Hobie eVolve Torqeedo - Electric Motor for Kayak - First Impressions

[chex]

Having now used the Hobie eVolve Torqeedo electric kayak motor for a couple months now, I thought I would share my experience and opinions about the motor.

Pros

• More fishing: you get to the fishing grounds faster, you can go farther and longer.
• Reverse: Reverse on a Hobie without a paddle! Nice.
• Shallow water: The motor will work in shallower water than the mirage drive.
• Rig en-route: With both hands free, and nothing to do with your legs, you are free to rig up as you cruise towards the fishing spot. Just watch where you're going.
• Move while sideways sitting: you can move while seated sideways on the kayak. This has proven particularly useful at kiptopeke, sideways sitting in front of the holes in the ships.
• Prevent drifting while unhooking: Put just enough throttle to keep stationary against the current, and you can unhook, photograph and thank your fish without drifting halfway down the bay.
• Make headway in heavy current: in heavy current, you can make better headway by using the motor and the mirage drive together.
• Turn on a dime.

Cons

• It's freaking expensive. At almost $2000, it's more expensive than most kayaks. $700 of that total price is the battery.
• Adds 18lbs to your kayak.
• One more thing to charge.
• 2 more things to put on the kayak before launch and to take off afterwards (battery + remote throttle)
• Rudder is less effective when unpowered: although the motor assembly does work relatively well as a rudder, it is not nearly as good as the original or sailing rudder. Under power however, even very little power, it turns very well.
• Rudder is more difficult to deploy/stow. (This can be fixed, see below.)
• Fishing line can get stuck in prop.
• Potentially less exercize, but that's really up to you.
• A little noisy.

What you get

• Motor
• Mirage drive motor assembly: You can drop it into your mirage drive well.
• Rudder motor assembly: With some realtively easy modifications, the motor attaches seamlessly to the rudder twist & stow assembly. It replaces the rudder blade.
• Remote Throttle: It's what you use to control your throttle. It also displays remaining charge, speed, throttle and range. It attaches using a ram mount.
• Battery: Sealed/Waterproof Lithium-Manganese high-performance battery - 320 Wh (11Ah at 29.6V). The battery houses the GPS receiver.
• Cables: A fat cable goes from the battery to the motor. A small cable goes from the battery to the remote throttle.
• Battery charger
• Mounting Hardware: ram ball and arm and various nuts and bolts, seals, cable caps, etc...

Installation

It took me about 2 hours to install on my rudder. There are 3 holes to drill in the kayak. I placed my battery in the forward hatch to help offset the weight of the motor on the back. I mounted the remote throttle in the storage area forward of the right-side cup holder (Revo 11).

Rudder Mount vs Mirage Well Mount
I chose to mount it on my rudder, because I still use the Mirage drive a lot. I also like being able to stow the rudder/motor it in shallow water.

Twist & Stow Issues
The weight of the motor on the rudder makes it very difficult to stow and deploy the rudder using the stock up and down lines. In order to resolve this problem, I created a pulley system on the lines to make them easier to pull. With a 2:1 purchase it is twice as easy to pull the rudder up or down, at the expense of having to pull it twice as far. It is now EASY to pull up. Info on this here: http://www.hobiecat.com/forums/viewt...8bcb0557096915

Safeties

The motor will stop completely if:

• The magnetic key detaches from the remote throttle
• The angle of the motor becomes unusual because you have hit something or turtled

What they could do better (aside from the obvious faster, longer, lighter)

• Remote Throttle: Scotty, beam this thing back to 1970! It looks like a prop from Star Trek. They really could have done better. It's too big. The throttle arm is on the left... it should be on the right to avoid your legs accidentally hitting it while pedalling. The display will tell you, in miles, how much farther you can go on the remaining charge at the current throttle. If for some reason you are not able to get a GPS signal, it will display, instead, how much time you have left on the remaining charge. I actually prefer knowing how much time I have left (rather than distance), but there is no way to see that if the GPS is working. It would be nice if you could toggle that. The display is hard to read in the sun, especially when salt water has splashed it.
• Rudder control: with just a little more surface area, they could have made the rudder a lot more effective when unpowered. I know several other guys who have modified their evolves to improve their rudder control.

Run Time

It takes maybe 8-10 hours to fully charge the battery. By plugging the remote throttle into the battery while charging, you are able to see the charge level.

On a full charge, your mileage will vary greatly, depending on current, wind, waves, weight and throttle. The remote display is very useful in finding that sweet spot. I find that in many situations, full throttle only gets me about 0.4 MPH faster than half throttle. You can get from 3-20 miles on a charge. That is a wide range and it depends on the factors mentioned above. Usually, I will get about 8 miles. You can run about 18 hours at low throttle to, for example, stay stationary in current (that's why I would prefer to see the remaining time rather than distance... distance is always 0 when you're not moving.)

Conclusion
Bottom line, I love it because it allows me to fish more.

[DaveFX35]

Nice write up Mike. I've been toying with the idea of getting one but can't get over the price tag. On long sessions I find myself wishing I had it but overall do enjoy the exercise. I think once I make my way down FL this year I might scoop it up along with an Outback. Revo 11 for short outings and Torqeedo Outback for long sessions.

Some might say having to register and get a sticker would be a con. I bet that thing hauls ass on the lightweight Revo 11

[HokieDJ]

Welcome to the club! You'll love it when you make it out to the 1st Island and then cruise back at the end of the day.

And yes, fishing lines in the prop sucks. You'll need to tighten the rudder down also because the current will tend to drag the motor up. Do the carbon fiber mod for the rudder and it should be a lot better.

[sparky1423]

Great article Mike! I was pondering on the idea this winter, actually leaning more towards the mirage drive location. It would be disastrous to the mirage drive hardware if I were to hit a shallow rock though...need to make sure I was fishing deeper water for the day.

In the end, I enjoy (and need) the exercise...plus pedaling comes effortlessly with or against current. It's more of time on the water and distance that the evolve is appealing to me.

[Shady]

Wow, nice write up! Hopefully this brings more people to the darker dark side...

[hookmeup]

Thanks Mike, very comprehensive and informative.

[daddyg]

Nice write up. I just joined the darker side this past Sunday. My son and I stop to see Dennis (BACKYARD BOATS) and with my tax refund I ordered the eVolve for his Outback. My PA. will just have to suffer for now I do have the larger rudder coming from ACK. I will let you know how it works as soon as I can.

[Yak Fish]

Thanks for the write up. I'm really ready to pull the trigger but I hate the price tag too. I've no problem spending the money if I felt it was good value, but compared to the price of another kayak it just seems crazy. Eh, I'll still probably convince myself. I saw another version with a ram ball to mount the motor off the back, which allows you to keep your sailing rudder. Memory Maker does that on hit PA which I think is the only choice, but I don't see people doing it on the smaller hobies.

[FRED driver]

My dad just pulled the trigger on the torqeedo 403 for his outback. (Same motor, no hobie up charge) and had BYB do a custom stern install to allow the sailing rudder to remain in place and usable (addressing Yak Fish's above concerns--agreed, I think giving up the rudder is no bueno). Nulls out the effect of having the blanked out, smaller evolve rudder while not under power and at a more affordable tag.

[Hemingway]

OK guys, I am not getting it. What is the attraction? If most of you are physically unable to paddle any longer, then maybe I understand. For me personally, I enjoy the physical aspect of being on the water...the zen like rhythm of the paddle strokes over and over puts me in touch with the sea. The very essence of kayak fishing is that oneness. That peacefulness that comes from a good paddle (even without a bite) still makes for a great day. As far as fishing time...I am usually on the troll as soon as I leave the ramp (some of my nicest stripers and speckled have been within 200 yds of the launch). The time that I will no longer be able to paddle may not be to far off (I am 64), but when that time comes ... A 16' Jon boat with a 25 hp motor for less that $3,000 seems like a practical way to go.

[FRED driver]

Some get a kayak to kayak, and then add fishing as an afterthought. Others get a kayak as a means to get to fishable water otherwise unaccessible or difficult to get to in a boat. Most of those in the thread that have gotten a Torqeedo/Evolve are in the latter category looking to expand their range. The only reason I have a kayak is to fish, and the torqeedo increases the range and puts me on more fish. It's not a question of physical ability, it's a question of water coverage--I was routinely putting over 10 miles a day on the yak but wasn't able to fish for much of that time. The motor gets you to more fishable water quicker, bottom line. Also a great safety feature for bad weather.

[Memory Maker]

Try 1 ....... You might get a different Zen ......... Especially with a 15 mph headwind, 3mph tide , whitecaps and 2 miles to go ........... The rhythm of those fast and frequent paddle strokes over and over definitely puts you in touch with the sea ....... Faceful after faceful ......... And on days that you wish to ...... You can still paddle, pedal or sail .........and with an engine you can even get to farther places and back away from structure and keep in position hands free while fishing etc ....... Even use it as a fan ..... And a kayak is not a poor mans boat or a boat replacement ........ Both have their place and purpose ......

[Hemingway]

Some get a kayak to kayak, and then add fishing as an afterthought. Others get a kayak as a means to get to fishable water otherwise unaccessible or difficult to get to in a boat. Most of those in the thread that have gotten a Torqeedo/Evolve are in the latter category looking to expand their range. The only reason I have a kayak is to fish, and the torqeedo increases the range and puts me on more fish. It's not a question of physical ability, it's a question of water coverage--I was routinely putting over 10 miles a day on the yak but wasn't able to fish for much of that time. The motor gets you to more fishable water quicker, bottom line. Also a great safety feature for bad weather.

Thanks that helps. I have had a few commutes to fish, and wished for a faster yak, but I will probably just get a differ model of boat (because I obviously enjoy the paddle). The safety is a great point, I have been in waves in the yak that I would never want to be in a small Jon boat.

[Hemingway]

Try 1 ....... You might get a different Zen ......... Especially with a 15 mph headwind, 3mph tide , whitecaps and 2 miles to go ........... The rhythm of those fast and frequent paddle strokes over and over definitely puts you in touch with the sea ....... Faceful after faceful ......... And on days that you wish to ...... You can still paddle, pedal or sail .........and with an engine you can even get to farther places and back away from structure and keep in position hands free while fishing etc ....... Even use it as a fan ..... And a kayak is not a poor mans boat or a boat replacement ........ Both have their place and purpose ......

Been there...with 8 miles to go and 5 more mph of wind, one of most memorable days I have had on the water! Averaged under 1 mph for 4 hours straight. And truth be said, that steady zen pace is what made it possible. It would have been just another day on the water for your motor boaters...see the fun you would have missed lol. But on second thought, it was the second day of a 30 mile overnight trek, you probably would have been paddling all those expensive batteries and motors right beside me

[Memory Maker]

Yeah ....... My engine broke the day I fished with you and I had to pedal the the weather ruined the rest of the weekend ........... Zen is different for everyone ....... Mine is in building a better yak and buying the stuff to make it better including stuff to fish with ......... It's not sweating my a$$ off pedaling/paddling umpteen miles and tempting Neptune ........I don't get why people think paddle fishing is Zen when they can fish hands free farther and safer. To me it's being able to pedal,paddle,sail,motor whenever I want to .... It's being able to fish when and where I want to with the tackle I want ........ It's being able to adjust my ascot without spilling my martini while I take in the sights ...... smiling and waving to the purists in their plastic boats that are sweating and panting while desperately pitting their vary existence against Neptunes tizzy.

Different strokes for different strokes ........... I have to smile when some one smugly calls themselves a purist when they are paddling a plastic boat ......... Each to their own