As promised, this blog presents my impressions of the Elco EP14 Outboard and 48 Volt Lithium pack. I believe that tournament anglers, at any level, push their equipment longer and much harder than the average boater. Our team certainly pushed the Elco products hard this season. During practices, we ran many 20+ mile days. In tournaments we drove long runs at full throttle, and made countless jumps from spot to spot. In short, we have been completely pleased with this system. I wouldn’t have imagined that a 48 volt electric outboard and two small lithium packs would allow my 16 foot Alumacraft to perform as well as it has this season, unless I witnessed it myself. That little boat just shouldn't be able to move that fast.
Elco provides many advantages including: cost, PERFORMANCE, reliability, ease of use, tech features, design, fit & finish, and the warranty is backed by Elco, a company that has been in the marine industry (in the United States) since the late 1890s. We covered enormous numbers of miles in the 2015 MRA tournament season. I believe we have had enough on-water experience with this system to have formed a well considered opinion.
Our favorite features: 1) Fantastic power and efficiency in a 48 Volt outboard system. This motor on my 16’ boat can (and has) outperformed many 60 volt systems on larger (more efficient) hulls. 2) Water cooled motor and controller, really does the job. 3) Fast recharge. We easily recharged two lithium packs overnight (with one charger) for Day 2 of the tournament of Champions. We didn’t have any worries about conserving batteries on either day of the arduous 2-day tournament. 4) State of charge display on the lithium pack is very accurate and easy to see from a distance. 5) Inexpensive replacement props of various sizes are available. 6) The conventional throttle system looks and performs like the throttle on a gas outboard. 7) Over-speed protection, overload protection, temperature protection, over-voltage and over-current protection. There are more outstanding features, but you get the idea... I’m a fan. It has been fun showing this system to many friends, and even more strangers this season. Maybe next season, I'll run the EP20 and report on it's performance. Honestly, I can't imagine being more pleased than I am with the EP14, but I look forward to being surprised. Disadvantages: We’ll let you know when we find one.
Most competitive anglers keep their secrets and competitive advantages to themselves. As anyone who knows me will attest, I am not one of those secretive people. I truly enjoy sharing a good idea when I stumble across it. To me, the Elco EP14 with this lithium pack is a very good idea.