There has been lot of discussion lately about alternative power for both sail and power boats. One of the options that has been getting a lot of press is the hybrid power system. Essentially it consists of a diesel engine connected to an electric motor. This gives the boat operator the option of running the boat via the diesel directly, the electric motor directly or a combination of the two. There is a lot more to it than that but in a nut shell that's it.
Hybrids have been held up as the boaters answer to saving the planet, I'm all for ecology and taking care of our surroundings but in my view the use of a hybrid power plant in a recreational boat is white elephant. Of all the boats that I survey many of them have well below 1000 hours on the engine and often much less. In the grand scheme of things 1000 hours equates to about you driving 4000 miles in your car which is hardly anything. When you factor in the additional cost of the hybrid, the additional wiring etc etc it makes no sense at all. Plus it is a sad fact of life that most boat engines wear out not through use but from under use as they rarely reach optimum temperature. Also most boats are over powered. M advice is to buy a smaller motor use it wisely and often and it will repay in lasting longer and still use less diesel than even a modest hybrid unit.
I was just reading about somebody removing a hybrid engine from their boat because it didn't "work out".
For the life of me I can't remember where though.
Posted by: John Cobb | September 29, 2010 at 10:41 PM