The gorgeous 1962 Riva Tritone pictured above - which is the classic Mediterranean power boat (James Bond where are you?) has had an electric motor conversion thanks to The Lanéva electric boat company of Monaco joining with Riva restoration expert Bellini Nautica of Italy to replace internal combustion engines in vintage Riva boats with fully electric powertrains.
At Eclass Outboards we've done a vintage electric conversion ourselves. We believe our 1985 Pride Cheetah converted to electric power was the first all-electric speedboat in Australia.
You can see her running here. With a 20kW electric outboard
In the case of the 1962 Riva Tritone it originally had twin 177 HP V8 engines, replaced by Lanéva’s all-electric powertrain with 300 kW of power and battery capacity of 130kWh. This first project became the cornerstone of their electrification service.
To date Eclass Outboards have concentrated on conversions both inboard and outboards up to 40kW as the battery limitations, charging requirements and voltage requirements of higher kW make over 40kW an expensive and specialized undertaking.
However, up to 40kW we can comfortably run at 96v DC (ultra-low voltage and under safe let go) and batteries do not have to be specially cooled or need an expensive charging system.
Eclass has another advantage in the Vintage electric conversion space.
Because we retrofit into existing casings - and sell DIY electric repower kits for a wide range of outboard casings - you can often keep the look of your existing period-appropriate casings. All that changes is happening under the cowling and replacing fuel tanks with batteries.
And being an Australian marine electric manufacturing company we have electric outboards, electric inboards built here in Australia
If you have a vintage boat that needs a custom electric motor click through HERE to contact us
Credit for Image: PlugBoats.com