Business

Photo: John O'Connor

A look underneath the hood of the EFusion.

You wouldn’t think much of it by hearing it, but the world’s first 180-horsepower electric outboard can really move.

Campion Marine Inc. showed off the EFusion motor, the most powerful of its kind in the world, with a test run on Okanagan Lake Monday.

Powered by 500 book-sized batteries, the 135-kilowatt EFusion can pack a punch on the water. The engine looks like a regular boat motor, but it can hardly be detected at idle and is far quieter during top speed operation than any other motor in the industry.

“It’s basically stealth,” Campion president Brock Elliot told a group of reporters at the Water Street boat launch in Kelowna. “You’ll hear the boat slapping on the water, that’s about it.”

In normal conditions, the 90-pound motor can last from four to six hours before it needs to be recharged.

“To recharge it will take eight to ten hours with your house plug,” said Elliot. However, charge time can be drastically reduced using high-powered chargers.

The test run was the engine’s debut in the North American market. And Elliot says the motor is already sold to a buyer in Switzerland.

Ashland Inc.'s environmentally friendly boat design, composed of 20 per cent biochemicals, coupled with an emissions-free motor makes the product one of a kind.

An EFusion-powered boat can cost as much as $150,000, significantly more than its gas-powered relatives.

Campion Marine has built high-performance sport boats and cruisers for 39 years.