Old Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, up to 32 battery packs can be connected in parallel by simply connecting each additional pack with a single cable. Adding an additional pack will increase the range of travel available from the system. For most recreational uses, one or two battery packs will be sufficient. It is only in larger commercial or off-shore applications that the need to combine more battery packs might arise.

No, our system can only be used with the Pure Watercraft battery pack. This is because when all of the system components are designed to communicate with each other, we can provide better safety controls, optimize performance, and provide more accurate information about the remaining range. This also allows us to quickly diagnose the root cause of any issues that arise via a wireless connection to the cloud.

Additionally, using a set of alternative off-the-shelf batteries (i.e. lead-acid) that would reach our target voltage would be extremely heavy, require significant space on board, and be prone to charge imbalances.

To keep our battery packs in the right temperature range, we use an internal liquid cooling system that pulls heat out of the cells and exhausts the heat into the air using internal fans. The liquid does not need to be replaced or topped up. The battery also has a heating mechanism to warm them in very cold conditions.

Range depends on the hull, propeller, speed, and number of battery packs.

• Fishing: a bass pro competed in (and won) an all-day bass tournament on a small lake in California using 10 kWh (57% of two battery packs), using a Lund Fury 1600.
• Pontoon boating: an 18′ pontoon boat could cruise at 4 mph for 4 hours, with a few bursts at 18 MPH, with one battery pack.
• Coaching: a Still Water 25XL served a challenging 12 mile rowing practice of the NCAA Champion men’s team using 57% of a charge of one battery pack.
• In general, 1 battery pack equals ~ 2 gallons of gas range (or more at low speed).

We have designed and built our own battery pack, using small-cell lithium-ion batteries from a top-tier supplier (18650s, the same size used in the Tesla Model S and X). Our battery packs include active thermal management, to ensure that they’re kept in a temperature range that optimizes for performance and long life.

The Pure Watercraft battery pack is designed for a useful life of at least 10 years or 1,000 full charge/discharge cycles. Useful life is defined as retaining 70% or more of its original capacity. Below 70% capacity, the battery is still usable.

The Pure Watercraft battery pack is compact (14.75″ x 22.75″ x 9″) and can be stowed in the center console, under the seats, or where the gas tank would normally go, depending on how you’d like to distribute the weight. The cables connecting the battery pack, throttle, and outboard are easy to install and can follow the original location of a gas line to the motor and the original cables from the throttle.

For most Pure users the answer is no. Firstly, charging only occurs when the system is not in operation, so charging via solar while motoring on the water is not an option at this time. Secondly, while it is possible to charge the Pure Outboard system via solar by connecting the charger to the solar panel system, in practical terms that requires an inordinately large number of solar panels to provide adequate power to Pure’s 8.8kWh battery packs. In most cases, it is more effective to install the solar charging system on land and recuperate some of the costs by feeding power back to the electricity grid.

By way of example, to charge the highly energy dense Pure battery pack at 120V 15amp AC, a solar setup would need to produce around 15kWh per day. Depending on the available sunlight and location, such a system would typically require between 10-18 panels in order to charge two battery packs.

In the case of charging multiple Pure battery packs on 240V 50amp AC, a solar setup would need to produce approximately 53kWh with 5 hours of available sun. With the average solar panel shape of 65 inches x 39 inches, such a system would require approximately 48 panels. Arranged in a 10 x 5 panel array, that would yield a 11m x 9m footprint. This size of array is only feasible on a slow, displacement style craft as the entire system could add up to 2,000lbs to the boat.

In short, no.  Car charging stations are a gateway for AC power to vehicles that carry AC to DC converters onboard. The Pure Watercraft battery pack can only be charged using the Pure Outboard charger which is a portable charger that plugs into standard household outlets or more powerful 240V 50amp outlets.

The Pure charger is portable, has a carrying handle and weighs 24 lbs. Its dimensions are 16.33″ long x 10.46″ wide  x 5.23″ tall. It can be kept on the boat, on the dock or in a garage or storage facility where the boat is most often charged. The charger can be easily mounted on a charging pedestal or a wall with four screws.

The charger cables provide a span of up to 7m (23 feet): 5m from charger to boat and 2m from wall to charger. An extension cord can be used to increase the span from the wall to the charger in cases where the boat is further from the charging outlet than 7m.

You’ll cut your fuel cost by about 75% when switching from a gas outboard to the Pure Outboard.

The battery packs are charged using Pure Watercraft’s charger, which can plug into any 120V or 240V 50 amp outlet. The charger is portable and can be kept on the dock, in the garage, or on the boat. It will recharge the system from half to full charge at 120V in 4.5 hours per battery pack, or at 240V in 90 minutes with 1 or 2 battery packs.

Pure Watercraft provides a plug for the following outlet types:

• 120V, 15A (Standard household outlet)
• 120V, 20A (Also standard household outlet)
• 208-240V, 50A NEMA 14-50 (standard RV or indoor plug, non-locking)
• 208-240V, 50A NEMA SS2-50R (standard marina dock outdoor plug, locking)

A Pure Battery Pack contains about 200g of cobalt, which is an environmentally unfriendly element to mine. But it replaces the use of about 2,000 gallons of gasoline in one outboard motor, which would cause the same amount of carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen, and hydrocarbon pollution as 430 cars over their entire lifetimes, in addition to 40 tons of CO2 pollution.

The Pure Outboard is up to 70% overall efficient, measured as the percentage of energy from the battery pack that is used for propulsion (not just the motor efficiency). Typical electric outboard motors range from 35% to 55% overall efficient, gas outboards are 5-15% overall efficient, and electric trolling motors are 18-22% overall efficient. Greater efficiency results in more energy converting into propulsive power and fewer energy losses. For electric systems, this means less energy is required to travel a given distance, resulting in fewer batteries needed on board – saving space, weight, and battery costs.

The Pure Outboard is far quieter than gas outboard engines at idle — a state at which boaters spend a surprising amount of time while tied up at the dock, loading/unloading and fishing or preparing riders for watersports. But the real enjoyment is the normal conversations you can now have onboard your boat and the sounds of nature no longer drummed out by your engine.

At wide open throttle — where wind and ambient noise dominates anyhow — the comparable gas outboard is still 20% louder than a Pure outboard. Relative to other electric brands, the Pure outboard was deemed superior in quietness to the Torqeedo electric system that was tested by the US Navy at Pend Oreille Lake in Idaho.

Yes. With no impeller, there is no water intake, making it an ideal solution for any type of water and one that doesn’t transport organisms/species between different bodies of water. All parts are designed to prevent corrosion, enabling operation in saltwater environments.

The $100 deposit is 100% refundable for any reason or no reason at all. We are well capitalized and not funding the company off of deposits. Really the deposit is just a sign of good faith so we can fairly prioritize product deliveries. We have a very low level of deposit refunds and all are processed within a few days of receiving the request.

As for payment terms, typically 3 months prior to your product being manufactured we are in touch to verify the order, arrange specific delivery logistics, quote the delivery costs and invoice the balance owing which is due within 30 days. Once the product ships from our Seattle factory, we provide tracking information to you. Installation on your end is pretty straightforward, here’s a summary video of how our field technicians can do it in less than an hour.

As for warranty, we offer an 8-year Limited Warranty. It is most certainly better than anything for a comparably powered gas engine and we aimed for it to be the best in the electric marine outboard sector.

Electric outboard motors have been around since about 1870, even longer than electric cars. But this is the first electric outboard system to perform better than the gas outboards it replaces. To achieve this, the Pure Watercraft team designed each of the key components to be perfectly matched, and take full advantage of the latest innovations in motors, batteries, and power electronics.

The Pure Outboard system includes:

• All-electric outboard motor
• One or more battery packs
• Throttle
• Connecting cables
• Charger
• Mobile phone app

One charger can be used between multiple Pure Outboard systems, and additional chargers can be excluded from your purchase if buying more than one system.

The Pure Watercraft Limited Warranty has four parts: 

• The Battery Pack Limited Warranty covers repairs or replacements necessary to correct defects in the materials or workmanship of the battery pack for a period of 8 years or 5,000 kWh of energy throughput, whichever comes first. This includes coverage for a battery pack that falls below 70% of its original state of health during the Warranty Period. 
• The Outboard Limited Warranty covers repairs or replacements necessary to correct defects in the materials or workmanship of the outboard for a period of 8 years or 30,000 kWh of energy throughput, whichever comes first. 
• The rest of the system components are covered under the Basic Limited Warranty, which covers the repair or replacement necessary to correct defects in the materials or workmanship of the product for a period of 8 years. 

The Corrosion Limited Warranty covers the repair or replacement of any part of the product that is rendered inoperative as a direct result of corrosion due to a defect in material or workmanship for a period of 8 years.

The Pure Watercraft electric outboard can be installed on any boat that would use a gas outboard between 25 to 50 HP.

The Pure Outboard system redefines boating with quiet operation, unprecedented performance (up to 50 HP equivalent),with full torque starting at zero RPM, minimal maintenance, and zero emissions.

12V auxiliary power (up to 10A) is provided for accessories.

The Pure Outboard can be installed on any transom that complies with ABYC standards. The battery packs can be installed where there is room on your hull – for example, the gas tank area of a fishing boat, the middle pontoon of a pontoon boat, or behind the bench on a coaching launch. In areas in which we have deployed field technicians, our technician can perform the installation at your location for a fee.

The following video shows how easy it is to remove a conventional, gas-powered outboard and install a Pure Watercraft system.

This example features a motor swap on a 2020 Suntracker 20DLX Party Barge.

The Pure Outboard should last more than ten years with daily leisure or commercial use.

The system weight is 231 lbs, or 348 lbs for a two-battery system.

• Outboard motor: 112 lbs
• Each battery pack: 118 lbs
• Cables and throttle: 8 lbs

Compare this to 319 lbs for a 50 HP gas outboard system: gas outboard is 247 lbs, marine starter battery is 37 lbs, and filled gas can is 35 lbs, plus cables and throttle.

There is no scheduled maintenance for the Pure Outboard. There is no need to winterize, nor is there a seawater loop to flush or impeller to replace. The gears will not chip, as is common in gas engines, because the gears are always engaged (the motor runs in reverse when the outboard is in reverse) resulting in no shifting. Depending on the environment in which the system is used, the sacrificial anode on the outboard may need to be replaced during the system lifetime to prevent corrosion on the rest of the motor. Replacement of the anode is quick,  inexpensive, and can be done with simple hand tools.

We use a single proprietary cable type to connect the outboard motor, batteries, throttle, and charger. The cable features an easy push-button to secure and release, creating a firm connection. The throttle and the outboard connect directly into the battery, and if more than one battery is connected in a system, a single cable is used to connect each battery.

If your boat can get on plane with a 50 HP conventional outboard, then you will plane with the Pure Outboard. You’ll likely plane more quickly, because the Pure Outboard delivers maximum torque even at the lowest RPM, while a gas outboard only gets to maximum torque near wide-open throttle.

• Fishing boat: in a typical 17′ aluminum fishing boat, with 2 people aboard, we would expect top speed fo 24 MPH.
• Pontoon boat: in an 18′ aluminum pontoon boat, with 6 people aboard, we would expect top speed of 18 MPH
• Rigid inflatable: in a 12’ 6” aluminum-hull RIB, with 2 people aboard, we expect a top speed of 25 MPH.
• Sports coaching launch: in a 27′ catamaran style coaching launch, with 1-2 people aboard, we would expect top speed of 21 MPH.

Our electric outboard provides up to 25 kW of output power. We use a high-efficiency propeller running at about half the RPM of a typical gas outboard, which allows our system to provide about 30% more propulsion than a conventional outboard of the same power level. So our 25 kW system, which is 33.5 HP, provides the propulsion of a conventional motor running up to 50 HP.

The Pure Outboard  (50 HP equivalent) addresses the biggest segment of boating, and can power practical fishing boats, pontoon boats, sports coaching launches, and yacht tenders. Making a bigger electric outboard isn’t the big challenge; making a battery pack achieve an attractive cost and weight is. We’re committed to making products that real people can afford and use. As batteries improve their energy density and cost, we’ll follow closely with products that make sense.