Evinrude's E-Tec 150 hits 10.5 litres per nautical mile - Popular Mechanics
by Evinrude Media/Popular Mechanics 21 Feb 2020 12:31 NZDT
21 February 2020
The Evinrude E-Tec 150 powers the Stabicraft 1850 Fisher © Evinrude NZ
Evinrude will be powering one of the America's Cup teams when they arrive in Auckland later this year.
New York Yacht Club's American Magic, helmed by Dean Barker, run Evinrudes on their chase boats - not only for the power necessary to keep up with the 50kt foiling AC75 monohulls, but also for their fuel efficiency.
A reviewer in the authoritative Popular Mechanics technology publication commented:
Better than 10 litres per nautical mile from a boat? Yes, with this direct-injected three-cylinder 150.
If you enjoy nerding out on outboard motors, then prepare to indulge your inner marine-propulsion geek with this news of Evinrude's new 150-horsepower E-TEC G2. With outboards, they're pretty much all reliable these days. And horsepower is horsepower. So what's the big deal with this new three-cylinder?
Well, how about 10.5 litres per nautical mile? Sure, that's at six miles per hour or so, but boats spend a lot of their time (40 percent) at idle, and 10.5 litres per nautical mile makes this the Prius of outboards. The G2's maintenance schedule is also unlike anything else on the water: five years or 500 hours between tune-ups. Since this is a two-stroke, you don't even do oil changes, and the onboard 7.2 litre tank is good for 50 to 60 hours.
I'd probably buy an E-TEC for the lack of maintenance alone. In fact, I did. I have a [previous generation], 2009 G1 150, which visits the dealer every three years or 300 hours, and it runs like a champ. It can fog its cylinders and winterize itself. But the one this it's missing is this new engine's oh-so-sweet 10.5 litres per nautical mile.