Properly designed and installed electric auxiliary propulsion is a far superior propulsion system for sailing vessels than a traditional internal combustion engine. It also replaces the entire power storage and management systems on board with a much more capable, higher capacity and completely integrated whole vessel power system.
The higher initial cost does not tell the whole story if the electric motor is only viewed as a propulsion source. To understand the cost of the electric propulsion system, it has to be compared to the equivalent internal combustion engine, as well as the battery storage replacement and upgrade, the power management automation and interface, charging, inverting and environmental power capture and storage devices it replaces. The cost is a function of all the added capabilities to the vessel in both propulsion and the vessel’s comfort level. Once comprehensively compared to all the systems being replaced, the cost variable is much less than it first appears.
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