Electric Motors Only!
- Lyall Burgess
- Aug 4
- 2 min read
Many lakes and waterways across North America, particularly in states like Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, have implemented restrictions that allow only electric motors to protect ecosystems and reduce pollution. While comprehensive data on the total number of waterways with such regulations is unavailable, the scale of the opportunity is clear with approximately 479,950 lakes and reservoirs in the contiguous United States and over 3 million lakes in Canada.
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Some signs you might start seeing at your local waterway
When going electric it's a popular option to also add solar panels because you can charge the batteries whilst underway. This will help extend your range & time on the water and help alleviate any range anxiety.
Electric pontoon boats
Pontoon boats, celebrated for their versatility and stability, remain one of the fastest-growing segments in the marine industry and electric pontoon boats a part of that. Designed to meet the growing demand for eco-friendly, regulation-compliant, and competitively priced boating solutions for North America's vast network of lakes. Here are some examples of electric pontoon boats:
The good thing with pontoon boats is that they typically have a large bimini / roof space for solar panels to be installed. Here's a photo from one of our customers with 6x170W flex panels installed on their Bennington pontoon boat! They have an Elco electric outboard and cruise the waters all day and still come back with full batteries!
Electric outboards
At one time it felt like Torqeedo was only name in town when it came to having an electric outboard. Now there are many brands, sizes and options - some that even closely resemble a more traditional gas outboard (ICE). Some so close that customers had to add large 'ELECTRIC' stickers to appease the waterway authorities! Even the big players have now released their own electric motors, like Mercury and Yamaha. This has to be good news for consumers as the costs will come down and adoption rates go up.
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As we have seen the adoption of electric vehicles on the road and improved charging stations the same will be true for electric boating. We look forward to solar being a component of this movement and for all things electric boating be sure to follow plugboats.com
