Electric propulsion goes prime time... Well sort of

Some days it just gets weird...

My friend Mike (oops that's Captain Mike these days!) over at Bianka Blog just pointed out that West Marine now has two electric propulsion systems in their catalog. Now, I'll be honest, being something of an electric propulsion cheerleader and long time user, that I should be doing the happy dance that electric propulsion has finally become accepted. But instead I find myself just a bit worried...

The fact is while electric propulsion is not exactly rocket science, it does take a certain mindset and slightly out of the box attitude to work and the folks who sell electric propulsion systems really should have their act together and make sure that folks do not have unrealistic expectations about what electric propulsion can do for them.

Throw in the fact that an electric drive on a boat does create a near rocket science need to get the most bang for the buck out of batteries and charging systems and you have a situation that requires some serious guidance and education. I'm not real convinced that a big chain/catalog store will be able to give the same level of service, knowledge and after care as someone like Electric Yacht who really know their stuff. Truth be told, more often than not, I can't get even basic information on something simple like a block or shackle from a marine chain store these days...

So I guess you can color me somewhat happy that West is selling electric drives since that will mean my electric drive quits being a freak show, but also color me just a bit worried that the very possible bad experiences some people may have may just set back electric propulsion in the long run...