Torqeedo Outboard experience?

Hi Marilyn,
We have used a Torqeedo for 4 seasons now and have been quite pleased. We bought one for a number of reasons. Firstly, (my experience) outboards like to be used regularly and if they sit for periods, they get ornery and don’t do what is asked of them. Next, the anchorages in Northern Europe where we were cruising were small (I would not recommend an electric outboard as a primary outboard for the Carib or Med where distances are great and you are carrying lots of gear, snorkeling/diving equipment and such). Also, I did not like carrying gasoline and all the kit that goes with gasoline powered outboards. I like the weight of the Torqeedo: especially easy to handle when battery and motor are in 2 pieces, roughly equally weighted. Finally, I have a hard dinghy, a nesting dinghy, that rows well and lends itself to the light weight of the Torqeedo and is easily driven at good speed by the outboard. Small inflatables go well with the Torqeedo, larger inflatables might best be served by a larger gas powered outboard when an SUV is desired and use the Torqeedo when just wishing to scoot about a small anchorage.
We have had good luck with our 1003 with moderate to light use (our seasons are 6 months so). It has checked all our boxes and we have been quite pleased. This last season has seen little use and another plus is that I do not have to worry about fuel going bad or varnishing up and clogging the carburetor etc. the way I would have with a gas-powered outboard sitting for long periods on the pushpit.
That said, some friends have had troubles (go to the public access Ocean Cruising Club site, https://forum.oceancruisingclub.org/Topic96.aspx, and go to the electric outboards section for reports going back 7 yrs.).
Come back with questions.
My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy

We bought one earlier this summer and we're happy with it's performance. We got the 1003C which is the larger one. It has done quite well for our needs. It came with two batteries - a large one and a smaller one - the latter was included free as part of a promotion. For trips around an anchorage or short fishing trips it worked great. We have solar panels on our boat so we were able to keep it re-charged when needed but the batteries lasted longer than I expected. It does make a huge difference as to how fast you go - the faster you go, the faster the batteries will run down. That might be more of a problem on the smaller model. We did find that we had to use our larger outboard for the Wilderness Rally but that was because we were buzzing all over both bays at Turnbull on a regular basis. If we had just been going to the shore for activities, it would've been fine.