Pure Watercraft releases new marine propulsion battery pack

Seattle-based Pure Watercraft has announced the launch of a new energy-dense battery pack for marine propulsion.

The battery pack that powers the company’s outboard motor now has a capacity of 8.85 kWh (47 percent more capacity than the previous model) and active thermal management, enabling faster planing, longer range, and extended operation at top speed.

The result is a more enjoyable, quiet, and clean boating experience than ever before.

The new battery pack delivers a high energy density (energy per pound), matching that of the best electric cars, the company reports. It was designed in-house, using industry-leading lithium-ion cells from Panasonic.

This battery pack, combined with the lightweight and powerful Pure Outboard motor, provides more than double the power per pound of other electric outboard systems, and it even beats comparable gas powered systems.

“Our team of skilled engineers has built an electric outboard motor and battery pack system from the ground up. Their focus has been to purposely create each component to maximize efficiency with the most power per pound in the industry,” said Andy Rebele, CEO and founder of Pure Watercraft.

The Pure Outboard is optimized to replace gas outboard motors between 9.9 and 40 horsepower.

A typical 16-foot aluminum fishing boat equipped with two battery packs could go 4 to 5 mph for about 30 hours, or 25 mph for about an hour.

Charge time is as fast as one hour from half to full charge using a 240V outlet. Using a household 120V outlet, it takes approximately 4 hours.

Institutions such as Harvard, Stanford, Yale, and the University of Washington have already purchased Pure Outboard systems for their competitive rowing teams.

“We’re eagerly awaiting the Pure Watercraft system because it will transform how we coach our team and significantly reduce the headache of maintenance and costs that we incur using a gas outboard,” said Michael Callahan, head coach of the University of Washington men’s rowing team.

The Pure Outboard is available via a refundable pre-order deposit of $500.

Pure Watercraft is currently shipping propulsion systems to its first customers this month, and pre-order delivery will begin in 2019. A complete system, comprised of an outboard and battery pack, starts at $14,500.

Pure Watercraft was started by Andy Rebele in 2011 with the dream to make boating more enjoyable, accessible, and environmentally friendly than ever before.