IONIQ 9, Hyundai’s three-row electric SUV, is available to lease from $419 per month. The offer is also a 36-month lease, but with $4,999 due at signing.

If you’re thinking about going electric, Hyundai’s EV lineup is a great place to start, offering 300+ miles of driving range, sharp designs, and plenty of new tech. Ready to test drive one for yourself? Use the links below to find IONIQ 5, IONIQ 6, and IONIQ 9 models near you.


Add Electrek as a preferred source on Google
Add Electrek as a preferred source on Google

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Continue Reading

Environment

Jackery Black Friday Encore sale with up to 65% power station savings + four exclusive lows, Anker robot mowers, more

Published

3 hours ago

on

December 3, 2025

By

Jackery Black Friday Encore sale with up to 65% power station savings + four exclusive lows, Anker robot mowers, more


We’ve got more ongoing holiday savings in today’s Green Deals, headlined by Jackery’s Black Friday/Cyber Monday Encore Sale with up to 65% discounts and bonus savings on power stations – all starting from $79. And for folks looking to score the brand’s Explorer 1000 v2, 2000 v2, 3000 v2, or 5000 Plus – you can find new low and exclusive prices on those standalone units starting from $327. We also have Anker’s eufy E15 and E18 Robot Lawn Mowers retaining their lowest prices starting from $1,300, as well as other deals from Birdfy, Ninja, Camplux, and more waiting for you below. And don’t forget about the hangover deals from the holiday event and this week that are collected together in our Black Friday/Cyber Monday Green Deals hub, which we will continue to update through the rest of the week, like yesterday’s EcoFlow Cyber Week Sale event, the exclusive $1,620 savings to a new low on the EcoFlow DELTA 3 Ultra power station, and more.

Head below for other New Green Deals we’ve found today and, of course, Electrek’s best EV buying and leasing deals. Also, check out the new Electrek Tesla Shop for the best deals on Tesla accessories.

Jackery’s Black Friday/Cyber Monday Encore sale continues up to 65% power station discounts + bonus savings from $79

Following the recent holiday shopping rush, Jackery is giving folks more time to save up to 65% on its power stations with its Black Friday/Cyber Monday Encore Sale, complete with 5% (on orders over $1,500) and 7% (on orders over $2,500) extra savings. One notable deal amongst the bunch is the latest HomePower 3600 Plus Portable Power Station bundled with two 200W solar panels for $1,794.55 shipped, after using the code OFFER5 at checkout for an additional 5% off, beating out Amazon’s pricing by $200. This package would run you $3,699 without any discounts, which we first saw drop to this rate (with the extra savings) during the early and full Black Friday sale events, and otherwise kept above $1,994 the rest of the time since its release in September. You’re getting a combined $1,904 savings back to the best price we have tracked. You’ll also find the standalone HomePower 3600 Plus down at its second-lowest $1,614 pricing with the extra savings code. Head below to get the full lineup of deals while they last through the week.

The Jackery HomePower 3600 Plus power station fits neatly in the gap between the HomePower 3000 station (which released shortly before it) and the most expansive Explorer 5000 Plus station. It boasts a capable starting 3,584Wh LiFePO4 capacity that can be bolstered to 21kWh for greater home backup support, with 10 output ports to deliver up to 3,600W of steady power, maxing out a 7,200W.

Advertisement – scroll for more content

Like its HomePower 3000 counterpart, the new HomePower 3600 Plus brings along an expanded list of recharging methods over older legacy models, starting with the standard AC charging that puts it back to full in 2.5 hours. From there, you have the options to use both AC and DC together, plug it up to a gas generator for bypass charging, charge on the go with a car port, or utilize up to its 1,000W maximum solar input.

***Note: None of the prices below have had the extra savings factored in, so be sure to use the code OFFER5 on orders of $1,500 to $2,499 for an additional 5% savings, while orders over $2,500 can use the code OFFER7 to score 7% extra savings.

Jackery’s HomePower 3600 Plus deals:

Jackery’s Black Friday Encore outdoor adventure deals:

Jackery’s Black Friday Encore appliance backup deals:

Jackery’s Black Friday Encore critical load deals:

Jackery solar panel/expansion battery deals:

Jackery’s transfer switch and other deals:

As I pointed out amongst the bracket, folks looking to score Jackery’s Explorer 1000 v2, 2000 v2, HomePower 3000, or Explorer 5000 Plus power stations on their own can do so at the lowest tracked prices with our exclusive deals here – all starting from $327 for an unknown amount of time longer.

Anker eufy E15 robot lawn mower detecting child and dog

Anker’s RTK eufy E15 & E18 robot lawn mowers with pure vision FSD cameras retain holiday lows starting from $1,300

Over at Amazon, Anker’s official eufy storefront is offering continued Black Friday/Cyber Monday savings on its E15 Robot Lawn Mower at $1,299.99 shipped (beating its direct pricing by $500) and its E18 Robot Lawn Mower at $1,499.99 shipped, which matches its direct pricing. These two advanced robots go for $1,800 and $2,000 directly from the brand, but can more often be found at Amazon down around $1,400 on average (for the E15) and between $1,700 and $1,600 (for the E18). These deals are retaining their recent holiday savings, giving you $100 and $200 markdowns from the going rates ($500 off both MSRPs) for the best continuing prices we have tracked.

If you want to learn more about these two robots, be sure to check out our original coverage of these deals here.

Birdfy smart wooden bird house with camera

Enjoy nesting feathered friends with Birdfy’s camera & iron guard-equipped smart wooden bird house at new $100 low

Through its official Amazon storefront, Birdfy is offering its Wooden Smart Bird House with iron guard and inside camera at $99.99 shipped, after clipping the on-page $50 off coupon, which beats out the brand’s direct pricing by $30. Fetching $150 at full price, this model has seen much fewer discounts than other models we’ve featured at 9to5Toys, with discounts having gone as low as $120 before today. Now, you can pick one up for your yard or as a gift for the birder in your life with $50 savings to a new all-time low price.

If you want to learn more about this smart bird house, be sure to check out our original coverage of this deal here.

Ninja FrostVault cooler with food in lower drawer
two men and woman camping with Camplux portable water heater and shower
Four Jackery power stations side by side

Best Fall EV deals!

Best new Green Deals landing this week

The savings this week are also continuing to a collection of other markdowns. To the same tune as the offers above, these all help you take a more energy-conscious approach to your routine. Winter means you can lock in even better off-season price cuts on electric tools for the lawn while saving on EVs and tons of other gear.


Add Electrek as a preferred source on Google
Add Electrek as a preferred source on Google

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Continue Reading

Trending