ION electric outboard motor for small electric boats makes US debut
The Ilmor ION electric outboard motor, developed by Ilmor’s Advanced Technology Group, hopes to power the next generation of light electric watercraft from tenders to pontoon boats.
The new electric outboard motor was shown off for the first time in the US over the weekend at the Miami Boat Show after being unveiled late last year at the METSTRADE boat show in Amsterdam.
Surrounded by countless boats that could have made use of its sleek and innovative drive, the Ilmor ION electric outboard showed off the future of light electric marine motors.
The motor touts a power output of 6 kW, which is around 8 horsepower. But we’ve seen several small electric outboards that provide equivalent performance to combustion engine outboards 2-3x their power rating. So that little 8 hp electric outboard could be punching far above its weight class, so to speak.
The motor also has a “Boost Mode” that can add around 15% more power for a few moments, when motoring out of somewhere quickly is a concern.
But don’t call this an electric trolling motor. The Ilmor ION looks to be a much more refined, not to mention more powerful setup.
As the company explained:
From the beginning, achieving a progressive design was crucial, and its bold look is a glimpse of what the future has in store. The Ilmor team integrated critical components requiring cooling into the underwater housing, which allows for passive cooling and increased performance. They also included a segment-first, fully integrated trim system to expand the ION’s capabilities. This results in eliminating the need for costly aftermarket systems while providing integration with the overall controls of the motor.
The transom-mount motor is designed for light watercraft such as pontoon boats and tenders. The motor can power a 24′ (7.3 meter) pontoon boat at 6 knots (7 mph or 11 km/h).
The drive unit also includes an innovative RGB LED lighting strip for both visibility and customization.
As the company explained:
This vivid lighting was integrated into the product design to provide a visual indicator of the motor running condition to increase safety when the ION is operational. However, other modes were also incorporated to add to a lively environment. Modes include charging, dock, running, and various party modes.
The drive system runs on a 48V circuit, and Ilmor is currently working with battery manufacturers to develop both a lithium-ion and a lead acid battery pack solutions. The former would allow less weight and longer cycle life, while the latter would keep the price down for those with extra space on board, such as larger pontoon boats.
As Ilmor engineer Jonathan Roos explained:
We have partnered with lithium battery companies and support a few different form factors to fit into different dimensional applications. We also have it setup to work with lead acid batteries for low cost installations, which is typical for pontoon boat installs since they have the room.
Multiple prototypes have so far racked up hundreds of hours of testing, and production units are expected to become available in the following months as the company’s Michigan factory spins up to production.
The motors will be available through a dealer network, allowing private boaters to retrofit their own vessels or build an electric boat. OEM manufacturers will also have access to Ilmor’s ION drive for building new electric boats.
Early price estimates put the unit in the US $5,000-$6,000 range, depending on OEM or consumer distribution.
The ION electric outboard was initially designed for electric-only and no-wake lakes where electric pontoon boats have become popular, but the company has since seen significant interest for applications ranging from jon boats, tenders, and other small boats. European interest has also spiked, where electric outboards make it easier to fit tighter European regulations.
Electrek’s Take
It’s great to see more electric outboard motors preparing to come to market, especially in higher power configurations.
We’ve seen several 1-3 hp equivalent electric outboards designed for small skiffs, but motors similar in power to this Ilmor ION unit provide much more versatility for boat designers and consumers alike. Moving a 24′ pontoon boat at 6 knots is certainly more than a trolling motor could handle. And with advanced features like seaweed protection and power tilt trim, it seems like Ilmor is prepared to go head to head with some of the fancier options on the market at a more affordable price.
Hmm, maybe I’ll just have to get one of these to upgrade my Chinese electric boat. The motor costs 5x what I paid for the boat, but it’d sure add some pizazz – not to mention some power!
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Environment
Elon Musk Tapped to Lead New ‘DOGE’ Department—Despite the Government Already Having One for Efficiency
Tesla CEO Elon Musk is to officially join Trump’s administration as the co-head of the new US Department of Government Efficiency – a second federal department with the goal of making government spending more efficient.
You can’t get more ironic than that.
Throughout the elections, Musk, who is already CEO of Tesla, and SpaceX, a well as the defacto head of X, xAI, Neuralink, and the Boring Company, has been floating the idea to add to his workload by joining the Trump’s administration to lead a new department aimed at making the federal government more efficient.
He has been calling it the “Department of Government Efficiency”, which spells out ‘DOGE’, a meme that Musk appears to enjoy.
Well, now Trump appears to want to be going through with this idea.
He announced the new department and Musk as head, along with Vivek Ramaswamy, in a statement today:
I am pleased to announce that the Great Elon Musk, working in conjunction with American Patriot Vivek Ramaswamy, will lead the Department of Government Efficiency (“DOGE”). Together, these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies – Essential to the “Save America” Movement. “This will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in Government waste, which is a lot of people!” stated Mr. Musk.
What’s most ironic is that there’s already a federal department with the goal of cutting government waste and ensuring efficiency: the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
The GAO’s main objectives are:
- auditing agency operations to determine whether federal funds are being spent efficiently and effectively;
- investigating allegations of illegal and improper activities;
- reporting on how well government programs and policies are meeting their objectives;
- performing policy analyses and outlining options for congressional consideration;
- issuing legal decisions and opinions;
- advising Congress and the heads of executive agencies about ways to make government more efficient and effective
It sounds similar to what Musk described when talking about his DOGE, but Trump hasn’t gone into many details other than it will “cut waste.”
He also has a confusing message as he compares the initiative, which is supposed to cut government spending, to “The Manhattan project”, a massive and expensive government project.
Trump said that DOGE will help the government “drive large scale structural reform”:
It will become, potentially, “The Manhattan Project” of our time. Republican politicians have dreamed about the objectives of “DOGE” for a very long time. To drive this kind of drastic change, the Department of Government Efficiency will provide advice and guidance from outside of Government, and will partner with the White House and Office of Management & Budget to drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before.
The statement also noted that DOGE will only operate until July 4, 2026.
Musk has previously claimed that he could cut at least $2 trillion dollars of the $6.5 trillion dollar US federal budget.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
A pump jack in Midland, Texas, US, on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024.
Anthony Prieto | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Oil prices may see a drastic fall in the event that oil alliance OPEC+ unwinds its existing output cuts, said market watchers who are predicting a bearish year ahead for crude.
“There is more fear about 2025’s oil prices than there has been since years — any year I can remember, since the Arab Spring,” said Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis at OPIS, an oil price reporting agency.
“You could get down to $30 or $40 a barrel if OPEC unwound and didn’t have any kind of real agreement to rein in production. They’ve seen their market share really dwindle through the years,” Kloza added.
A decline to $40 a barrel would mean around a 40% erasure of current crude prices. Global benchmark Brent is currently trading at $72 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures are around $68 per barrel.
Oil prices year-to-date
Given that oil demand growth next year probably won’t be much more than 1 million barrels a day, a full unwinding of OPEC+ supply cuts in 2025 would “undoubtedly see a very steep slide in crude prices, possibly toward $40 a barrel,” Henning Gloystein, head of energy, climate and resources at Eurasia Group, told CNBC.
Similarly, MST Marquee’s senior energy analyst Saul Kavonic posited that should OPEC+ unwind cuts without regard to demand, it would “effectively amount to a price war over market share that could send oil to lows not seen since Covid.”
However, the alliance is more likely to opt for a gradual unwinding early next year, compared to a full scale and immediate one, the analysts said.
Should the producers group proceed with their production plan, the market surplus could nearly double.
Martoccia Francesco
Energy strategist at Citi
The oil cartel has been exercising discipline in maintaining its voluntary output cuts, to the point of extending them.
In September, OPEC+ postponed plans to begin gradually rolling back on the 2.2 million barrels per day of voluntary cuts by two months in an effort to stem the slide of oil prices. The 2.2 million bpd cut, which was implemented over the second and third quarters, had been due to expire at the end of September.
At the start of this month, the oil cartel again decided to delay the planned oil output increase by another month to the end of December.
Oil prices have been weighed by a sluggish post-Covid recovery in demand from China, the world’s second-largest economy and leading crude oil importer. In its monthly report released Tuesday, OPEC lowered its 2025 global oil demand growth forecast from 1.6 million barrels per day to 1.5 million barrels per day.
The pressured prices were also conflagrated by a perceivably oversupplied market, especially as key oil producers outside the OPEC alliance like the U.S., Canada, Guyana and Brazil are also planning to add supply, Gloystein highlighted.
Bearish year ahead for oil
The market consensus is that there’ll be a “substantial” oil stock build next year, said Citibank energy strategist Martoccia Francesco.
“Should the producers group proceed with their production plan, the market surplus could nearly double… reaching as much as 1.6 million barrels per day,” said Francesco.
Even if OPEC+ doesn’t unwind the cuts, the future ofl prices is still looking break. Citi analysts expect Brent price to average $60 per barrel next year.
Further fueling the bearish outlook is the incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, whose return is associated by some with a potential trade war, said analysts who spoke to CNBC.
“If we do get a trade war — and a lot of economists think that a trade war is possible, and particularly against China — we could see much, much lower prices,” said OPIS’ Kloza.
Trump has also touted a “drill baby drill” policy for U.S. producers, vowing to cut energy prices in half.
For that to happen to retail gasoline prices, oil would need to drop to “below $40” per barrel, said Matt Smith, Kpler’s lead oil analyst.
Right now, retail gasoline prices are at a “sweet spot” at $3 per gallon, where consumers do not feel the pinch and input prices are still sufficiently high for producers, Smith added.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports7 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Environment1 year agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway