MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • August 14, 2022
Electric boats today are much like electric cars were a decade ago. They seem unfamiliar, unreliable, impractical and unaffordable. But some of the forces speeding the transition to zero-emission battery transportation on land – worsening climate impacts, improving technologies and investors stepping up to bring promising ideas into production – are beginning to form on the water. Maine has more than 126,000 registered motor boats. They belong to lobstermen, sea farmers, marina workers, harbor masters and recreational boaters. While modern four-stroke and direct injection marine engines are cleaner than their ancestors, they still burn petroleum and contribute to climate change. More than half the state’s registered boats have engines rated at 50 horsepower or less. These smaller craft with outboard engines are prime candidates for the next generation of marine propulsion.