Honda electric outboard prototype spotted at Dusseldorf Show
Sometimes big news likes to hide itself. Such may be the case with the Honda electric outboard prototype spotted at Boot Dusseldorf last week.
The big fanfare in the electric boat motors world was found at the Mercury booth for the European launch of the Mercury Avator line of motors: the 7.5e, 20e and 35e.
Mercury launches Avator electric outboards at CES
A few meters away, well within earshot of the launch hubbub, tucked away in the Honda booth and hidden within a forest of fossil fuel outboards, was a small acrylic display case with a motor distinctly different from the other Hondas and the words ‘Electric Propulsion Concept Model’. On each side of the motor were round-cornered black blocks 288mm high, 177mm wide and 156.3mm deep (11″ x 7″ x 6.25″) with handles on top and a white letter e and colon on the front: e:.
Sparse information about Honda electric outboard
The Honda staff at the show were all well-versed in the specifications of the surrounding gasoline/petrol motors, but knew very little about the electric prototype. A few Google searches have not revealed anything, so all we can go with right now is what is on the information sheets in the case:
Electric Propulsion Concept Model
It has some features such as zero emission, low noise, low vibration and high torque propulsion when starting. The power source is Honda’s detachable portable battery ‘Honda Mobile Power Pack’. Through this we will work to achieve carbon neutrality, not only for land mobility but also for sea mobility.
Honda Mobile Power Pack e.
The Honda Mobile Power Pack is a detachable portable battery tat supplies power to various electric products, such as electric motorcycles and small mobility vehicles.
It can provide continuous operation without waiting for charging time by replacing the empty battery to fully charged one.
Easy-to-use shape for various applications.
A lithium-ion battery that stores a large capacity of 1.3kWh or more in a compact body. The body and handle shape have been thoroughly pursued for ease of use and good handling, and the highly versatile packaging can be used for a variety of purposes.
Achieves high reliability and long life.
Understanding that it will be installed in electric mobility, it achieves high reliability in environments with severe specifications such as vibration shock, temperature and humidity. A long life is achieved by using highly durable cells and actively dissipating the heat generated during discharge.
Equipped advance battery management system.
In order to ensure safety and efficiency, it has the functions necessary for charging status, abnormality diagnosis and protection, data communication with applicable equipment, etc. and can be connected to external systems that monitor, analyze and control the battery.
While there is not much information about the Honda electric outboard, there is information about the battery. It was designed to be a competitor to Gogoro, the Taiwanese scooter and battery-swapping platform which went public in April and is now valued at about 1.1 billion dollars.
Honda introduced their battery and concept at a Media Briefing back in October of 2021.
“Honda is striving to realize carbon neutrality for all products and corporate activities Honda is involved in by 2050. As one of the initiatives Honda will pursue to realize this goal, Honda has developed the concept of “Honda eMaaS” through which Honda will contribute to the “freedom of mobility” and “expanded use of renewable energy” by connecting electrified mobility products and energy service. Based on this concept, Honda will expand the use of renewable energy by broadening the range of electrified products through electrification of its motorcycle and automobile products and through more utilization of MPP and also by enabling infrastructure-linked smart power operations.”
Then, this October, the company made this announcement about their first battery swapping station:
TOKYO, Japan, October 25, 2022 – Honda Motor Co., Ltd. today announced that it has begun sales of the Honda Power Pack Exchanger e: battery swapping station in Japan, with the first unit delivered to Gachaco Inc., a battery sharing service joint venture. Gachaco today began operation of the first mass-production model of the Honda Power Pack Exchanger e: in Japan.
As for the Honda electric outboard, you now know as much as we do. We’ll keep you posted as more information becomes available.
