It was only a matter of time: electric boats

Following the attention electric cars recently received from the movie "Who Killed the Electric Car?", here's news of a plan to build an electric fishing/pleasure boat.

Three San Diego-based entrepreneurs with different backgrounds but who enjoy fishing want to bring a 42-foot eco-friendly boat to market. Called the Electro-Mariner, the boat would eliminate the oily diesel smell and the high price of fillups from each ocean voyage.

The partners are testing a 1/40^th scale model. They hope the finished product could hold enough charge for a 100-mile round trip. They say diesel boats go about 1.5 miles on a gallon of fuel that costs $4.35. They estimate it would cost $50 to fully charge the batteries.

The unique design would store the batteries in each of the twin hulls and add solar panels for additional power. Cost would be in the $850,000 range.

[Source: The Log]