Switch our boats to electric

Oliver Neighbourly Lead from One Tree Point

One of the ways that the boaties among us could contribute to a low-emissions future would be to get an electric motor for our boats, or even switch to an electric boat, when an opportunity presents itself.
It would mean a much quieter experience, creating only a sixth of the carbon emissions of a petrol or diesel engine (or even less when charged from home solar or at night time), and requiring less maintenance, while also reducing pollution.
Initially it won't be cheap, though - but when in our history has the cleaner, quieter, safer, more efficient and cheaper to run version of a product ever costed less than its inferior siblings?
One of the regional businesses already providing electric boat options for sale and hire is The New Zealand Electric Boat Co. in Kerikeri.
As we transition away from fossil fuels, the oversupply of fossil-fuel vehicles and devices (cars, boats, engines, power tools etc.) will be offered to us at dumping prices, just to get rid of them, and some of us will go for that. We could however look at going electric as an investment in our collective future, and when doing a proper total cost of ownership calculation the higher purchase price or cost of retrofitting to go electric is regularly offset over time by lower running and maintenance costs, not to mention the additional benefits of reduced emissions and noise pollution, and increased air and water quality.