![First drive with Mercury Marine's electric Avator motors: A smooth, quiet ride (for small boats) [Video]](https://i0.wp.com/electrek.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/06/Mercury-electric-motors-Avator-110e-wake-side.jpg?resize=1200,628&quality=82&strip=all&ssl=1)
First drive with Mercury Marine’s electric Avator motors: A smooth, quiet ride (for small boats) [Video]
A major name in marine mobility is dipping its toe into all-electric motors – Mercury. The noted developer of marine technologies has launched its five initial outboards under its new Avator lineup of all-electric motors, and I got the chance to test each of them out in Charleston, South Carolina. Be sure to check out the video below to see just how quiet these electric motors truly are.
Mercury Marine is the propulsion-focused division of Brunswick Corporation and has been helping people move quickly and efficiently across the water for 85 years and counting. While a vast majority of the company’s past innovation and expertise lies in combustion boat engines, it has begun to research and develop all-electric options, and is starting small.
With five initial outboard options, Mercury’s new line of Avator all-electric outboard motors is not small in size but more so in stature. The company debuted the first entry in the Avator line in January 2023, beginning with the 7.5e—a small and nimble outboard designed for small vessels that can be installed as an all-in-one self-contained system, complete with a motor, battery pack, and electronics.
By August of 2023, Mercury announced two additional all-electric motors to the Avator line: The 20e and 35e. All three operate using nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) cells and add to a lineup of varying levels of power and range for small watercraft owners.
At CES 2024, Mercury announced the final two additions to its initial lineup of Avator outboards – the 75e and 110e – its two most powerful all-electric motors to date, complete with a new LiFePO4 battery chemistry. Just this week, the 75e and 110e officially launched, offering consumers even more zero-emissions power and modular battery capacity to boot.
However, while Mercury’s lineup of all-electric motors continues to grow, it still has a long way to go before its next-generation outboard technology can compete with the combustion variants it has specialized in for so long.
Mercury launches full lineup of electric onboard motors
With the launch of the electric 75e and 110e motors, Mercury’s originally announced lineup of Avator outboards is complete, and there’s a lot to be excited about. However, if you’re hoping to buy one and take it out on choppy ocean waters for an entire day, this technology just isn’t there yet.
Having spent over eight decades specializing in combustion engines, Mercury is admittedly new to the EV game. So, it has started slowly to ensure everything is right, and that’s just fine. As a result, the Avator lineup is young and very niche, catering to smaller boats you’d use for activities like fishing, short trips, and leisurely cruises on the pontoon.
The specs won’t blow you away on paper, as the top-tier 110e Avator only produces 15 hp. However, driving or riding on the vessels these Mercury electric motors were designed for is a treat and a great start in what I hope will be an ever-growing and innovating portfolio in the company’s future business model.
The two new models especially come with a built-in charger onboard, available in 520- and 1,040-watt options. This makes charging at any dock or marina with an AC plug handy, but the rates will need to be improved. For example, the two packs on the 110e system take about 10 hours to recharge to get about an hour on the water at full throttle (those rates obviously change due to several factors, which I outline in my video below).
What’s cool is that customers can opt to add more Mercury battery packs to their system for more range, like four instead of two on the 110e pontoon I captained. Still, the batteries remain bulky and relatively heavy, so unless you own a barge, integrating the system and multiple packs into your boat might be tough right now. It all depends on the vessel.
To get a better idea of just what these electric outboards can deliver, check out the performance specs for each model from Mercury below:
My first impression of the Avator models is just how smooth, quiet, and functional they are. As you’ll notice in my video below, Mercury’s outboards emit over 50% less noise pollution than their combustion counterparts, and throttling up or down on one feels so subtle and natural that you might not even notice you were moving if you weren’t looking at the water.
Most of the noise comes from the motor’s wake, which isn’t that large since these outboards sit on the lowest end of available horsepower in the segment. These are perfect motors for casual cruising that complement the serene experience of time out on the water.
Instead of rattling, vibrations, and nasty fumes, all you are left with is the calm hum of the motor (which you only notice at full bore), the splash of the wake at the stern, and the fountain-like sounds of the water lapping as you carve through it. It’s quite relaxing.
Another tremendous advantage I noticed is the ability of Mercury’s electric motors to turn easily and sharply without any jarring or swaying as a passenger. The lower speeds help, but even at full throttle, the turn radius of any Avator-equipped boat was spectacular.
The Mercury display screen on the helm offers drivers all the necessary metrics when out on the water, including kW usage, battery life, and estimated range remaining. The limited range on the display when in full throttle is a little off-putting at first, but it’s amazing how much further you can travel if you reel the throttle back to just 75%. Again, these motors are perfect for slow, leisurely cruises.
Overall, I think the Avator lineup is an excellent start, and I applaud Brunswick and Mercury for exploring all-electric propulsion technology without half-assing it. Would I have liked to see more power, range, and charging speeds? Yes, always.
But this isn’t an EV OEM, and Mercury knows it’s wading into uncharted waters. Its team is still cutting its teeth on this nascent but growing segment and, from what I hear, has plenty of plans to improve it in the future; it’s just going to take a lot of R&D, trial and error, and I’m sure plenty of boat owners with dual 300 hp two stroke engines talking smack before Mercury delivers some outboards that can genuinely compete with their ICE counterparts.
I’m looking forward to that future and plan to follow Mercury’s progress every step of the way. For now, here’s video footage of my experience riding and operating the Avator lineup of electric outboard motors. Enjoy!
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Ford is jumping into the battery energy storage business, betting that booming demand from data centers and the electric grid can absorb the EV battery capacity it says it’s not using.
To achieve this, Ford plans to repurpose its existing EV battery manufacturing capacity in Glendale, Kentucky, into a dedicated hub for manufacturing battery energy storage systems.
Ford pivots from EVs to battery storage for data centers
Ford says it will invest about $2 billion over the next two years to scale the new business. The Kentucky site will be converted to build advanced battery energy storage systems larger than 5 megawatt-hours, including LFP prismatic cells, BESS modules, and 20-foot DC container systems — the kind of hardware increasingly used by data centers, utilities, and large-scale industrial companies.
The company plans to bring initial production online within 18 months, leaning on its manufacturing experience and licensed battery technology. By late 2027, Ford expects the business to deploy at least 20 gigawatt-hours of energy storage annually.
The move follows a joint venture disposition agreement reached last week between Ford, SK On, SK Battery America, and BlueOval SK. Under the agreement, a Ford subsidiary will independently own and operate the Kentucky battery plants, while SK On will fully own and operate the Tennessee battery plant.
Ford is also planning a separate energy storage play in Michigan. At BlueOval Battery Park Michigan in Marshall, the company will produce smaller amp-hour LFP prismatic cells for residential energy storage systems. That plant is on track to begin manufacturing in 2026, and it will also supply batteries for Ford’s upcoming midsize electric truck — the first model built on the company’s new Universal EV Platform.
Electrek’s Take
Overall, the shift reflects Ford’s broader push toward what it calls “higher-return opportunities.” Alongside taking a step backward to add more gas-powered trucks and vans to its US manufacturing footprint, Ford says it will no longer produce some larger EVs, such as the Lightning F-150, where softer demand and higher costs are resulting from the lack of support for EVs by the Trump administration. (Batteries produced at the Glendale plant were for the all-electric Ford F-150 Lightning. The best-selling electric truck in the US in Q3, before the federal tax credit expired, was the Ford F-150 Lightning, with 10,005 EVs sold, a 39.7% year-over-year increase.)
With tax credits eliminated and regulatory uncertainty, Ford is pivoting to adjacent markets, including grid-scale and residential energy storage, to keep its battery plants running and justify billions in sunk investment.
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Stellantis may have backed away from planned EVs like the all-electric Ram REV and range-topping Dodge Charger Daytona R/T EV, but the company isn’t standing still. A newly awarded patent outlines an innovative, foam-based thermal runaway suppression system that’s built into an EV’s battery pack.
The indisputable fact of the matter is that electric vehicles catch fire far less often — and far less frequently — than their combustion-powered brethren. Still, a number of highly-publicized early Tesla fires and poorly managed recall on the first-gen Chevy Bolt have linked “electric car” and “fire” in the minds of many Americans, and the ones who have been waiting to test the EV waters until a better safety solution came along are going to absolutely love this latest setup from Chrysler parent company Stellantis.
MoparInsiders is reporting on a new Stellantis patent awarded on a proactive battery safety system that’s designed to stop thermal runaway (read: fire) before it can cascade through an entire EV battery pack.
Rather than relying solely on passive barriers or post-event containment, Stellantis’ freshly patented system uses strategically placed foam channels and deployment mechanisms that can flood the affected cells with high insulation foam when abnormal heat is detected in a cell, isolating the problem area and dramatically slowing (if not outright stopping) the chain reaction that leads to catastrophic battery failure.
The patent describes an electric car battery that, on the outside, will look familiar to EV enthusiasts, but there are some key differences “layered in” around the familiar bits. These include:
- A bladder filled with a fire-retardant chemical; located close to the battery cells, typically between the cells and the top of the pack. It’s made from a flexible polymer, so it can be punctured when needed
- Two sets of blades; the first aimed at the bladder, ready to pierce it and release the fire-retardant chemical while the second targets specific points on the coolant inlet line, outlet line, or heat sinks to rupture them and release cooling foam directly where it’s needed
- Special coolant line sections; designed with small sealed apertures that closed off with a soft plug material that’s easy for the blades to pierce but strong enough to maintain pressure during normal operation
- Actuation devices tied to a controller; that push the blades into the bladder and coolant components when a thermal event is detected
Special coolant lines
The system relies on a suite of existing temperature sensors throughout the battery pack, and seems like a viable enough solution to a problem that, while rare, certainly exists — and which looms large over America’s Early Majority tech adopters.
As for me, I think Stellantis should focus on bringing more compelling products to market and stop looking for ways to blame the customer, market, and government for its inability to sell Jeep products that, apparently, have enough markup to cover nearly $30,000 in discounts to help dealers move their metal. I look forward to hearing about your take in the comments.
SOURCE | IMAGES: US Patent Office, via MoparInsiders.
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It’s official. The all-electric pickup is dead, but Ford is promising the F-150 Lightning EREV will be “every bit as revolutionary” as it shakes up EV plans once again.
Ford reveals next-gen F-150 Lightning EREV
Ford confirmed production of the current F-150 Lightning has ended as part of its updated Ford+ plan, which the company revealed on Monday.
The changes come as part of a broader shift from larger EVs, like the Lightning, to smaller, more affordable models.
While Ford still plans to launch lower-cost EVs based on its Universal EV Platform, the company is expanding its hybrid and extended range electric vehicle (EREV) lineup. By 2030, Ford expects 50% of its global volume to be hybrids, EREVs, and EVs, up from 17% in 2025.
As part of its new plans, Ford said the next-generation F-150 Lightning will switch to an EREV powertrain. It will be assembled at the Rouge EV Center in Dearborn, Michigan, replacing the current all-electric pickup.
With production of the current-generation Lightning now concluded, Ford is sending workers from the Rouge EV Center to its Dearborn Truck Plant as it doubles down on gas and hybrids.
During its Q3 earnings call last month, Ford said the electric pickup would remain paused following a fire at Novelis’ plant in New York that disrupted aluminum supply.
The F-150 Lightning is a “groundbreaking” vehicle, according to Doug Field, Ford’s chief EV, digital, and design officer, that showed an electric pickup can be a great F-Series.
Field claims the “next-generation Lightning EREV is every bit as revolutionary.” It will still offer 100% electric power delivery, sub-5-second acceleration, an estimated combined range of 700+ miles, and it “tows like a locomotive.”
Ford also plans to replace its electric commercial van for North America with affordable gas- and hybrid-powered versions. It will be assembled at Ford’s Ohio Assembly Plant.
The move comes as part of Ford’s plans to launch five new affordable vehicles by the end of the decade, four of which will be assembled in the US. Ford also plans to offer gas, hybrid, and EREV options across nearly every vehicle in its lineup by then.
The first vehicle based on Ford’s new Universal EV Platform will be a midsize electric pickup, starting at around $30,000. It’s expected to be about the size of the Ranger or Maverick.
The news comes after SK On announced last week that it planned to end its joint venture with Ford to build EV batteries at three US gigafactories.
Ford is now planning to use the wholly owned EV battery plants in Kentucky and Michigan to launch a new battery energy storage business. The company plans to begin shipping BESS systems in 2027, with an annual capacity of 20 GWh.
“The operating reality has changed, and we are redeploying capital into higher-return growth opportunities: Ford Pro, our market-leading trucks and vans, hybrids, and high-margin opportunities like our new battery energy storage business,” CEO Jim Farley said on Monday.
The changes are designed to improve profitability and returns. Ford’s EV business, Model e, is now expected to reach profitability by 2029 with improvements in 2026.
Model e lost another $1.4 billion in Q3, bringing the total to $3.6 billion through September. Around $3 billion was due to its current EVs, while the other $600 million was spent on its next-gen models.
Although sales of the F-150 Lightning dropped 60.8% last month following the expiration of the $7,500 federal EV tax credit, Ford’s electric pickup remained the best-selling pickup in the US through September.
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