Hi,
Every few years I work through the math to see if upgrading a water ski boat to electric drive is feasible. I just purchased a 2000 Malibu Response LX that I am very happy with BTW. There is yet newer electrical systems out now so it is time to work through the feasibility again, but now with the Malibu. It looks like it has a Monsoon V8, 310 Hp which may produce about 400 ft-lb of peak torque.
1. Does anyone know what the actual peak torque is?
2. However, the most important question is, what is there a gear reduction in the transmission (if any)? Torque is not as critical, since an electric drive will put the V8 to shame with torque.
The goal is to size the motor to exceed the torque, match the prop speed and then size the battery. The challenge is typically related to the batteries. ... light enough and enough capacity (say 3 hours of heavy use) before re-charging and of coarse at a respectable cost. Safeties exist to protect people from a high voltage battery if the boat sinks. The plan would be to replace the engine and transmission with a direct drive electric motor.
Regards,
Rob