torqeedo travel 1003 for sale

• BOAT OF THE YEAR
• Newsletters
• Sailboat Reviews
• Boating Safety
• Sailing Totem
• Charter Resources
• Destinations
• Galley Recipes
• Living Aboard
• Sails and Rigging
• Maintenance

Torqeedo Travel 1003 Electric Outboard: Banishing the Fumes

• By Webb Chiles
• Updated: January 8, 2013

Torqeedo Travel 1003

The joy of sailing. A finely balanced hull cutting through waves. Blue sky above. Salt spray sparkling across the bow. Warm breeze against skin. A delightful whiff of gasoline. Wait! Stop! And I did, upon noting the first sniff of gasoline that I’ve detected on any boat that I’ve owned, over a span of almost 40 years.

Gannet , the Moore 24 I bought in 2011, came with not one but two gasoline outboards. I thought I’d keep whichever was more reliable—until that first whiff. Moore 24s have open interiors with limited places to stow outboards and jerry jugs of gasoline below, and I keep my decks uncluttered. On a passage, I’d inevitably find myself sleeping next to the outboard and gasoline and oil. It wasn’t going to happen.

Although before I made my first circumnavigation in her, I sailed the engineless, 37-foot Egregious in and out of her slip in San Diego, having no engine on Gannet was not an option. Her then home, North Point Marina on Lake Michigan, near the Illinois/Wisconsin border, with 1,500 slips the biggest freshwater marina in the world, doesn’t permit “sailing, rowing, paddling, or sculling” inside the breakwater. Neither do many other marinas. You may have noticed that the world is falling apart. Perhaps that’s happening because it’s being run by powerboaters.

After some research, I ordered a German-made electric Torqeedo Travel 1003—and learned that it isn’t easy being green. Why? First, in this case, is cost, and second is range.

A Travel 1003 costs roughly $2,000, more than twice the price of a gas outboard of similar power, and has a range of 2 to 16 miles. The 2 miles is at full throttle, when the 520-watt-hour battery will be discharged in 30 minutes. The 16 miles is at low throttle, when the battery will last eight hours.

On the light and easily driven Gannet , I’ve found that at medium throttle, which provides a speed of 2.5 knots, the battery is good for about three hours and a distance of 7 miles. In practice, this means that in and out of the harbor twice leaves the battery close to needing to be recharged, a task that takes more than 23 hours. Even with a boat that sails well, this short range presents problems.

When coastal cruising, I want to be at the next harbor before dark, and I like to start early. Powering across smooth water at first light before the wind comes up has its charms. With the quiet but not completely silent Torqeedo—there’s a not unpleasant whirring sound—those charms aren’t much compromised. But not many miles are covered, either.

Torqeedo offers a possible solution: a solar panel that rolls up for storage and is said to provide unlimited range in bright sunlight. This panel costs $1,000. Nevertheless, I requested and received one for my 70th birthday. Being old has its compensations.

I knew the dimensions of the panel, but sometimes you have to see something to really understand. When the box arrived, I thought it big. When I opened it and unrolled the panel, Carol, my wife, immediately said, “There’s no place for that on Gannet .” And within the length of its connecting cord, there wasn’t. I sent the panel back.

I’m considering buying a second battery, for $700, that would more than double my range by allowing one battery to be used while the other is being partially recharged by the boat’s main electrical system with its own solar panels. This would also increase the cost of being green to about three times that of an equivalent 3-horsepower gas outboard.

Having said all this, I don’t regret my choice at all.

The good news begins just after I place the clever Moore 24 outboard bracket in its slot in the stern. The bracket is easy to insert and remove even while the boat is under way, and so is the three-part Torqeedo, which, at 31 pounds for the long-shaft version, weighs about the same as a comparable gas outboard. On the advice of a former Moore 24 owner, I bought the long-shaft version. He meant well, but this was a mistake. The short shaft would’ve worked, saved a pound, taken up less room below, and not required special manipulation to clear the water when the engine isn’t in use.

On our first venture into Lake Michigan with the Torqeedo, I found that even when the engine was locked in the raised position, the long shaft left the prop partially dragging in the water, undercutting sailing performance and creating far more noise than the engine does in use. The solution—to tilt the engine more and secure it with sail ties to the stern-pulpit stanchions—means that I have to remove the tiller arm and stow it below. Slightly awkward, but necessary.

With the shaft tightened to the outboard bracket by two plastic-handled bolts, the battery is slipped into its slot, lowered, then locked by inserting a plastic pin. Finally, the tiller arm is attached and two electric cables connected: one from the battery to the shaft, the other from the tiller arm to the battery.

I’m struck by three things in this process: how well the Torqeedo is engineered and designed, how easy it is to mount and assemble, and how clean the parts are. No grease. No oil. No scrubbing my hands before I touch anything else.

My only reservation about the quality of the Travel 1003 is that the electrical cable connectors are plastic rather than metal and raise a concern about eventual cross threading. Thus far, I haven’t had a problem, but I do think metal connectors would be better and more appropriate on what is a top-end product.

With the Travel 1003 assembled comes a great moment: instant, one-finger starting. Press a button on the tiller arm and the Torqeedo is on, although the only way you know that is by the tiller-arm display lighting up. No repeated pulling on a cord. No curses. No fiddling. Not even a sound. In fact, there’s wonder and doubt that the engine is on, relieved by twisting the tiller handle and seeing the big, two-bladed prop turn. Back to neutral and absolute silence.

The Travel 1003 has forward, reverse, and, for 2,050-pound Gannet , ample power and torque. I don’t know how fast it will drive the little boat, but I’ve had her at 6 knots in one brief burst.

I knew my speed from the remarkable tiller-arm display, with built-in GPS, that shows the percentage of remaining battery charge, remaining range at the current speed, speed over ground, and consumption in watts. Increasing rpm and observing the often-dramatic decrease in range is instructive. An alarm sounds when battery charge drops to 30 percent.

I’ve only approached setting off that alarm once, when haze and a wind shift caused me to come in a mile downwind of the breakwater entrance. Unfortunately, I lowered sails before I realized my mistake. Gannet dislikes being powered into chop, and I had to keep increasing rpm to make any headway. Lesson learned, I’ve subsequently been more careful on my returns to the marina, and I’ve added jib-furling gear so I can resume sailing without having to haul a jib back on deck.

Engines are necessary because people have made them necessary.

I don’t take exception to North Point Marina’s rules. More than 1,500 boats trying, on a busy weekend, to use one narrow, partially silted over entrance, with some of them short-tacking under sail in front of confused powerboaters, is certain chaos and probable disaster.

Harbors all over are now laid out with the expectation that vessels have engines. To clear in with officials in many ports requires tying to docks impossible to reach under sail. So an engine or a tow is needed for the last few hundred yards. And I need an engine for the .75-mile trip from my slip to beyond the maelstrom of powerboat wakes at the breakwater entrance.

For those distances, and for me, the Torqeedo Travel 1003 is excellent.

Webb Chiles has moved Gannet to San Diego to prepare her for his next voyage. Kindle editions of his books are available from Amazon.com .

To read another family’s account of using the Torqeedo, click here .

• More: apparel , Electronics , Gear , Green Wakes , hardware , propulsion , torqeedo

C-Map Updates North America Charts

Setting Course for a More Sustainable Future

Raymarine Expands LightHouse Charts

Push-Button Convenience

Charting a New Course

Sailboat Review: Jeanneau Yachts 55

Cruising with a Pet

Fatty Goodlander: Have Little, Want Less

• Digital Edition
• Customer Service
• Privacy Policy
• Email Newsletters
• Cruising World
• Sailing World
• Salt Water Sportsman
• Sport Fishing
• Wakeboarding

Product Reviews

Torqeedo’s Travel 1003

Clean, quiet outboard power

From Issue   September 2015

Torqeedo’s outboards with ratings up to an equivalent of 8 hp are designed without anti-ventilation plates. The foil-sectioned shafts on all but the smallest outboard aid in keeping surface air from getting to the prop.

F or decades I resisted boating under power and took pride in getting where I wanted to go under my own steam or under sail. That changed when I had kids: they were too young to help with rowing, the summer winds are usually too light for getting anywhere by sailing, and the joy of hanging out with them meant more to me than manning the oars. I built a Caledonia yawl with them in mind and installed a motor well. I bought a small 2.5-hp Yamaha outboard—a four-stroke to avoid leaving behind a cloud of stinky blue smoke typical of two-stroke outboards—but it still had an environmental impact in both the fuel it consumed and the peace it disturbed. For the past 11 years, Torqeedo has worked to eliminate both with their electric motors. In 2010 I tried the smallest motor they produce, the Ultralight, on a kayak. The equivalent of a 1-hp motor, the Ultralight would drive the kayak at an impressive 4 ¼ knots and an exciting 5 ½ knots after I added a foil-shaped fairing to the tubular shaft.

The two Travel motors are the smallest of the Torqeedo outboards. The Travel 503 is rated as the equivalent of a 1.5-hp gas motor; the Travel 1003, the equivalent of a 3-hp. I tried the Travel 1003S (S for short shaft) on three different boats: the Caledonia yawl, a Whitehall, and an Escargot canal boat. Torqeedo lists the shaft length for the Travel 1003S at 62.5 cm (24 5/8″), a measurement from the bearing surface of the mounting bracket to the center of the prop. On gas outboards the shaft length is commonly measured to the anti-ventilation plate, not the propeller axis; the Travel 1003 has no anti-ventilation plate, but I measured 46.5 cm (18 ¼″) to where one would be. That’s roughly the maximum span between the bottom of the hull and the site for the mounting bracket. The shaft length for the Travel 1003L is listed as 75cm/29.5″.)

Disassembling the motor makes it much easier to stow out of the way when it’s not needed. The long pin locks the battery pack in place.

The Travel 1003 weighs 30 lbs, 7 lbs less than my Yamaha, and it separates into three pieces—the tiller and its computer just shy of 2 lbs, the battery at 12 lbs, and the lower unit about 16 lbs—making it a whole lot easier to move around, mount, and stow.

Set in the motor well of a Caledonia yawl, the Travel 1003 S reached a maximum speed of 5 knots. The orange pin on the bench locks the shaft when the boat’s rudder is used for steering. The orange tab on the tiller is a magnetic kill switch.

I used the Travel 1003 first on my Caledonia yawl, a 19′ 6″ x 6′ 2″ double-ender. With the motor at full throttle, the yawl peaked at 5.0 knots. My Yamaha logged a top speed of 5.8 knots. (I have an electric trolling motor rated at 40 lbs of thrust, but it falls so far short of the Travel 1003 that I don’t bother including it in these trials.)  A built-in computer with GPS shows the percentage of battery charge and the distance it will take you at the speed indicated. At full speed a full charge had a cruising range of 2.4 nm. At 4 knots that range increased to 6.3 nm, at 3 knots 9.5nm, and at 2 knots 15.6 nm. The speeds and ranges I recorded were consistent with Torqeedo’s data for the Travel 1003 .

Ranges predicted by the Travel 1003 for a full battery charge with three boats at various speeds

There is a slight lag in the response to the throttle, and the motor will ramp up to the selected speed rather than apply full power immediately. That keeps the boat from lurching about, and, I imagine, prolongs the life of the motor and the boat. Even with the lag and ramp-up, I was impressed with how quickly the Travel 1003 could bring the yawl from 5 knots at full speed ahead to a dead stop: just 3 seconds and less than two boat-lengths.

The Travel 1003 operates in reverse, and a latch keeps the shaft locked down to prevent the prop from climbing. The yawl made 3.5 knots with the Travel 1003 in reverse at full throttle. (The Yamaha does not have reverse but rotates through 360 degrees, as does the Travel 1003.) Releasing the latch allows the motor to kick up over obstructions while moving forward and to be raised to reduce the drag while rowing or sailing. A removable pin will lock the Travel 1003 facing straight ahead for steering with a boat’s rudder.

The Travel 1003 is quiet but not completely silent. It has a whine that rises in pitch and volume as the throttle gets cranked up, but even at its loudest it is neither an impediment to a conversation nor anywhere near as loud as my gas outboard. It doesn’t vibrate either, so there’s no rattling anywhere on the boat. Its relatively quiet operation at low-to-moderate speeds is great for dinner cruises. I’m used to gauging speed by the racket my gas motor makes when moving along at a good clip, but even at full throttle, the sound the Travel 1003 makes belies how fast the boat is moving; it’s more like sailing than motoring.

On my 14′ lapstrake Whitehall the Travel 1003 peaked at 5.5 knots. (I didn’t—and wouldn’t—try to mount the heavier Yamaha on the transom—there’s little buoyancy in the stern.) I also did trials with my son’s 19′ 6″ x 6′ Escargot canal boat , weighing over a half ton with gear and two of us aboard. It brought the canal boat up to 4.4 knots, just slightly slower than the Yamaha at 4.7 knots.

Torqueedo claims on its website that the Travel 1003 “can do everything a 3-hp petrol outboard can, plus it’s environmentally friendlier, quieter, lighter, and more convenient.” The latter half of that is certainly true, but I’d suggest the former isn’t a good comparison to make. According to the owner’s manual, my Yamaha has a maximum output of 2.5 horsepower or 1.8 kW at 5,500 rpm, while the Travel 1003 display reads 1,000 watts (1.0 kW) at full throttle with  maximum propeller speed listed by Torqeedo at 1,200 rpm. Going by the numbers gets murky. The Yamaha rating is for propeller-shaft horsepower, and the Torqeedo rating is for input power with propulsive power at 480 watts; static thrust is listed as 68 lbs, but that’s not calculated the same way as it is for trolling motors. Torqeedo offers some clarification on the terms and their equivalence with gas outboards, but my sea trials for top speed didn’t bear that out for the Travel 1003, even up against a 2.5-hp instead of a 3-hp gas outboard.

I haven’t made precise mileage calculations for my gas outboard, but one measurement I made on Google Earth for a passage on a full tank of gas (0.24 gallon) was 6 miles, running at about two-thirds throttle. That’s 25 miles per gallon. At a comparable speed the Travel 1003 will cover about the same distance. To extend the range of my gas outboard, I’ll carry two 2.5-gallon gas cans for a range of 125 miles. For the Travel 1003, an extra battery, at $650, brings the range to 16 miles. For charging away from home, Torqeedo offers a 50-watt solar charger for the Travel 1003, and it is possible to recharge its battery from an in-board 12-volt system. In my experience recharging was an overnight process, only slightly more than the 14 hours listed by Torqeedo; the latest models have cut that time  in half. While I don’t have to think much about my range with my gas outboard, the Travel 1003 would require some thoughtful planning to achieve the same range for an extended cruise. If your outings with the Travel 1003 aren’t pushing the limits of its range, you can use the energy for other purposes: its battery has a port you can use to charge electronic devices.

Christopher Cunningham is the editor of Small Boats Monthly.

Torqeedo  distributes its products through a network of dealers and offers the Travel 1003  for $1,999 with a two-year warrantee.

Thanks to reader Elliot Arons for suggesting this review.

A Cautionary Tale

When I tested the Travel 1003 on my Whitehall, I put thin plywood pads on the varnished transom to protect it from the motor’s mounting bracket and turned the screws down as tight as I could, knowing they wouldn’t leave their mark on the mahogany. The Whitehall isn’t meant to carry an outboard, let alone maintain trim with the weight of a motor and its operator well aft, so I sat as far forward as I could and still keep a hand on the motor’s tiller. I made a few runs, back and forth in a protected canal, some at full speed. On the last run, while at full power, the tiller slipped suddenly from between my fingers and the motor turned 90 degrees, pushing parallel to the transom. It then twisted almost to horizontal and then slipped off the transom. I lunged for it as it went overboard and got a hand on the tiller. The magnetic kill switch disengaged and the prop stopped turning. I thought I had averted disaster, but as the boat carried forward, the angle between the tiller and the motor opened up and they parted, just as they’re meant to do if you’re disassembling the pieces for transport or storage. The cable from the tiller didn’t have a connection strong enough to hold the battery and lower unit, and down they went. I was left holding the tiller, a bit stunned.

To recover the motor I needed to find it first, then snag it. The underwater video system and a hastily made grappling hook did the job.

I went home and made a grappling hook out of steel rod and connected it to my Harbor Freight underwater video camera. I was feeling hopeful about recovering the motor—it had gone down in a narrow stretch of water, and I had a pretty good idea of where it would have come to rest. Unfortunately, the water in the area was about 25′ deep and the light on the bottom was dim, so the video camera could show only a narrow swath of the sandy bottom. The next day I tried again, but it was too difficult to manage the boat and control the depth of the camera at the same time. I returned with my son Nate, and we were about to give up when he spotted the motor. It went in and out of the camera’s view, but after 20 minutes he got the hook on the power cable and brought the motor and battery up.

The Travel 1003 has an IP67 rating and is waterproof for 30 minutes at 1 meter, but not for two days at 25′. The red indicator light on the battery case blinked on a few times, and that was its last sign of life. I opened the case to get the water out of it and the damage to the batteries and the circuit board was evident.

I can’t fault the Travel 1003. I’m not sure what caused the sudden turn, but with the motor running at full power I should have had a firm grip on the tiller. The Travel 1003 can rotate 360 degrees and can be oriented parallel to the transom. My Yamaha is the same way and has, on two occasions, twisted its bracket a bit out of position when turned 90 degrees and gunned for tight maneuvering. Larger outboards may have stops to limit their steering range and lessen the chances of prying themselves off a transom. The plywood pads I used to protect my Whitehall’s transom may have lessened the Travel 1003’s grip, but if my calculation for the torque created—140 ft-lbs—is correct, it may have dislodged itself even without the pads.

Three precautions come to mind for small outboards that can rotate to 90 degrees on either side. A solidly anchored cleat along the edge of the transom where the motor is attached would serve as a stop for the clamps on the inboard side. Some commercially made pads for the inside face of the transom have a lip at the top meant to keep a loosened clamp from slipping off. (They require more time to get the motor in place; a couple of slots cut off-center alleviate that problem.) Secondly, a safety cable or chain can tether the motor to the boat. My Yamaha has a hole in the mounting bracket meant for a cable and includes a recommendation in the instruction manual to use it. The Travel 1003 has holes in the clamp screw handles that can serve as safety-cable attachment points; a note about using them as such would be a worthy addition to its user manual. Finally, hang on to the tiller.— CC

Epilogue (October 2, 2015)

While it was clear to me that an outboard capable of rotating through 360° has the potential to turn to 90°—parallel to the transom—and wrench itself out of position or tear itself off entirely, I didn’t understand what had caused the motor to turn in the first place. I found a likely explanation in the September/October issue of WoodenBoat magazine. That issue’s “Getting Started in Boats” feature is “A Small Outboard Motor Primer” by Jan Adkins. Jan describes “The Death Spiral,” a common accident in which the operator of an outboard skiff is thrown overboard by a sudden turn and often severely injured when the boat circles around. Here’s the cause of the spiral: “For any reason (inattention, slippery hands, a reflex to reach for something) the helmsperson’s steering hand leaves the outboard tiller/handle. Unequal resistance between the deep propeller blade and the shallow propeller blade exerts torque that twists the outboard to port. The small boat turns violently to starboard….”

In my case, I had a loose grip on the tiller and the motor twisted itself off the transom rather than cause a sharp turn to starboard. Because the boat hadn’t turned violently and I had been looking over the bow at the time, I don’t have a clear memory of which way the motor had turned (and I had revarnished the transom of my Whitehall) but the slight scars that remained indicated that the motor had indeed twisted to port. (The Travel 1003’s propeller has a right-hand rotation—clockwise when viewed from astern—typical of outboards and would twist to port. A left-hand prop would cause a boat to turn to port.)

My Yamaha has a screw that increases the friction in the mount to lock the motor in position if I’m using a rudder to steer. If I’m steering with the motor I maintain a little friction so I can steer well but don’t have to “micromanage” the tiller. The Travel 1003 uses a pin to lock the motor for using a rudder to steer and without the pin the motor can rotate freely. Even though the Yamaha can be adjusted for turning friction, I’ll be much more careful with both motors when using them to steer.— CC

Share this article

Join The Conversation

We welcome your comments about this article. If you’d like to include a photo or a video with your comment, please email the file or link.

Comments (10)

I have had Torqeedo Travel 1003 for several years. It has a strong battery and will push my Norseboat 17.5 for about 10 miles at 3.0 knots. As you say, it is not a good choice for extended multi-day trips where recharging may be difficult, but for a day trip or overnight it’s great.

Aside from the advantages you mention, there is no winterizing, spark plugs to foul, or fuel to spill. Best of all it starts with a twist of the throttle. I feel confident sending my kids or friends out without worrying about their ability to get a gas motor running.

The only drawback, as you point out, is the range, which I bet most of us never exceed anyway. The advantages are far more persuasive to me. If everyone was already using Torqeedos and the gas outboard was introduced as an alternative, I bet very few people would by one.

We have a 1003 that we use on our 28′ Stuart Knockabout which displaces 4,000 lbs. We have a removable side bracket made of very heavy stainless. We had 4-hp Yamaha 4-stroke on it for years and you you could go straight to full throttle. First time we tried that with the 1003, the incredible torque cracked the bracket! After we had it rewelded, we now accelerate slowly and never go to full throttle until the boat has some way on her. Full throttle is just shy of 5 knots and we usually run at 3 if the wind dies. Great motor! I only wish the tiller display was easier to read without glasses!

It should be noted that, unlike a gas motor, the Torqeedo must be removed when sailing. According to the manufacturer, it can not be freewheeled without damage to the motor. This is a pain, especially when one wants to go just a short distance before switching to sail. The motor must be taken off and stowed before sailing. I never worry about drag on my Caledonia, so I would rather leave the motor in the well, but it’s a no-go.

Question: Can the Torqeedo tilt up out of water if mounted on a transom?

Yes, the Torqeedo Travel can be tilted up out of the water just like any small outboard motor, so you can raise it for sailing, rowing, or coming ashore without having to remove it from the transom.

As a Torqeedo dealer and user on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, let me offer a clarification about the Travel 1003’s horsepower. The motor has a power consumption of 1000 watts at top speed, which is equal only to about 1 1/3 hp. While this keeps power consumption low, it also keeps the motor under 2 hp, which is useful for boats like the SolarSkiff that are designed following the US Coast Guard standards for watercraft with engines under 2 hp. However, Torqeedo claims a propulsive force equivalent to that of a 3 to 4 hp gas engine: its electric motor is more efficient at converting its 1000 watt input power into propulsive output power, hence the 3-4 hp “equivalency.” My wife and I had a chance to put this power claim to the test this summer. We crossed the Bay of St. Louis in a two-person SolarSkiff for a group picnic at some friends’ home across the Bay. Going over in the late morning, the winds were light. Coming back, however, the afternoon seabreeze predictably began to fill in and it wasn’t long before we were motoring back against 12-knot winds, gusting to 15, with whitecaps everywhere. The Torqeedo Travel 1003 had the power to keep us moving against the wind and waves with no problem: we can’t do that with a 55 lb-thrust trolling motor! While I can honestly say that 12-mph winds are about the top that I would plan to be out on the water in a small craft with a Torqeedo, it both had the power and the range we needed that day for the 6-1/2 mile round trip. I did take my Torqeedo battery charger in my dry bag, though, and plugged the battery in while we enjoyed lunch with our friends, just to make sure we had sufficient power for the return home.

The most I have run my battery down is to 20% of its maximum capacity, with the motor conveniently and automatically beeping reminder warnings when it hits 30%, 20%, and 10% capacity. With the new lithium-ion battery design, it fully recharged in only 5 hours. The 7-hour recharge with the new battery is for a recharge of a fully discharged battery, whether plug-in or solar.

Chris, Congrats on the outstanding, detailed piece on the Torqeedo and the performance comparison to your Yamaha. I believe the current Torqeedo is a breakthrough product. I broke a long-time promise to myself never to sell my 5-hp 2-stroke Johnson. But, at long last, its 46-lb weight had become too much; its occasional hard-starting caused by water in that miserable fuel known as ethanol had become discouraging, as had the endless pulls on the starter cord.

There is little to add to your piece but the following may also be of help to those considering purchase of a Torqeedo. In your photo of the disassembled motor, there is a small orange peg shown beside the larger orange rod used to secure the battery to the motor. Although I have not found mention of it in the owner’s manual, the orange peg is meant to be inserted through a hole in the motor’s top portion into a hole in the leg. It prevents the head from rotating so the motor can’t be turned as accidentally happened to you when you least needed it. This would be of most use in an application where the boat’s rudder is there to steer with. It would not be practical on the transom of a rowboat where rotating the motor is needed for steering.

Oddly, I recall reading an owner review of the Torqeedo in which he complained that the mounting screws loosened up and his motor fell off. For whatever reason, this may be something owners should check before every outing to ensure things are really, really tight. It was good of you to note there are holes in the clamp handles by which they may be secured to the boat. The owner’s manual should mention this aspect. In my own application on the transom of an inflatable, I have one of those locking devices that slides over the clamping screw handles and effectively prevents them from loosening in any threatening manner. I can imagine your experience was quite unnerving.

As a motor for an inflatable or dinghy to get one from dock to mooring and back, the Torqeedo is perfect. I have found that full-throttle operation for about 25-30 minutes takes the battery down to about 62% but recharging at home has the battery back to full charge in rather little time. When I had the chance to use the Torqeedo 1003 longshaft as a sailboat auxiliary, I found that it easily moved a 3100-lb keel daysailer when the wind died. Putting it on the side bracket was a relative pleasure because, when broken down into its three main components, weight is not an issue. (I have tied a line from the battery to the battery mount rod so the latter can’t be lost overboard.) About 15-20 minutes running at part throttle brought us back to the mooring. Again, recharging was quickly done at home. The key for such an application, as the Stuart Knockabout owner noted, is the motor’s torque. I believe an electric motor develops peak torque at 0 rpm and that is key to getting a boat moving and then keeping it going steadily. But speed should not be a priority.

After one season, about the only improvements I can think of would be larger numbers on the readout display, a less abrupt response to initial throttle input—new owners should practice gingerly when first starting out if in a slip—and a somewhat greater tilt angle to get the skeg completely out of the water. The absence of need to winterize, let alone worry about storing or discarding fuel, are obvious plusses.

The 1003 is about twice the $900 price listed by West Marine for a Mercury 3.5 hp. If one has the right application need, I’d say the Torqeedo is well worth it.

Thanks for your comments, Stan. The small steering fixing pin is mentioned in the Travel 1003 manual on pages 9, 15, and 26 (do a search for “pin”), but there isn’t an illustration that shows it clearly. The pin gets put in place before the battery and once the battery is locked with the large locking pin, the small pin is secured.

I have an Able , a Selway Fisher design, in which I have a permanently installed 6-hp Tohatsu outboard. The engine is mounted on the centerline in way of the keel and I leave it down (in neutral) when sailing. Being in the draft of the keel the drag seems to be minimal. I would like to replace this with a powerpod of some sort, faired into the keel. I was considering a Torqueedo 1003 which I would use the power head and the controller. I did note that the Torqueedo manual says not to leave the unit freewheeling in the water when sailing as there would be damage to the electronics of the system. I am assuming that this is because, when free wheeling, the motor becomes a generator, sending an electrical charge back into the system. If this is the case, would: A: diodes (to negate electrical feedback) solve this problem? B: A mechanical stop on the prop? C: A master switch to disconnect the power from the power head? I think that there are many of us out here looking for a way to modify existing trolling motors to power our small craft. Spending $6,000.00 on an Elco pod is out of reach for most of us. I belong to the TSCA here on Cape Cod and this is a topic of conversation quite frequently. Many freshwater reservoirs and lakes are off limits to gas engines, so this would open up sailing venues for a lot of us. I’d love some feedback on this.

Comments are closed.

Stay On Course

More From This Issue

Boat Profile

I’ve had a copy of Phil Bolger’s book Boats With An Open Mind for a long time, and I’ve always liked the looks of the Clam Skiff he designed for…

The Sand Bar by Tidal Roots

I was paddling on a placid Royal River with my four-year-old son Noah kneeling in front of me on a wooden Tidal Roots stand-up-paddle (SUP) board. The water hissed quietly…

Investing in Memories

“Come TINTIN, come,” my four-year-old daughter hollered, then broke into a giggle. Her two-year-old brother threw back his head and let rip with his best belly laugh. We paddled, a…

Homemade Rivets and Roves

I recently needed a handful of long rivets to secure the sides of a centerboard trunk to its ledges and to fasten jaws to a boom. Even if I could…

The Taming of the Sheet

Most of us who build boats at home do not have the facilities needed to handle 4′ x 8′ sheets of marine plywood with ease. I’ve always found it challenging…

For decades I resisted boating under power and took pride in getting where I wanted to go under my own steam or under sail. That changed when I had kids:…

Reader Built Boats

Kevin Moroney grew up in South Salem, New York, not quite 10 miles south-southwest of Danbury, Connecticut; his home was near Truesdale Lake, a finger of water just shy of…

More Product Reviews

Eyoyo Underwater Video

Over the years I’ve been hoping to find a new underwater video system that was more compact and equally affordable, and recently decided to take a chance on the $140…

TripTips Retractable Portable Toilet

I’ve become accustomed to the comfort and convenience of portable heads, but they’re too big to carry aboard my canoes and small rowing boats. I’d still like to cruise in…

Cruz Camera

The monitor and camera have robust housings with a nicely textured finish that provides a good grip even when wet. The mounts are well designed and easily adapt to fit…

When I was living in a cabin I’d built in Washington State’s Cascade mountains, I was way off the grid and miles from the roadhead. I relied on my chainsaw…

Subscribe Today!

Become a subscriber today and you’ll recieve a new issue every month plus unlimited access to our full archive of backlogged issues.

Already a subscriber?   Sign In

Subscribe For Full Access

Flipbooks are available to paid subscribers only. Subscribe now or log in for access.

Torqeedo Travel 1003 C

Torqeedo Travel 1003 C The Travel 1003 C is a new and uprated version of Torqeedo’s award-winning Travel 1003. This new electric outboard takes the concept of clean silent propulsion further, by offering extended range and runtime. Surprisingly it does not do this at the cost of extra bulk and weight, and like the 1003 it comes with an integrated lithium battery. Recent advances in lithium battery technology have enabled Torqeedo to produce a 915Wh battery, with a 73% increase in battery capacity compared to the battery on the standard Travel 1003, and with an almost identical weight. Both Torqeedo 1003 models offer the same wide-open throttle performance as a 3hp petrol outboard motor. However, due to the fact that electric engines produce maximum torque from zero to maximum RPM, the 1003 has the thrust equivalent of a 4hp motor across its mid-range power delivery. Running the 1003 at its mid-range sweet spot makes good sense, as at full power any electric motor quickly digests its battery’s reserves, compared to running at 75% of its maximum output. The Travel range is designed for tenders, dinghies and dayboats up to 1.5 tons, for which it has already proven very successful. With a total weight of just 14.9kg, including the integrated lithium battery, Torqeedo claim that the Travel 1003 C is the lightest and most efficient electric outboard in its class on the market. As standard, the Travel 1003 C comes with a GPS system, a digital read-out that displays power consumption, battery status and remaining range (displayed in either time or distance), and a convenient USB socket for charging a phone or powering a light while out on the water. The battery, though mounted on the powerhead, is easily removed or changed for a spare should you need it. However, at £749 for a second 915Wh battery I imagine most people will consider this option carefully. Users can download Torqeedo’s innovative free TorqTrac smartphone application for use with the new Travel 1003 C. When combined with Torqeedo’s Bluetooth TorqTrac adaptor, the TorqTrac app displays all motor information on a smartphone or similar device, and allows you to plan your trip in advance and share your position on a map with an estimated time of arrival. It also has a navigation facility that allows you to create waypoints, enabling you to pick your way out to your mooring on the darkest of nights. Torqeedo also offer a range of innovative accessories for their entire range of motors, including handy travel bags for the engine and battery, as well as a foldable solar panel for convenient and environmentally friendly charging on the go. The 1003 C is tiller-steered, with a four-step trim setting, and is waterproof to IP67 standard. The new Travel 1003 C is available for the 2017 boating season in a standard and long-shaft version, and is priced from £1,699 (inc. VAT).

Contact www.torqeedo.com

Related Posts

Ryds 735 VI

The Sea Ray 210 Shootout – Outboard Versus Sterndrive

Capoforte SQ240

Overview: Navier N30

Overview: Galeon 450 HTC

Subscribe to the PBR Newsletter

Get all the latest news, reviews and exclusives, direct to your inbox

By clicking subscribe, you agree to receive news, promotions and offers by email from PBR. Your information will be used in accordance with our privacy policy .

• Скидки дня
• Справка и помощь
• Адрес доставки Идет загрузка... Ошибка: повторите попытку ОК
• Продажи
• Список отслеживания Развернуть список отслеживаемых товаров Идет загрузка... Войдите в систему , чтобы просмотреть свои сведения о пользователе
• Краткий обзор
• Недавно просмотренные
• Ставки/предложения
• Список отслеживания
• История покупок
• Купить опять
• Объявления о товарах
• Сохраненные запросы поиска
• Сохраненные продавцы
• Сообщения
• Уведомление
• Развернуть корзину Идет загрузка... Произошла ошибка. Чтобы узнать подробнее, посмотрите корзину.

Outboard Electrical Systems

Tohatsu outboard electrical systems, yamaha boat outboard electrical systems, suzuki boat outboard electrical systems, evinrude boat outboard electrical systems, honda boat outboard electrical systems.

The Marine Electronics Hub

• Electrical & Engines / Green Boating

The Travel 1003, a serious case of Torqeedo love

by Ben Ellison · Published July 25, 2011 · Updated June 29, 2020

About two months ago I received a Torqeedo Travel 1003 for long term testing, I’ve used it almost every day since, and, well, the title tells the story. I simply adore this electric outboard! Admittedly certain personal traits may be in play. Historically small gas outboards are a significant exception to my generally high success rate with mechanical boating issues; possibly related is my annoyance with the smell and noise of the damn things (and the hearing aids don’t help); and, finally, a faulty shoulder makes starting even a lawn mower somewhat painful. But then again I did not fall so hard for the original Travel 801 model that I tried in 2009…

Oh, the original Torqeedo design did impress me with its remarkable torque, its reliability, and its mild whirring sound (Torqeedos are not silent). But the LED “state of charge” indicators seemed vague, and without an expensive spare lithium-manganese battery, that meant that my range was also vague. The designers did try to compensate for this with a clever throttle system — twisting from neutral through full speed takes you to a slower, automated RPM calculated on what the remaining charge can sustain for an hour — but in practice that’s awkward. When you try to slow down from that calculated speed, the motor speeds up first!

There was also the fact that the Travel 801 tested in 2009 — which admittedly had been through the hands of another rough reviewer already — wouldn’t easily dissemble into quite as compact a bag of components as originally designed. And I subsequently heard that some owners had more significant corrosion issues. Which may account for the nearly complete redesign that Torqeedo did on the Travel series, as illustrated below. A few features were lost, like the ability to adjust prop and tiller height interdependently, and to take the battery off without detaching plugs, but the T1003 is still only 30 pounds and that’s before being fairly easily broken down into three components.

Plus the new design is IP67 waterproof — as Torqeedo convincingly demonstrated in this T1003 YouTube video — and it feels really solid. What’s especially neat, though, is the GPS and display built into the tiller assembly. You can not only get a percent-of-charge figure whenever you want, but also your speed underway and — most important — a variable range estimate based on current wattage drain…

I doubt that we would have attempted to circumnavigate a large, high island in our 11-foot tender, as documented below, either with the original Travel 801 or just with oars (though I like rowing and it fortunately doesn’t irritate my shoulder much). But it was easy, and very enjoyable, with the T1003. I’ve gotten so confident of its smooth throttle control that I regularly stand up and drive with a tiller extension, and the boat trims well with my best mate sitting forward in the middle seat. Altogether that was a cozy, quiet setup for enjoying the sights close in on the wild side of that island, while I could also keep an eye out for underwater ledges. (Standing up also means I can see traffic among all the moored boats in Camden Harbor well, as seen in the top photo.) And the 3.5 mile trip was absolutely no strain on the T1003’s battery either…

I saw 87% battery charge on the T1003’s 18 amp-hour battery (newly developed for 2011 and still only ten pounds) when we departed the anchored Gizmo and 44% when we got back, but I wasn’t really going for economy. We did cruise a lot of that shoreline at very slow battery-sipping speeds — heck, you can get down to a few RPMs if you’re trying to, say, approach an active osprey nest with maximum stealth — but I also gunned her for those open water legs, just for the hell of it. Now that only yields about 6 knots (and is also hell on the battery), but it’s a lot faster than I can row.

At any rate, in normal around-the-harbor mode, I can go for weeks without charging the 1003 (which can take up to 18 hours using either home 110 or Gizmo’s inverter). Torqeedo does offer a high-tech solar panel that outputs the needed high voltage, but it’s high price too, and it seems like the ideal set up for this little boat would also charge it’s EasyBailer system (another product I’m very fond of). The Travel 1003 at a retail price of $2,000 is not inexpensive either, but I don’t think that compares too terribly to small outboard costs even without taking into account all the pluses. I know for sure that I find this motor a joy to use, and it’s nicely extended big Gizmo’s gunkholing capabilities.

Related Posts:

Ben Ellison

Panbo editor, publisher & chief bottlewasher from 4/2005 until 8/2018, and now pleased to have Ben Stein as a very able publisher, webmaster, and editing colleague. Please don't regard him as an "expert"; he's getting quite old and thinks that "fadiddling fumble-putz" is a more accurate description.

176 Responses

• Comments 176
• Pingbacks 0

I am surprised more boaters don’t go the electric route for skiffs and dinghies.I have a one on my 9.5ft skiff. Just make sure your battery is fully charged and you’re off! No worries about old gas or stabalizers or clogged carbs,lower gear oil and on and on. The lack of noise is the main thing. Sigh..still have not seatrialed my 32ft cat with the cruise 2.0 ,hoping it will work out ok.

This is very timely, as I am looking for a new motor for my dingy. I watched the 1003 video on the Torqeedo web site, especially speed vs range. What is your experience Ben. Is this data reasonably accurate? Have you run any tests to determine how long it takes to discharge the battery at full throttle, at half throttle etc?

What, no photo credits ???

My concerns are: – No ‘throttle’ on the handle. Very nice when coming alongside. – Reverse. Preferably on the handle as well. – Ease to change a damaged prop away from the mother ship? – Use mother ship solar panels for charging? Terry

The throttle is definitely on the handle, Terry, reverse too. And reverse has serious torque too (note the 11.5″ two-bladed prop). I keep the 1003 locked down for fast stops and high power backing in Camden Harbor, but had it in kick up mode for that round island cruise. Dan, I thought I’d at least given you credit in the photo name, but not so. Sorry! World, that top photo was taken by Dan Corcoran with my camera a couple weeks ago in Camden. Thanks, Dan!

Peter, I’m also the owner of a 32 foot sailing cat. I’d love to hear more about your Cruise 2.0 setup. How do you charge your batteries, for example? Do you have a generator that you can run while motoring to extend your range? It seems quite a challenge to make these work on larger boats. Andrew

Hi Rick, the range indicator on the 1003 tiller display seems very responsive to speed changes, and the variation of ranges at different speeds is pretty startling, as Christoph Ballin suggests in that video. I believe there’s truth in that, and can feel it when rowing this boat. It takes very little energy — especially given the inefficiency of regularly lifting and repositioning the oars — to go quite slowly in calm conditions, but LOTS to go fast. I have not tested the accuracy of the range display, though, and it would be hard with this particular setup. For one thing, I can’t easily sit back where I can see it well without either putting the boat way out of trim or having a passenger of my size or larger way forward. Peter’s cat might be a better setup for this sort of testing, though maybe I could do something with the dinghy fixed to Gizmo. I might add that I got to meet Torqeedo founder Ballin at a demo last February in Miami, picture here: http://goo.gl/Gy26c And I saw him get some pretty sharp questioning about Lithium ION technology and safety from Ed Sherman and he responded with impressive knowledge and credibility. Ed has also become a Torqeedo fan: http://goo.gl/MSc0K

Hi Andrew I have seriously looked at the torqedos for a 10,000 pound cat. The Cruise 4.0R seems the best fit as a replacement for the ubiquitous Yamaha T9.9s, and the Cruise 2.0R looks great for cats under 6,000 pounds. There are suitable generators and battery banks on the market today for an efficient diesel/electric propulsion system, at a considerable price, which brought my research to a screaching halt. BUT It’s getting there!

Ben, I have looked at the Torqueedo over the years and the concept is great. But I think the one factor in getting this motor accepted in the boating world is the cost. Most of us boaters are cheap SOBs and I don’t think this will become more than a wealthy mans toy until the price gets into a realistic range for the average boater. Chuck

Chuck, I thought a Honda 2hp, which seems vaguely comparable, was going for about $1,100. But checking again I see that one can be had for $875 from Defender and elsewhere. And 2 – 3.5 hp Mercurys and Tohatsu’s seems to be in that same range, though none have a reverse gear, and I suspect the 1003 will push a bigger displacement boat. But as far as non-planing tender motors go, the price gulf is wider than I realized. And another bummer is that the Honda 2hp that came with Gizmo is worth less than I thought! But, then again, I saw a number of negative reviews when I just looked at small outboard shopping sites like West Marine, and I’ve never gotten my Honda started, though it looks nearly new and still had a winter service tag on it.

Ben, Both Nissan and Mercury 2.5 HP can be had in the $700.00 plus range if you research enough. Honda is heavy and not what they used to be. Lots of Honda OB owners are unloading them for reasons just like your problem. I would like to see companies like Torqueedo get real with pricing, the gap gets wider with the larger engine, so that those of us that want to get green and quiet could consider them as an alternative. We are in the market for a new OB right now but can’t pry all those dollars from my hands for electric. Add to that the thrust comparisons for the electric make it necessary to buy the more expensive model to make it comparable to the traditional OB. Chuck

I was seriously considering a Torqueedo for an inflatable to tool around the harbor with the kids. The manager of my local West Marine advised she had several customers with serious technical and customer service problems with their Torqueedo motors (unsure if new or old style). Any issues with yours yet, or interaction with their customer service? Do you suppose that 1003 would get a 9 foot inflatable on plane?

The Torqeedos have certainly come along way. Interesting to see more and more applications of these, particularly with the larger Cruise models.

@yachtvalhalla, Replacing a damaged prop on the 1003 is not difficult, but whether you could do it away from the mother ship depends on what tools you are carrying — I assume this is the case as well for a gas powered o/b. To replace the prop, you remove the prop nut with a 17mm socket (this is a bit more difficult if the shear pin is gone), then work the prop off. Drift out the shear pin and any parts left in the shaft (can you tell I’ve done this?), then put a new shear pin through the shaft and replace the prop. If you’ve done it before it takes about 10 minutes. /afb

@Brad, I very much doubt that the 1003 would get a 9′ inflatable on plane. We have a Walker Bay RID275 (8′ rotomold hull with 10″ tubes) that weighs about 100 lbs. Using the 1003, our maximum speed with two on board is about 5 kts. /afb

I have a similar setup. Walker Bay RID275 with Torqueedo 1003 and the whole package works really well. I used to have a Honda 2HP but decided to switch to the Torqueedo because the Honda is air cooled (meaning it’s quite loud) and very heavy for a 2 HP (it’s a 4 cycle motor). The Honda had been quite reliable but we got tired of having to stow an extra gas tank on board and we felt bad whenever we took our dog ashore early mornings. Nothing worse than waking everyone in the anchorage when taking your dog ashore. Damn thing sounded like a lawnmower. The Torqueedo is very quiet (but not completely silent). The range is good as long as you don’t twist the “throttle” too much. I wouldn’t recommend the smaller unit because it doesn’t have enough range based on my experience with the 1003. I would be afraid that I would constantly be recharging it. On the negative side, my Torqueedo 1003 has exhibited periodic “failures” where it refuses to turn over and displays various error codes. Disconnecting and reconnecting the battery resolves the issue. It doesn’t happen often and is easy to fix so it’s mainly irritating . I have only had this motor for about 5 weeks now so if this problem persists I will send it back for service at the end of the season. Also, I would not recommend this motor to anyone who needs to get to their destination in a hurry. We tend to run it at 2, 2.5 knots and this provides a decent speed and range. At this speed we can get many hours out of a single charge. Once you hit above 2.5 knots you will see your range drop dramatically. Not a problem if you have access to an AC power source but if you’re out cruising and don’t want to continuously recharge the battery, you better take it easy. The display mounted on the tiller is great and helps you get rid of “range anxiety”. One great feature is the motor will “beep” a couple of times to warn you once you hit 30% of reserve power. It will also do this every time you turn it on until you recharge it. Speaking of recharging. You can hook up the tiller unit to the battery while you are recharging it. This way you will see the status of the charge via the tiller’s lcd display. I would recommend this motor to anyone who wants to kick the “gas” habit as long as you are aware of the limitations. They are few but it’s not the same as having access to the horsepower and extended range of a gas engine. You also better be an outgoing person because you will asked about it in every anchorage you visit. We get flagged down constantly because people are still not used to seeing them around.

Hey Maurice, I’ve had the 1003 since May, and have enjoyed it with the wife and kids. It moves my 10 ft West Marine HP 310 inflatable nicely, not on plane but at about 5.5 mph, full throttle. Over the past two weeks though, I have also noticed the “E45” battery overcurrent error when I decelerate (causing the motor to stop and necessitating shutting off the power and restarting) and it happens rather frequently. Have you gotten this same error as well? It hasn’t affected traveling at full throttle, so the kids are happy, but I’ve notified Torqeedo and I’ll let you know what advice they may have about resolving this. I did try recalibrating the tiller per the Travel 1003 manual, and this seemed to help a little. I’ll try again this weekend and will keep you posted.

Paul, we get the same E45 battery problem if we jam the throttle too quickly in one direction or the other. It happened the first time when I hit a rock with the prop, and the second time when I hit a coral head. 🙂 The first hit broke a shear pin but the second just E45’ed and I was able to run again after shutoff. I have found that if I am a bit gentle with the speed changes I don’t get the error. I will be interested to see what Torqeedo support has to tell you. /afb

We would really like to rid ourselves of a gas powered outboard. Dinghies are a necessary pain in the a… We have considered this as an option but now wonder if a cheaper trolling motor is a viable solution. We would like a small inflatable and tag this on the stern for the times we need a dinghy. I would like a better solution to charge batteries underway than an inverter.

Last winter I installed the Torqeedo cruise 2.0 on my small sailing yacht, a Danish designed “Marsvin”, 22ft double ender. Power comes from 6 pcs lithium batteries, 270ah at 24volts, at 85 kgs. Shorepower in Europe is often of low amperage, so I decided for two 12volt chargers of 20amp. Additionally I installed a solar panel with high spec mppt controller, which can power the system a 4.5amp at 24 volt. The easily driven hull reaches  about 2knots only on sunshine! Depending on speed my range with full batteries is estimated between 15miles (at 6knots) to 45miles at 4knots. Range at 2knots is some hypothetical 150 miles even enhanced by the solar panel, but surely usable when motor sailing in light air. By the way: besides above I also installed a N2K system: maretron and airmar with ray autopilot. All system is monitored by iPad and iPhone. And: this system was inspired by this website. A few week ago I made a first sea trial: 75 miles solo on North Sea: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoO2DCoSjdI

Thanks, Joost; looks like a neat setup. Are there pictures anywhere online?

Joost,sounds like my system except for the batteries.. could you advise what type/brand of lithium you are using?

Ben, I forgot to mention my one big pet peeve about the 1003: The plastic threads on the cable locks. You’ve heard me on this one before (I’m looking at you, Garmin N2K cables), but given the constant connecting and disconnecting required with the Torqeedo the situation is much graver. I can almost never get the main battery cable connected without it at least starting to cross-thread. The N2K-style tiller cable is easier to manage because the cable isn’t as stiff as the high-current battery cable, but I still live in fear of the day that the threads on one or the other get badly mangled. Torqeedo claims “2011 improvements” to the 1003 but doesn’t say what they are. Are metal connectors among them? /afb

Hi Adam, I think the 2011 improvement is the 520 watt hour battery. The connectors are still plastic, both male and female. I’m careful with them but I think the real danger is combining metal and plastic threads, as sometimes happens in NMEA 2000 installs. I’d like to believe that a plastic-to-plastic cross thread could be healed.

Quick update on my last trip using the Torqueedo Travel 1003 on my Walker Bay dinghy. Just returned from a week’s vacation and used the Torqueedo daily. No more errors or issues using the OB except an annoying “squeak” that manifests itself whenever I turn the motor. I don’t know what kind of grease I can use to take care of this without affecting any of the plastic parts. Other than that the motor has been flawless on this trip.

@Moxieskipper, I get the same squeak, but it only started after we broke and replaced the shear pin. I noticed that despite it’s purpose the shear pin when breaking did dig into the prop somewhat, but I don’t know if the squeaking is related to that deformation or not. /afb

Interesting. In my case I find I hear the squeak each time I pivot the motor port or starboard whether the motor is running or not. The sound seems to come from the pivot point when the motor is in and out of the water. Sounds like a plastic bushing that’s dried out but I can’t tell if there are any bushings or anything serviceable in there.

Sharing what I have learned so far… I have a 2011 torqueedo 1003 on my macgregor 26s and it pushes it just fine, although not as fast as our old, completely infuritatingly unreliable, honda 5. With little to no wind i get the following approximate speeds and battery range(per the tiller handle GPS readout): 45 watts = 1mph = >10+ hours ( i can’t see the use of running at theis speed for very long) 100 watts = 2mph = 6+ hours 300 watts = 3mph = ~2 hours 650 watts = 4mph = ~1 hour 1025 watts (full)= ~4.5mph = 35minutes Much more efficient at low speed, obviously. I have yet to run the battery below 65%, tending to be on the conservative side and preferring to use the sails whenever possible. We have supplemented the sails in low wind situations with good results. The ‘throttle’ control is excellent, being able to run under10 watts in either direction makes for very controlled docking. Virtually silent when running this low too. Our gas motor that stalled below 1500rpm used to be very tricky in the same situation, usually drawing a crowd of springline catchers at the slip in case I timed it wrong and came in too hard. So it is a huge improvement. The electric is consistantly easy to use and with the exception of the occaisional E45 error code, has been problem-free. This error (so far) can be mitigated by disconnecting blowing on pins and reconnecting, sometimes more than once. It is however, mildly concerning that I would get this with a brand new product. The 1003l comes apart easily and can be unmounted from the stern and stored under deck when not in use. They recommend that the battery is not left out in the sun anyway. Torqeedo sells a solar charger that costs another thousand bucks… Too much for me, so i’ve improvised. This weekend I will run my new range-extension solar system for a two-day overnight cruise. I have concerns with the panel voltage dropping below what the torqeedo wants, so the following is my solution for now: costco deep cycle marine battery, an old 42 watt uni-solar panel, an old charge controller and some fittings/connectors that i picked up cheap. I can either charge directly from the battery with 12v via a barrel plug and some wire clamps, or, as an alternative, with a cigarette plug, a 200 watt inverter, & the supplied 120v charger. I expect that this step up then back down will result in substantial power/efficiency lost. If possible I will try to find a way to determine the difference. I want a meter to monitor the deep cycle 12v to make sure it does not discharge too low. i think I have one somewhere, but might have to do without, at least this time around. i will experiment with different places to mount the panel. Directly over the motor atop the stern rail corner seems like the least obtrusive, but may block the GPS reciever in the torqueedo. From the manual ( http://www.torqeedo.com/us/hn/downloads/manuals.html ) “Also you can charge the Travel battery from a 12 V battery bank (boat/car) with a direct connection cable (not included in delivery). In this case, use a cable with a cross sectional area of at least 0.5 mm2 (American wire gauge 20 or bigger). The charge barrel plug has the measures 5.5 / 2.5 mm.” The only other minor issue that I have so far is that my Macgregor 26’s motor mount well is not long enough to hold the tiller when the motor is raised. I have to remove the handle (but not disconnect). If the tiller handle were just a few inches shorter, this would not be an issue. It does not have to be as long as it is, since it’s a low power motor, and there’s no hearing problem with being close to it as it “whirs”. I’ll try to return to this post after I have some experience with the new setup. PS I got it from defender after really digging around for the best price. Saved about $150 over the worst price out there. They also had the 1003s on clearance sale for about $250? less not too long ago. Seemed like a great deal for a dinghy. I needed the “l” for the sailboat.

Hey Adam, Torqeedo service informed me that the E45 error (Motor safety stop when hitting an object) is very likely the result of a software issue with the 1003. I purchased a 1003 with an early software version(January 2011) which causes the motor to stop even when not hitting an object because the setting was too high. They can fix this by upgrading the software at their Crystal Lake, IL center. They’ve sent me shipping labels and I’m sending it back this coming Monday to have the service done. Should be back in about a week. I’ll let you know the results as soon as I can. Sven, their service rep who I worked with, has been very helpful- he said to give them a call if you have questions about this issue with your motor. Their service number is 1 (815) 444 8806.

Following up on my post about extra range and E45: The connection between the battery and the controller was bad and would only stay when pressure was applied. I contacted torqueedo about this and the E45 code. They fixed both issues at no cost to me and without any hassle. They paid shipping both ways (I had the box and packing, which helped, otherwise they would have sent me a box). This was done very promptly and so far has been flawless. The E45 code is to shut down the motor when the prop is obstructed. According to TQ they had the threshold set to low on some of the earlier software versions. Going from dead stop to moderate throttle was probably too much sudden torque. Since it has been fixed, I’ve had the code appear only once, but this was when a line got tangled in the prop, so it appears to be working as intended. I improved my range by adding a deep cycle marine battery and a 45 watt solar panel. I made a direct connection between the two with a cable, two clamps, and a $6 charger barrel fitting from radio shack*. The TQ will draw about 50 watts from the battery (the same rate at which the wall adapter charges it), so any throttle under this will read 0 watts. Using 100 watts it will indicate 50 watts etc. When sailing or otherwise giving the motor a break, it was cool to see the % charge indicator gradually go up. The marine battery, if drained halfway (anymore is bad for it), will double the TQ’s range. Add as many as you need. I got mine at costco for well under $100 which is far better than the $thousand for an extra TQ battery. I didn’t need the range, so this allowed me to run faster than I would have otherwise. As far as I know the solar panel is keeping the marine battery charged. *From the manual: “The charge barrel plug has the measures 5.5 / 2.5 mm” is all you need to know at radio shack to get the correct pin. Be sure get the polarity correct when making your charge cable. I hope this helps someone who is considering a TQ. At this point, overall I recommend it.

Hi! We recently completed the first season with the 1003 on our 20′ daysailer (weighs about 1100kg with us aboard). We have bought the TQ in early 2011 but it’s a 2010 model anyway, we just got the ‘bigger’ battery with it. It works fine, nearly perfect, for us as we do not leave the lakes and channels into the open sea. We encountered the “E45” issue a few times when switching from forward to reverse or vice versa. Here it looks like it’s better not to wait in “stop” but to change the direction without hesitation (as i was used to do with the mechanical gear on gasoline engines). The electronic brain brakes the prop and immediately starts counterrotation, so the motor is not forced to run against the prop being driven by the boats movement through the water. One thing that has been changed by TQ for the 2011 models is the tilting mechanism respectively the stern brackets. Somehow it happened to bend the small latch that keeps the engine in the upper position, for sake at the end of the last weekend on the water this year. It has been replaced by a stronger construction… I got the parts from TQ and mounted them myself today to avoid shipping the whole machine. If you have a pre-2011 engine keep an eye on that! The older latch/release-lever is an almost straight, about 3″ long and an half inch wide. The new construction is about one inch wide and has a 90° bend in it (pretty much like the tilt-lock lever). I bought the three bladed prop (that comes with the Travel 503 originally) just to check for it’s effect on speed and range. Next season we will use the TQ on a small (14′) rowing boat, at least with that the behaviour is probably better. Changing the prop is a question of a minute… greetings from Germany Frank

Hi all, I sail in a J 80, 1’5 Tons and 4 years ago I fall in love with Torqeedo, today I’m the Torqeedo sale manager for Spain and Portugal…….. I only can work with service or products that I truly believe on. I appreciate your enthusiastic comments that means I choose a right way of life. Best wishes from Spain.

Hi Ben How about an update on your T 1003 experience? The six month trial must be up but then perhaps I missed something. We would like to get one but are in Thailand at the moment and heading across the Indian Ocean early 2012. A month in Chagos with an electric outboard driving a Tinker traveler with sail option is a dream. We have come across some negatives re reliability, locking up etc and poor service from Germany and being on the other side of the world would make any problems a lot worse so look fwd to your final comments. We love your blog and have bought a Watchmate AIS and the Broadband radar recently based on your reviews. We mentioned your review to Jeff at Vesper Good work! Cheers Jim

Jim, the test 1003 did develop what sounds like a possible bearing issue toward the end of last summer. At high RPMs it whines and shakes a bit. I did remove the prop and check for shear pin damage, line around shaft, etc., but everything looked fine. The motor also continued to run fine at lower RPMs the rest of the season. I meant to call Torqeedo USA to further troubleshoot, but haven’t gotten around to it yet. That said, I do believe that most Torqeedo negatives relate to the first generation designs, and that equipping your tender with one could be wonderful for exploring and bird watching in the Chagos.

Interesting. Torqeedo is now getting venture capital support from Bosch (the Bosch). http://www.torqeedo.com/us/news-us/press-releases Also, that bad bearing sound I described in the last comment seems to have gone away over the winter.

We just turned on our cruise 2. It worked for about 1 min then got an error 47. Does anyone know what this is or how to fix it?

I was interested in the Torqueedo until I saw the new Lehr propane outboard. runs from a small bottle (like a cartridge) or the big bottles like you use to run a stove and heater. No gummy gasoline, one less fuel to care for, one less battery to care for. the Lehr Propane OB costs lots less too. Does anybody have any knowledge of this motor?

Thanks for the reminder, Rick. I briefly saw the Lehr in Miami as it was a West Marine featured product. That’s a good sign in itself — West is careful about such things. The Lehr seems very interesting though I’m not sure any ‘civilians’ are using them yet. I haven’t even heard of loaners for writers yet, but I’m going to ask. I did find the company site: http://golehr.com/ and also an informative blog entry by Dieter Loibner: http://blog.boattrader.com/2012/03/propane-powered-outboards-by-lehr.html

Hi, just a short addendum regarding the 3-bladed prop: Had the first run on our daysailer (20ft) last weekend. The 1003 runs really good with it, first noticeable effect: Better, faster response with low power (docking)! Second effect: Under full load the engine always reaches maximum power and the boat runs a little faster than before (4.5kn -> 4.9kn). With the two-bladed prop the engine was limited at a certain rpm (1200rpm, following the technical data) at maximum boat-speed but it didn’t reach maximum electric power then. Now it runs at power-limit while accelerating and while running with the slightly higher topspeed. Frank

Need to replace shear pin. Cannot get nut off. It seems to turn the whole motor and will not loosen. Help!

Hi David, a guy from Torqeedo with whom i had an interesting talk at the “Boot” fair in Duesseldorf in january proposed the following procedure. I never tried it, so i’m talking like the blind man about colors! Connect the battery and a controller (tiller)to the motor and power on the controller. Running the motor at low speed and returning to stop makes the motor stall (electrically braked) for a few moments. Use this time to loosen the nut. From normal use i know this brake effect, when setting power to zero while driving the prop stops for, lets say one second, and then it commences revolving as it is driven by the water flow. Again, I never used it for loosening the nut and I’d definetely wear working gloves…. If you use a ratchet with a 17mm socket-wrench and you let run the prop counterclockwise it shouldn’t be too dangerous. On the other hand… why not running the motor clockwise and loosen the nut with motorpower 😉 Be careful! Frank

hi from germanay. i have a travel 1003 with the 3-bladed 503-prop, remote steering and throttle an 7 batteries on a small home made catamaran (made of extruded polystyrene coated with epoxy, you can put it on the roof of a car). with one person 13 km/h (7 knots). after a appr. 3 minutes the motor is lowing down to round about 750 watts (redlined by temperature). often e45 error (when quick changes of speed or direction). with 500 watts 9 km/h (5 knots). the boats name is “air floß one” (floß is the german word for a raft) you can watch this on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7XAEh6j1bU Tom Sawyer

Torqueedo travel 1003 has a lot of issues. I own one and I’m having to send it back. Constant E-30 (cables lose) error.

Sorry to say that my 1003 is again making “bad bearing” type noises at high RPM (I thought it had somehow gone away over the winter). It’s working fine otherwise, though, and I’m reluctant to send it in for repair because I just love using it in the harbor every day.

In March I tried the 1003 on a dinghy while in Fla. Decided the plastic connectors were trouble looking for a home – I am an old industrial electronics guy and I know trouble when it looks at me… Also got the E45 when having to reverse suddenly for a boat that came shooting out of a slip… Except even after multiple disconnect and reconnect cycles the unit refused to start… Wound up having to pull ourselves along the docks to get back – a long trip… Had to put a four hour charge on the battery (it was 67% when it faulted) before it would agree to start up… Decided it was not ready for the big time yet…

Looking for follow up on the bearing issue described. I am using a 1003 which has developed a rasping/grinding sound at high RPM. It also frequently has the E45 error. Can you comment on whether you had your 1003 serviced and the experience? Did you have a diagnosis for the grinding sound?

Three weeks in to my Maine cruise, I had no issues until yesterday’s “E42” charging error message. Unless this is rapidly resolved by Sven ( I have already had a go-round with the original battery, which arrived unable to be charged), I will have to make a strong “do not buy if you need a reliable motor for cruising ” note on this thing!

Well, no answer yet via email. Phone just rings.

Update on my 1003 Torqueedo so far this year… I stored the battery with a full charge last fall and found out I should have stored it at 50% charge. So far this year have been unable to get better than 86% charge on the battery but it seems to last long enough that it hasn’t been an issue. The motor made a low “growling” noise the first few times I ran it in the spring but since then the noise has gone away and it’s been running fine. No errors yet this year however I make sure I let the motor come to a complete stop before reversing. The extra pause seems to help. No issues with the connectors, etc… Still loving it!

Does anyone use a Torqeedo Travel 1003S on their canoe? Is it too top heavy, can the battery be kept on the floor to lower the center of gravity? My canoe is 17ft 6ins long, any advice would be much appreciated.

We just purchased a new Torqeedo Travel 1003L for our Freedom 21, replacing the Mercury 2-stroke 8hp outboard that came with the boat. Just mounted the motor for the first time on Friday 7/27/12, so nothing to report yet but will post here as we acquire experience with it. Next project is complete overhaul of the boat’s electrical system so we have lights; there’s already a solar panel for battery charge on the boat so I’m planning to follow Timb42’s lead and build a charging cable to be able to run the Torqeedo off the house battery.

I purchased my Travel 503S about 18 months ago and my experience with it is so-so. Of course, I love the cleanness of the concept – no gas to carry on my sailboat. Recharge from my inboard inverter etc… But too many issues: – 4 months after purchase – we had to replace the control board in the tiller. We were told that the board was damaged by plugging the tiller-battery cable prior the battery-motor cable. It was not mentioned at that time – and even when you know – does not show a robust design (you have to train any newbie on your board for it…). Torqeedo USA is nicely responsive but the servicing was delegated to a connecticut company – and it took a full month to get the tilled back. I had to pay for the shipping of the tiller to the retailer. – 16 month later – an another issue – when the battery LED starts blinking forever even once disconnected and displays always reports 99% charge when turning up the engine… until you end up totally discharging it. Condition reappears after recharge. – Then a little later the tiller shows E41 when turning up at the tiller, engine not working and battery stops charging… waiting from Torqeedo answers on this. – Corrosions: In two parts: * The two nuts on the trimming bolts. I can not believe it but does not look like stainless steel… * Some galling on one of the transom bracket screw. I originally failed to rinse the engine the first few months – but still has been rinsing as much as possible since then (hard to do when cruising at anchor with 20 Gallons of fresh water for cooking and consumption…). I still love the concept but still a few annoying issues… I would wait until service (US), reliability (electronics) and true marine protection are addressed…

Sorry to hear about your problems, Georges. As mentioned earlier, the 1003 hasn’t been perfect for me either. My issue is a high rpm “bad bearing” type noise and vibration, but it only happens if I crank the motor up to about 300 watts consumption and shortly thereafter I get an E45 error code, which seems reasonable as “E45 is a safety feature which shuts off the motor if it tries to consume too much power.” But the 1003 didn’t make that noise or generate that code when it was new in early 2011. However, I’m still in love with the darn thing. I drive it around Camden Harbor as in the top photo almost every day, and enjoy its quietness and precise control every time. I don’t need the high RPM at all, and I’m reluctant to lose use of it while it’s being repaired. And, by the way, I’ve almost never rinsed it with fresh water and I always leave the motor in the down position. (I’m determined to test it long term in a realistic way, and that’s how we have to use outboards around here.)

I had a 1003 a few months last season. I loved it and did not have any reliability problems. I used it on a J-80 sailboat 26 ft approx 1.5 ton, just to go in and out of the dock. You could easily get the boat to 3.5-4 knots and I typically got back to the dock with over 60% capacity left (after 1.5 – 2 miles). The problems was at the end of the season when we get a lot of seaweed in the channels here. The motor was just not working well in those conditions. The two-bladed prop seemed to catch more weed and loose too much of its efficiency, that in combination with keel and rudder in the seaweed actually got us stuck at times or only able to run at about 1 knot. Had to frequently stop and clear the propeller. Anyone else with same experience? Would it help changing to the 3-bladed propeller? To me it seems as it would not get tangled in as badly as the original 2-blade? Had to change to a 4hp gas 4-stroke with a 3-blade aluminum prop and have no problems in the weed this season. I miss the clean no hassle electric… But I don’t miss getting stuck! Any suggestions. Light weight motor important to be able to easily store away when racing.

Timb429 Thanks so much for your very informative post. I have the 1003 L on my J/80 sailboat (also 26 ft.) I’d just like to add a comment about range when dealing with currents. I dealt with this when trying to return to the marina at maximum ebb tide, facing a 3mph current (and strong headwind). In these conditions, the best range is actually at a higher power setting. Ignoring the headwind (which is too difficult to calculate), the best range when facing 2-3.5 mph opposing current is actually around 650 watts. And the range is MUCH shorter! I mistakenly used too little power for too long, making barely any headway, but made it back to the slip with 20% of battery remaining. Next time I face these conditions, I’ll sail in a bit closer before dropping the sails, and use a higher power setting. Thanks again.

A quick followup regarding the issue with E41 standalone, battery not charging and incorrect charge display on the Traveler 503S. Torqeedo USA replaced free of charge the battery, as well as graciously my tiller enclosure which suffered a bit at the beginning of the season – taking care of the hazmat back and forth shipping for the battery. I do not know what was the issue, but the engine works fine now. So although it was still a pain for this year cruising, Torqeedo did the right thing and you can count on them for helping you out. I still like the cleaness of the concept (no oil, no gas), charge on your inboard battery concept… and will continue giving it a chance. I got the same issue than Franck regarding the tilt bracket: I will upgrade as well. I have the same issue than Adam regarding cross-threading of engine battery connector… An upgrade would be lovely there too. Cheers,

Hi there I am located in Peru and also have problems with a brand new 1003 ( less the 2 hours use) and has the bearing sound like noise at over 3.5 speed…. has any found out how to solve this ( E 45 ) being in Peru I am quite far away from USA tech shoop. thanks Emilio

As far as e47 goes, i emailed the service center and they said it can be a surge of current maybe a jammed propeller or if the problem isnt that simple probably a short in the wiring in which case you will have to take the engine into the nearest service station and let them do a check up. Hope that helps. Dillon

Have you ever tried a torqueedo on your cat?

Hi David I own a PDQ 36 catamaran that weighs in at 5 tons ready to cruise. As I mentioned very early in this thread, I have researched using a pair of Cruise 4.0 Torqeedos in the place of my present Yamaha High Thrust 8’s. I am very disappointed to report that the Torqeedo solution doesn’t quite meet my needs. They may work for a much lighter cat that won’t be going off shore, such as a Reynolds 33, a Stiletto 30, or something similar. The Devil is in the details. The Yamahas on my PDQ are quite refined prime movers; They will push her into a 30 knot headwind with waves fast enough to steer, or in a dead calm at 5.7 knots burning a total of one gallon an hour. The Cat carries 30 gallons of fuel in a safely vented inboard tank, and as many as 6 jerry cans (5.3 gallons) can be stored in another well ventilated area, without blocking pedestrian traffic. That is 60+ hours of getting somewhere when sailing isn’t going to work. That’s 350 NM, or enough to get from the Bahamas to the Virgins in average conditions. To accomplish the same, a pair of Torqeedo 4.0 Cruises would require a prohibitively large solar array and an agonizingly expensive pile of batteries, or an 8kw generator and fuel, most likely diesel. Since there are no diesel outboards suitable for a good third cruise dinghy, you will still be carrying gas. At this point we have exceded the limits of weight, convenience of use, and budget. Two High thrust 8’s cost about $4800 to $5600 installed. They will run 2500 hours with good care, and burn 2500 to 3500 gallons of gasoline to move the boat 22,000 nautical miles, never putting more than 550# on the boat worst case. Two Cruise 4.0’s will add perhaps 180#. Not bad. But they will need an 8kw generator, fuel tank, cooling water and exhaust system, heavy cables, and no less than 4 batteries, totalling (in my case) 1200# of permanently installed weight, at a cost of $17,000 installed, less the engines, which cost $4000 apiece. It might be possible to keep this combination running for 7,000 hours, but I doubt that this is a practical expectation. Bottom line: the cost of electric propulsion on a cruising cat cannot be justified by the end results, and ends up weighing far more per cruising mile. But it would be wonderful to ghost past a 70′ downwind sled in a zephyr barely adequate to ripple the sails, sipping a cup of tea. You should ask that twenty man crew if they all share the same toothbrush….

Thank you for the detailed answer. I hear you. My thoughts are very similar. My boat probably needs more power as well. I think about the times I am headed into a strong wind and a strong current. Maybe you know the East bound passage South of Normans Cay Bahamas? One of my favorite places on earth. Maybe wishfull thinking for another option. I have sail drives and 20hp yanmars. They are old & a little under powered. Soon to be rebuilds? The idea of pulling outdrives on outboards or electric out of the water at dockside, is also appealing. Less prop barnacles and drag when sailing.

I loved my Torqeedo 1003 until is broke down. Less than 2 months after buying it new, the e45 error appeared. I could still use it, but only at 1/2 throttle. Then it got worse and worse. I sent it in to be fixed under the warranty … and Torqeedo have gone silent. Torqeedo seems to be still in its infancy, which is a shame, because it is a great concept. If I had my time again … I would not have purchased one. Buyer beware!

RE: torqeedo 1003 I have a 16.5 sailboat I let the motor tilt back into the water as I enter the harbour. Twice when I was coming in under sail I let the motor down and the propellor turned fast with the forward movement under sail. The motor with this fast movement of the propellor turned off with error 45 displayed. I am 56 and sail alone it is not always easy to sail a boat into a marina slip on a windy day , but i expect to see error 45 and this moter to turn off on windy (whitecap) day.

Roger: I’ve had a Torqueedo travel 1003 for two years. I am retired and fish with it all the time. It’s an over engineered and troublesome motor. You need to get two batteries as it gives an E 45 error all the time for no apparent reason. The manual says to go recharge the batteries ( neat trick when in the lake or up a river). The real fix is to swap the battery. This can crate a safety hazard because sometimes when you really need the motor to get you out of an area ( for example big waves breaking on a shore), bam E -45. It has other issues but if you can factor in the additional cost of a $600 extra battery, it might be OK. As for me, I’m going gas when this one is out of warranty and breaks. I got the extended waranty from West marine and I’m on my third unit. I’m retired and fish several times a week. I’m sure these wont wear out if they are just garaged.

The 2012 model Torqueedo 1003 should be an in harbour tendor motor . It could also be used in flat water near a lee shore but it should be stated that it is unsafe in wave conditions because it will cut off with with the E 45 error. It will cut off when you need it. It is unsafe. It is possible the newer models have improved this problem roger

I too have been using a Torqeedo 1003 for two years and it’s never failed me. However, from nearly the beginning it often made a bad sounding whine at high RPMs and if I pushed it further it would conk out with an E45 overload error message (as mentioned above in an early comment). But it always started again immediately after rebooting the power. Despite that issue, I’ve always had more confidence that the Torqeedo would get me where I wanted to go than I ever have had in a small gasoline outboard. But then again I seemed to have very poor luck with small outboards. The whine seemed to go away at one point but then got worse this spring. It still didn’t really affect my normal lower RPM use but then I managed to drop the battery on the tiller, breaking the waterproof window over the LCD. It still kept running for weeks with water between cover and LCD but I sent it in for servicing when I got back to Maine. It turns out that early-build 1003’s sometimes had their permanent motor magnets get loose. Torqeedo has redesigned this part and replaces broken ones free even in motors out of their warranty period. I think the fixed 1003 will be at my house when I get back to Maine tonight, and I’m looking forward to using it again. I suspect it may run better than ever, even if I goose it.

Read about a nice lock option here: http://sv-footprint.blogspot.com/2013/05/more-boston-work-play-and-reflection.html Website: http://dragonfabrication.com/product.php?product=DF100101 Still waiting till that E45 issue gets resolved, seems like just a few lines of code, anybody know a way to get in there and “fix” it? (after your warranty expires..)

Hi John, What exactly is your E45 issue and what does Torqeedo say about it?

The issue I guess, is that I will not buy one until the E45 reports have stopped because somebody finally decided to fix it. Don’t care who…..

On Friday, with the lanyard attached to my shirt, I leaned forward too much, the lanyward magnet came out and the motor stopped. I put the lanyard back (without first throttling back to zero), the motor whirred for a small fraction of a second, and E45. I plugged and unplugged the cables a couple of times, no cigar. We had to row the Zodiac back to the boat. Not easy against 15 knots of wind and a couple of knots of current.

I will attempt to find out more about problems like yours, Xavier. It seems odd because I could generate E45 errors at will due to the high RPM magnet problem on the 1003 I just sent in for servicing (recent comment above), but the motor always started right up again after I used the power button to shut it down and power up again. I never fiddled with cables and never had to row. So is my experience normal, or are problems like yours and Mike Cannonie’s common?

I’m starting my second season with a Torqeedo 1003L, purchased new in 2012, on my Freedom 21 sailboat (roughly 2100 lbs. displacement). I had one instance of E45 shutdown last September while docking in 20-knot winds. Trigger appeared to be my switching from forward (low speed) to reverse (near max speed) without stopping at the intermediate detent (panic move due to inexperience). I was able to reset the motor using the power button on the controller, without having to resort to disassembling the power connections. Since that incident I’ve been careful to stop at the detent between forward and reverse, and to be deliberate in motor speed selection. No further E45 events so far. Usage since the September incident has been limited but did include motor-sailing about 10 miles last October from our mooring in Cundy’s Harbor, ME to winter berth in South Harpswell (Pott’s Harbor); the last couple of miles under motor alone for which I swapped to my spare battery. For the trip back this June we had more favorable winds so did most of the trip under sail, motoring only to maneuver out of Pott’s Harbor and into Ridley Cove at either end of the trip (about two miles under motor all told including much-needed docking practice with several forward-reverse changes at the start of the trip).

I’ve had one for a couple of years now and have not had issues since getting it repaired / reprogrammed (previous posts). The E45 is meant to shut the motor down if the prop gets caught up on something which is determined by some algorithm of too much sudden change in the torque/speed. This is meant to keep the motor from burning out and/or the prop from getting completely destroyed. The setting was too sensitive apparently and torqueedo re-programmed mine (free)to a new setting presumably with a higher threshold. Going from zero to full throttle too quickly used to set it off (which is what Xavier did with lanyard). The reprogramming, coupled with knowledge of what was causing the code, has prevented any further E45 issues with mine. It used to take several disconnects + reconnects to get it to function again sometimes, which was very frustrating, but it always did come back and I never had to paddle. The only issue I have now is that of range vs speed (even with home-made battery extension). It can’t push my Macgregor26 fast enough for long enough; 2 or 3 mph gets to be a drag sometimes on longer motoring, low/no-wind conditions. This prevents me from taking certain trips across the lake (Kerr) for fear of a potential 10-hour 200-watt pace. This is something I knew/expected going into it.

E45 comments from Sven Kirchhoff, Service Manager at Torqeedo USA: “The error code E45 means that the battery is complaining that the motor is pulling too much power. To protect the system, the battery will turn the system off and displays the error code E45. There are different causes of this “overcurrent”: 1. If a user gets something stuck in the propeller (such as a rope) or hits an object, the motor will try to still spin forward but needs a lot of power and the battery shuts off. 2. If a customer changed from very fast forward to reverse or vice versa, the motor will try to follow your command and might overshoot that power limit as well. We realized that this happened sometimes with some bigger boats and adjusted that limit to make the motor “less sensitive” with a software upgrade. 3. A mechanical defect of a component inside the lower motor unit can cause the E45 as well where this defect causes a short sometimes and triggers the E45. Sometimes that comes with a grinding noise (that’s what happened with your motor). If the customer cannot reset the error at all (we usually recommend to spin the propeller by hand for at least 2 revolutions when the motor is turned off and turn it on again), then it must be an internal defect such as a short of the circuit board in the lower unit, maybe water was able to get in the lower motor housing. Sometimes it can take a little bit until the error code inside the battery resets itself. If you plug the charger into the battery, that is a “stronger” reset and can reset more error codes than just by powering it off and on again. However, most of the times you are able to reset by turning it off and on.

Ben, Thanks for the follow up, that would be nice to have in their manual exactly as written here.

I am having same problem as is another friend of mine. I am trying to contact torqeedo for fix?

Please be specific about your problem, Robert; which model Torqeedo, what kind of boat, what sea conditions, what happens? Also, if you’re in the USA, did you try?: Torqeedo North America 171 Erick Street, Unit A – 1 Crystal Lake, IL 60014 815 444 8806 [email protected] Plus, there are about a dozen Torqeedo service centers in the U.S.; did you try any of these? http://goo.gl/Zc2I5

I have a Torqueedo Travel 1003 S/L I use it on Picnic Cat 14 foot sailboat I get error messages E45 I have done everything, It will not go away. I even bought a new batery from Defender and hooked it up…still the same error massae E45 How do you reset this error message many thanks Renee

Have you talked to Torqeedo customer service, Renee? There are some specific Torqeedo notes about E45 error causes in a July 8 comment not far above this one. For instance, it may be that you have something binding on your propeller shaft where you can’t see it and the motor is trying to protect itself by shutting down under extreme load.

Do you use an electric motor on your Cat? How is that working for you? Saw your post on Torqueedo site.

As a point of interest if the shear pin needs replacing the shaft rotates while trying to loosen locknut . To prevent this drill a 4mm hole in the body of the propeller 17mm from face of prop and central to the spindle . Then screw a large self tapping screw into the hole until it gives enough friction to unlock the nut.

Thanks, Ian. That sounds effective but I’d like to hear how other people have done it. Do I recall that you can carefully use the motor torque against the socket wrench on the locknut? Also, I recently wrote up last season’s 1003 testing: https://panbo.com/archives/2013/12/long_tests_interlux_pacifica_plus_and_torqeedo_travel_1003.html

Frank, We have used the motor torque to undo the prop nut and it works very well using a 17mm socket on a ratchet. No sprained wrists nor damaged fingers! John (in North Wales)

I have a 2003 1003s that I bought young used on ebay. Fresh water use only until I bought it to run my Marshall 18′ Sanderling Cat boat, 1800 lbs. I have been using it all summer and I love it. Never got an error message but I do understand the causes so I try not to let it happen. My only complaint is that the kick up lock keeps bending in and then allows the motor to drop down a bit. It then drags in the water. I have bent it back out and now it has weakened, soon it will break. I seems it is too lightly built. Time for the old wood stick solution I used on my ancient Evinrude. Has anyone else had this problem?

I recently bought one of these motors (with a sailboat I purchased). The concept is good, but I got an error message soon after starting to use it. Called Torqeedo and they told me I’d have to send it back to CT to get it fixed (blown fuse). Round trip this will cost me $400. Which doesn’t cover the cost to fix it. This is wild – I’m selling it if anyone wants to buy it – I live in NY. For $200 extra, I can have a .second-hand 6hp engine that I can get fixed when I have a problem. As I said, great concept, but in practice, if you ever have a problem, you’re in for a big cash outlay just to ship it. Also, what if you’re out cruising and one of these errors occurs? You’d have to buy a new engine – you don’t always have months to wait to get your engine fixed. As an aside, has anyone worked trying to fix a fuse on this engine? I’ve searched high and low and can’t find any information on how to do it. I can’t figure it out when looking at the engine (another bonus, by trying to fix it on my own, I know I’ve voided any culpability on Torqeedo’s part). Any help would be appreciated.

How much do you want for it? Reply in private email to davidfay999 at gmail.com.

Wow ,this is very sad, I was just getting ready to buy one of the 503L for my fpb ,I guess I’ll have to wait and see what happens with the next generation of motors ?

What’s so sad, Carl? Do you know any marine product that someone hasn’t had problems with? In fact, I had small issue with this Torqeedo, documented here… https://panbo.com/archives/2013/12/long_tests_interlux_pacifica_plus_and_torqeedo_travel_1003.html … but it’s been working perfectly since the repair and I’ve just been using it the last couple of days to commute to a dinghy dock a half mile away. I still love it!

Used our new Torqeedo T1003 for the first time this weekend in Catalina and it passed all tests with flying colors. We’re running it on a 10′ inflatable floor dingy so there is no real stress on the available power. We did discover that it’s a real conversation starter on the dingy dock. Have you had any experience with the Emarine solar panel mentioned in the other thread? At least on paper it looks like a good solution to keeping the battery up and ready. At 60 watts it should run the motor as well. I see that Torqeedo claims a 2.2 knot continues run speed with their 45 watt panel but it’s considerably larger and more expensive than the Emarine unit.

Hi Guys, have the 1003 and have tried hooking up 80w solar panel (actually 2 x 40watts hooked up in series) which puts out about 40v at about 2.8w. on an average day. However when I plug it into the battery I do not get any charging light. The tiller display also does not show any charging status at all. Just a note, I plugged in the AC Adapter charger that came with it and while the red charging light blinks the information display on the tiller does not show any charging info. When I am running the motor and have the AC adapter plugged in (I have a portable AC battery / inverter combo) the red charging light turns off. Also in charging info is displayed on the tiller info panel. In fact I have never seen the charging indicator show up on the LED display panel on the tiller. (I know its there as it shows up when you first power on.) Is this normal or is there something wrong with my battery. The battery still charges normally with the AC adapter.

I’m still using the Torqeedo Travel 1003 a lot and still loving it. But I’m glad to see that Minn Kota will soon offer EO 1/2 and 1 hp electric outboards retailing at $800 and $900 respectively: http://www.minnkotamotors.com/Who-We-Are/News/Press-Releases/Details/Minn-Kota-Announces-EO—New-Electric-Outboard-Motors/ The 1003 claims 3hp equivalency, but an EO 1 might push a tender around pretty well. Incidentally, info about neat TorqTrac monitoring app add on here: https://panbo.com/archives/2015/01/torqtrac_torqeedo_electric_outboards_get_app_monitoring_more.html

Update after 2.5 years of use: 1. 18 months ago we got a 2nd battery. This way, range anxiety is a thing of the past and on the very rare occasions we lock the motor (E45 or E31) and are unable to unlock by disconnecting/connecting, etc., we switch batteries and off we go. 2. The propeller now has a small chip. I’ll have to get a new one, because the rep at a boat show 6 months ago told me prop vibration causes a bunch of consequential problems. I understand why Torqeedo uses plastic propellers, but it weakens the product as a whole too much. 3. We got one of the nifty high-speed chargers as a courtesy. 4. We still want to get the 12v voltage charger, and wish they made one for 24v. 5. We use the gasoline engine so sporadically now that fuel aging has become an issue. 6. We’ve never had a warranty claim or anything like that. Product works as advertised (other than the rare E31/E45 lockup). Economically, this motor does not make sense. As a cruising sailboat with no davits, the ability to remove/stow away the engine is a small and much enjoyed luxury.

Frank, Your last commend about running the motor in the correct direction was just what I was looking for. The nut came right off and a couple gentle taps on the prop and it came off too. It is going to take longer to get the sheer pin than perform the repair. I am going to buy two.

After about 6 hrs my 1003 needs $680 repair to pylon magnet bell. I am out of warrenty and am asking Torpeedo service to help me. Understand there has been a problem with this part and it looks like it should have been recalled.

Yike, Bob! There was a problem with magnets getting loose in early production models, which I described above in a July, 2013 comment. It didn’t stop my motor but did cause high RPM noise and sometimes a shut down. Torqeedo was fixing it for free then, and my 1003 has been running very well since. I’m just ending long season #5 and may send it in for a precautionary seal replacement, but the lower unit is in salt water almost all the time.

Ben, With your interest in Electric propulsion you might be interested in the Solar Splash Competition (solarsplash.com). “SOLAR SPLASH is the World Championship of intercollegiate Solar/Electric boating.”

Hi Carlos, I have a J80 in Australia and sick of my mercury petrol 5 hp. What Torqeedo product would you recommend the 1003 Long Shaft ?? Thanks David.

David, I have a J80, and you definitely need the long shaft. Dave

RE: Changes to the TORQEEDO 1003 in 2015 forward 1. From mid-2015 the Torqeedo 1003 has a battery that charges much faster, as standard. This is a really significant improvement: it’s halved the charging time to 7hrs instead of 14. This makes the optional “fast charger” accessory pointless, as this fast charge rate is now standard. 2. The 2015-onward model also ships with a USB adapter which means you can use the Torqeedo battery as a supply for your phone, camera, navigation light, etc while on the move. It’s a very simple, innocuous looking thing but cannot be retro-fitted to older batteries. 3. In Jan 2016, Torqeedo announced a 915Wh spare battery option – it ships with a standard 532 Wh battery. Same size case, slightly heavier. 4. In 2015 forward, a 12V charger accessory is offered, so you plug is directly into your car “cigar lighter” outlet. Charge time (dead to full) is about 11 hrs. You can also charge while the motor is running, to increase range, if you have a 12V battery on board using this connector. 5. A folding solar charger, half the price of the old roll up version, slightly more powerful (50W). Waterproof, like the motor and battery. In short, some good tweaks to address range and recharge issues.

2015 Torqeedo 1003. Rhodes 22 sailboat, 3000 lbs. Cambridge MD (across Bay from Annapolis) I assume I’ve sheared a shear pin per below. I’ve searched for anyone selling shear pins and found none. West Marine and others will sell prop with shear pin. 1) Does below problem sound like a shear pin problem? 2) Does anyone sell just shear pins (and washers) in the states? Thanks of any help/ I mistakenly had my retractable rudder in partially up position backing up and rudder and prop made contact for a few seconds. I don’t think prop ever stopped completely. It seemed to be working ok and got me out of slip in reverse. I switched to forward, moved to slow forward, saw 1.7 knots, moved to higher speed, heard increase in motor noise but no increase in speed. Turned off and sailed. Later when tried to motor in to marina, speed of boat went lower and lower till finally 0.6 knots no matter where put throttle. Barely made it to entrance dock. Prop seems ok. I held boat hook against prop, turned on engine, engine noises but easy to keep prob from turning.

Brooks, that definitely sounds like the shear pin. When we had the T1003 in 2010 it was easy to find the shear pin kits…we brought a bunch with us on our Pacific crossing. However, like you I now can’t find anyone who is selling just the shear pin online. I would contact Torpedo directly to find out either a) where you can get them (buy extra!); or b) what the spec is so you can source them from McMaster-Carr or the like. Good luck, /afb

Thanks, Adam! It does seem odd that Torqeedo shear pins are hard to find even though the company is quite present in the USA. Defender carries a lot of the motors and some spares… http://www.defender.com/torqeedo-parts-and-accessories.jsp …but I don’t see shear pins. (I’ve never broken one myself, but that is what they’re meant to do.) Here’s US headquarters info: Torqeedo, Inc 171 Erick Street, Unit A-1 Crystal Lake, IL 60014 Phone 1-815-444-8806

RE: Shear pin (found Torqeedo calls them drive pins also). Thanks for your inputs Ben and Adam. I was a bit down yesterday so whining instead of thinking. I had also tripped on something and broken boat tiller – turned out to be a bit rotten at rudder head. Not a great launch day. Went home, had a scotch and some dinner; came back and wife and I sailed/paddled/motored to slip. Talked to a friend this morning who thought it was definitely a shear pin. Said take it out and bring it over – he has a collection for low horsepower engines. Brought home – without battery and motor tiller so couldn’t loosen nut because it just turned shaft. Hauled out my favorite new toy – battery powered Dewalt impact driver which took nut right off. Dug out two pieces of shear pin. I’ll take it to friend tomorrow and hope he has right size. If not, then I’ll try outboard motor place. Does anyone know if it has some special characteristics? It looks like a normal . shear pin. I’m assuming right diameter and length is all I need. My plan is to do this and if I hit something and it tears up prop just buy a new one ($87 from West Marine including shear pin). I may go forever before this happens. Maybe buy a spare and keep on boat. Does anyone know torque for prop nut?

Brooks, according to the manual the prop lock nut is self-locking, so you only need to make it hand tight when reinstalling the prop.

Ah, RTFM. Thanks Adam

I’ve long preferred a hard dinghy and oars but recent back problems may have put paid to rowing for me – at least into a chop and/or head wind so I think a Torqeedo is the answer. I have two questions – should I buy from West Marine so I can also buy their extended warranty (an extra $150 or so for another 2 years) and is the “Torq Trac” bluetooth transmitter and app combo worth getting? I know Ben enjoyed having the Torq Trac but is it actually worth extra money – either buying it directly or buying from a dealer who will include it “free”?

Hi Patrick. I’m hesitant to give this sort of advice as we’re all different, but if it were me I might get the extended warranty but not the Torq Trac. The latter is neat but certainly not necessary (and I thought Torqueedo would simply incorporate Bluetooth into the tiller by now). I haven’t done well with extended warranties myself, but the West Plus plan seems worth further exploration… http://www.westmarine.com/SpecialDeals/PLUS-Product-Protection-Plan …especially if you’re going to use the Torqeedo a lot in saltwater. While I think that early 1003 problems documented in this thread — E45 error shut downs and the high RPM noise I reported in August 2012 — have been redesigned away, I think it’s still possible lose a lower seal or have the tiller electronics fail. On the other hand, the Defender discount almost equals a new tiller, I think: http://www.defender.com/product3.jsp?path=-1 |215570|1794283|1794310&id=2840552

More on repairs and parts costs in 2013: https://panbo.com/archives/2013/12/long_tests_interlux_pacifica_plus_and_torqeedo_travel_1003.html I have had zero problems with the 1003 since and still haven’t had the seal checked…but maybe it’s time 😉

Thanks Ben, I’m certainly leaning towards the West Plus Plan – partly because of the hassle and cost of shipping the motor or battery back to Torqeedo if there is a warranty issue. The local West is 2 miles away and they will handle it. Neither Defender nor any of the local stockist seem to offer any sort of extended warranty. I’m not in a big rush so may wait and see if there is a promotion of some sort – even if it is is only triple points. I already had the impression that the Torq Trac was something nice to have but by no means essential – nice to have that confirmed. I know you have a long shaft on your Fatty Knees but I’m not sure why that is desirable – I may use mine on our Dyer but as we have a slip not a mooring I think that too has to go and that we will end up with a roll up inflatable for which I assumed we should get a short shaft. Is there something I’m missing? Does that big prop with no cavitation plate mean that a long shaft is the smart way to go even on a small dinghy?

Sorry about that Ben – the above comment was clearly mine. I thought I was signed in though.

After reading this very informative discussion I recently bought a 1003 last week (after rebuilding the dingy’s Mercury carb one too many times). Seems to work fine — except that I find that if one twists it up the “throttle” too fast it just dies. Found if I start slow and then build up speed its less likely to happen, but if I’m running near top speed and then try to twist the speed control all the way up it still dies. Once I got the EC 45 message, but usually it doesn’t display an error, but if you try to operate it the motor makes a humming noise but won’t spin. Either switching it off and waiting a moment, or uncoupling/recoupling the cables seems to restore it. I’ve recalibrated it but this doesn’t seem to make this problem go away. Is this normal?

While I’m sure that it is not intended to work the way your’s is working, I wouldn’t quite say it’s “not normal”. Sorry you are having troubles. Mine currently is throwing error codes after several years but perhaps less than 50 hours of use. Also the battery only lasts about 1/2 as long now. This is not the first time it has failed. In hindsight, I don’t think they are any more reliable than a gas motor, which was the main reason I bought one. At least with a gas motor, you can trouble shoot and figure out what’s wrong or take it to a mechanic to do the same. The torqueedo is a temperamental black box.

Chachere, that’s not normal in my opinion. While I had some high RPM “bad bearing” noise and E45 error codes early in this very long test (see March 11, 2012 comments), they went away completely after the motor was serviced in 2013. Torqeedo also made changes in production and error code sensitivity back then (see July 8, 2013 comment). At any rate, I don’t recall getting an error code in the last several seasons of use and I’m not shy with the throttle . I also don’t detect substantial loss of battery capacity and this is its 6th season. (I have been good about leaving it mostly discharged during the winters the boat has not gone south.) I did have a little trouble getting the power button to work this spring but it’s fine now after I exercised it and also soaked the electronics box to tiller area with CRC QD Contact Cleaner with the tiller upside down (that shouldn’t work as the electronics are sealed, but may have helped 😉 So into season 6, the main problem I have with the 1003 is a faded window over the tiller screen. In retrospect, I would have been smart to fashion a sun cover for it. I also think I would have been wise to send the motor in to check the seals etc. as I leave the lower end in saltwater pretty much all the time. If the motor fails later this season, I’m going to kick myself. Here are details of the 2013 servicing: https://panbo.com/archives/2013/12/long_tests_interlux_pacifica_plus_and_torqeedo_travel_1003.html Finally, Chachere, I think you should contact Torqeedo USA about your issues (and you too, Tim). I’m also curious if you can find a date of manufacture anywhere on the motor. It seems unlikely that you could have purchased a new unit that was actually built 3 or more years ago, but possible.

Thanks for the feedback. I’ve just emailed Torqeedo to see what they have to say on this, and will report back.

Update: After I contacted Torqeedo, they got back to in a couple of days and indicated that this seemed to be a problem in the “leg unit” (i.e., the motor). I just received an email today that they are FedEx-ing to me an entire replacement, with a return postage label. Thus far, great service!

It’s been a year since my last update. In early October 2015, screwing on the big connector (battery), I bent a pin, which then broke immediately. We were then in Galicia, NE Spain. Per the website, there were no facilities in Portugal (next door to Galicia) and only two repair facilities in Spain: one turned out to be no longer in business and the other one was in the Balearics. Which is like being in Alaska and having the facility in Puerto Rico. The Balearic Islands concessionaire advised me he no longer does repairs, only sells parts. And the repair requires opening up the lower case, where the actual motor is! One drop of water and your motor is toast. I called Germany to have the motor fixed. They were extremely curt and directed me to the Spain Balearics dealer. I told them the dealer would not fix it, only sell the part: they said I needed to work it out with him and they could not talk to me. And hung up. The absolutely _worst_ customer service experience you could imagine. I contacted the German manager for Spain/Portugal @torqeedo.com and he wasn’t much help beyond platitudes and indicating there would soon be more dealers in Spain. As if. The Balearics dealer was very helpful in overnighting us the part a couple of months later to Seville, Spain, but would _not_ provide instructions. Come on, I said, just send me a scan of the relevant page from your service manual? Nope. Said he could not help. Flat out refused. Note: I speak Spanish at native level. May God help you if you don’t in a situation like this. I e-mailed to the U.S. marketing person I met at the Miami boat show. Very nice guy, he had one of the U.S. techs send me a personalised e-mail with his own procedure and notes. Apparently there is no manual, for otherwise he could have sent a scan. The technician’s notes and personal tips were amazingly good: one runs the wire from the bottom of the bulb thru the shaft to the top. I performed the surgery at Cartagena, Spain, in February, and told my wife: don’t be surprised if we only get to use this thing once. I mean, there’s only one slim rubber gasket keeping the water out of the actual motor, which is surrounded by a beautiful assembly of microchips on a sort of circular/angular structure! Use plenty of silicon grease, which is not to be found in at least 15 different chandlers in a dozen towns in Spain, considered an exotic for special order to Madrid only (couple of weeks!), or absolutely never heard of, but finally found on a shelf at a car parts shop in Gibraltar. Since the motor was potentially a goner anyway, I installed my spare propeller, as the original had a couple of tiny deformations, but at the Miami boat show the marketing guy had explained how vibrations are bad for the Torqeedo overall. And it’s good I did: the old metallic washer between shaft and plastic propeller crumbled on disassembly, so who knows what would have happened w/o replacement! The old shear pin was all rusty and difficult to pull out. The motor was 3 yrs old at the time. We are now in Italy and the motor serves us well at 3.5 years. Batteries seem to be as good as new. We do have a gas engine that gets used from time to time, so use on the Torqeedo has not been heavy nor “daily” by any stretch of the imagination. US customers can rely on good, even exceptional US customer service. European customers, unless in Germany, and located in Germany at the time of need, might be screwed. Probably are. I would much rather have paid $400/€400 shipping to Germany, or whatever, than have done the repair myself and I think it is disgraceful Torqueedo Europe refused to provide any sort of help. The German home office behaved like authentic jerks. Commendations on the other hand to Torqeedo of the United States.

Brand new motor. Getting intermittent e30 messages. Anyone have any solutions ? How hard do you tighten/torque main cable down?

Paul, Having broken pins already, which is something you _really_ don’t want to do, here’s my recipe for the big connector. 1. Take your time. You’ll get done faster. 2. Aim the head straight, and push, as if the plug had no screw at all. Think an old PC connector. Feel it go in a bit. 3. Half turn “counter clockwise” to make sure the thread goes in correctly without skips. 4. Hand-tighten with finger force only. The truth is that once the pins are making contact, the final half turn or quarter turn is just to ensure water-tightness. 5. From time to time (once a year?), clean with electronic contact cleaner spray, and the tiniest little drop of electronics contact grease. Sorry, no feedback on N. 30 errors.

I’ve gotten the e30 a couple times. In my case it was because I did not have the battery cable inserted straight. I had tried to screw it down slightly askew and got the error. Once I started paying attention to connecting it correctly no more error message.

FYI, Best price I could find… I bought a 1003S on July 1, 2016 for $1725 (that included shipping and handling to Seattle) from Jamestown Distributors.

This is my report on a new 1003 that I bought this summer for my inflatable dinghy… I’m generally pretty happy with it. It was an upgrade from a Minn-Kota trolling motor. Being able to easily recharge the battery from the on-board battery bank and the range display has eliminated range anxiety. I am an electrical engineer with 35 years of experience in high tech. With this perspective I provide the following observations to those who have purchased or are considering a purchase. 1) Motor whine on my unit is significantly louder than my very old Minn-Kota, even at low speeds. And there seems to be an very noticeable oscillating nature to the whine as speed is increased. (I think this might indicate a bearing issue?) Now I’m worried about my motor. I have no idea if this is more-or-less normal or if I have the impending motor problems mentioned above. 2) The battery connector they’ve chosen is abominable. It is a disaster waiting to happen. I can’t believe that an engineer ever signed off on it. A quarter-turn locking Bendix style connector would easily solve the problem. So many user complaints, and still they haven’t changed it since introduction many years ago. Come on Torqeedo, this is a simple fix. I expect better on a premium priced German engineered product. 3) The throttle… a)The throttle control seems overly stiff. I have to supply quite a bit of torque to make throttle adjustments. I have to use two hands to make smooth speed adjustments, especially when starting from zero. b) There is about a 3 second lag time when starting from zero. It has made for some very jerky sudden starts as I’m trying to get used to it. My Minn-Kota didn’t do this. I don’t know if this is normal for all 1003’s. c) If using with your right hand (sitting on the port side of the dinghy) the throttle control is opposite of a motorcycle. In other words, on the 1003 you twist up to accelerate forward. This seems like a counter intuitive user interface design. ??? 4) I have to tow my dinghy. When towing I raise the shaft. But it only raises up about 50 degrees. So half of the motor still drags in the water. This seems like another poor design oversight. I would be interested to hear if others have noticed the two unique issues I’ve mentioned. As I said, I’m generally happy with it. The benefits to me greatly outweigh all other outboard options. These may seem like minor complaints, and I know that production changes are expensive. But I expected a little higher level of refinement and quality control on what is a very premium priced product. Torqeedo, are you listening?

Mic I would strongly recommend NOT leaving the motor on your dingy when towing. I generated several “E” message issues with that practice, and have had none since figuring out that that was the issue. It caused the bearing/seals to leak! The great thing about the 1003 is in fact how little effort is needed to take it on or off the dingy- so that is my practice now.

This Torqueedo thread seems evergreen. 🙂 We have carted our 1003 from SFO up & down the entire West coast & Mexico, and now almost all the way up the East coast – we don’t use it every day, but our experience has been generally good. Mic, your experience with the lag on startup matches ours – when you first turn the control, the motor makes growling noises (without moving the prop), then starts after a couple of seconds – if you increase the throttle setting, it will either a) start turning at the higher setting (sometimes exciting!) or shut down entirely – patience is the answer. It doesn’t seem to suffer from this lag when changing settings, except that going to fast reverse while still moving forward seems to cause a lockup problem. We also had our display go mostly blank, even though the unit was performing properly – I looked at it and all that was showing was a couple of dashes. Turning it off and on again fixed it. The motor whine, while noticeable, has not shown any oscillation while in use. We have the long-shaft model, which was the dealer’s recommendation – a mistake, as it turns out, as the “normal” shaft would have been fine on our Fatty Knees 9. I’d love to find a way to trade, as the long shaft is EXTRA in-the-way when hauling it up or down a beach. (I shoulda listened to Ben instead of the dealer) That said, it has been quite reliable – even better than our olde Johnson gas engine – and with none of the hassles and stink of hauling gasoline around!

«The battery connector they’ve chosen is abominable. It is a disaster waiting to happen» Ha! The disaster happened to me. Read up on my experience on my post of July 28 2016. The stiff throttle loosens up with time. Mine eventually loosened so much it pulled out during an accidental interaction with our sailboat’s hull and fell into the water (my fault, not Torqueedo’s). I’m trying to get a new one from Torqeedo this week. Motor whine started on ours from about day 3 of ownership and never improved until earlier this year when I installed a new prop and the replacement metallic washer that came with it (the remains of the old washer crumbled into dust as I removed it). With the new washer, there is significantly less whine (but there is still plenty of whine!). Now you may think that the strong whine may have come from our old propeller, but I tell you: on day 3 of ownership and for a long time, our old propeller was unblemished, so I am thinking washer or torque applied to it. Throttle activation is identical to our 8 hp Tohatsu. I have never driven a motorbike. I sit on the starboard side with either motor and have a difficult time sitting on the port side.

Further update. The replacement that Torqeedo shipped to me took care of the original problem. But now I experience a different bug: sometimes when I’m starting off, or shifting from reverse to forward, the mother just makes grunting noises and the prop moves an inch or so, then nothing. If I turn it off and on a few times it usually clears it up. Alas, this usually happens at the worst moments, of course, like maneuvering around a crowded dinghy dock. I’m a little surprised that with 2 brand new motors in a row I’m still getting these sorts of problems with an expensive outboard. I’m in the middle of a 4 week cruise (coincidentally anchored in Camden, Maine at the moment) so I’ll have to wait till I get home to deal with Torqeedo service further about this. Other than that, love the motor, particularly the ability to creep up at slow speeds when approaching a landing (something my old 2 stroke could never do….)

Meant to say “motor”, not “mother”…( far from the worst autospell errors I’ve made)

Anon, Ours has done the same thing – highly annoying, and ALWAYS at the worst possible time. 🙂 What I’ve found is that if you turn the throttle slowly, it is less likely to do it – if you go from stop to a large setting, it will do it almost every time, along with going from forward to reverse with a large setting (like a panic stop). I demonstrated mine for Ben – his doesn’t do it!

Good Afternoon Ben, I just got the E45 error code on my one month old Torqeedo. Charged the battery, so far no joy. Best, Maldwin

We just returned from a 1 month cruise where we had hoped our replacement 1003 that Torqeedo had shipped to us would be a reliable motor for our dingy. (See my prior post from July 27, 2016, and my post as “Anonymous” on August 15, 2016). However, I regret to say that the replacement has been an even bigger disappointment. We have this recurring problem that sometimes when we turn the tiller speed control to start off, the motor just makes a grunting noise, and the prop makes a couple of shuddering turns an inch or two, and then nothing. I have never had an error code displayed, but the prop just doesn’t start spinning (the readout shows current consumption levels of 10 to 20 watts, no matter what the position of the tiller control). Other times – as Hartley noted in his/her post above – we turn the control and the motor does nothing for 4 or 5 seconds, and then finally the prop starts to spin. Makes no difference if we turn the speed control up slowly or quickly. This problem started almost as soon as we received the replacement, and has gradually gotten worse over the month we were using it. I’ve tried everything I can think of, including: – power the motor off, wait a few seconds, power back on; – recalibrate; – Unplug and replug all the connectors; – Spray the contacts with contact cleaner; – Raise the engine and try rotating the prop by hand. None of these make any difference. The motor either works when it chooses to — or doesn’t at all. Sometimes after 2, or 3, of 5, or 10, or 20 attempts, the prop finally starts moving. Sometimes we have to give up and start rowing. COMPLETELY unreliable. The whole reason I bought this motor was to get away from the unreliable starting of our gasoline outboard. But the 1003 has thus far been even more unreliable. And at least with the gas outboard I could usually diagnose and repair the problem. Here, however, I have a non-working motor that doesn’t indicate any error codes, nor is this recurring problem listed in the “trouble shooting” section of the manual. This is not at all what I expected after shelling out for a very expensive motor. When it works, it’s a great motor – but it seems totally hit and miss. I’ve contacted Torqeedo service, will update when I know more.

I’m sorry for your pain, Chachere, and I have to wonder if some recently manufactured 1003 Torqeedos are lemons. You should expect a high degree of reliability and you should get it! Meanwhile, I finally got an error code last week, the first in two seasons I think. But then again I was backing hard with the 1003 not locked down so that it pulled itself upward and cavitated. All I had to do was reboot the power button and it was fine. So the darn things can be reliable season after season even when constantly left exposed to sun and saltwater like mine.

My one month old 1003 has just gone back to Torquedo following E 45 code, and total inability to restart. The dealer has given me use of a loaner.

Hi Ben et al – since we “discovered” one of the schooner mooring cables in Camden, I’ve gotten interested in the subject of shear pins for our 1003L! What I’ve discovered is that you can indeed buy them from Torqeedo – part # 005-00051, costs $.97 each – BUT!! they want $20 for “flat rate shipping” from Illinois 🙁 Nobody in the USA seems to have them (it is a 3mm X 27mm pin) – and a commonly available 1/8″ pin is too big to fit. I wonder if I can find 3mm SS pin material and make my own? 3mm bolt, anyone? Interestingly, it appears that retailers in the UK carry a “kit” with two shear pins, two washers and one nut – at a reasonable price – but no one in the USA carries this. All you can buy here is a spare prop, which comes with the nut, two washers and one measly pin.

McMaster has 3mm stainless rod available, cut to length yourself & chamfer the ends. http://www.mcmaster.com/#metric-stainless-steel-rods/=146hc6o

Further update on our troublesome motor(s). Torqeedo took both the original and the replacement back in one shipment two weeks ago. I received the following update today: “The technician has informed me that your motor has been repaired and shipped yesterday. We were not able to recreate the hesitation issue you’ve have mentioned however we did go ahead and install all new components. Once the repair was complete your motor went into our test tank and was ran at 1000 watts for a full battery duration. During this procedure the motor was also stopped and changed directions as well. We’re sorry for the inconvenience the motors have caused you.” We shall see how this works out. Its getting to the end of our boating season, so probably won’t get much chance to put it through its paces.

We get our shear pins from Brownie’s Marine in FL. http://www.browniesmarinegroup.com/

Last august we rented a boat that had this outboard http://www.torqeedo.com/en/products/outboards/travel on the tender. The thing did simply not work; after two partial replacements of tiller and battery in the first day of rental, the second day we received an entire Torqeedo outboard. The first time we used it, in deep water, no shocks possible, the support broke apart, freeing the entire engine, the propeller sprung off the water rotating very close to the nearest passenger. These engines are highly dangerous and are not navigation-fit, at least not for rental conditions.

I think you failed to lock it down before reversing. I have had my torqueedo travel for 4 years now, use it very often, with no reliability issues whatsoever. It is different, so one does have to go through a learning curve (not locking down before reversing happened to me in the begining as well, for example). The people renting them should have provided basic instructions. But once you get used to them, you will never want a small gas outboard again!

My Torqueedo was fixed under warranty. No word yet on what the problem was, but Torqueedo fixed it for free when the dealer sent it in. Best, Maldwin

We’ve gotten a LOT more use out of our 1003, so a followup: 1. Got 3mm SS rod and cut myself a few spare shear pins. (haven’t needed any yet) 2. The occasional “growling instead of engaging” has persisted, but it seems that once it engages, the problem disappears. 3. Twice I’ve left the motor turned on and it has timed out – and it won’t come back until I disconnect the throttle/control handle connection. 4. I’m now officially ticked at Torqueedo for the plastic connector on the motor-to-battery connection. If that plug isn’t inserted exactly square and the lock ring carefully squared so it threads all the way in, it’s “E30” and no-go. As the plastic gets more worn with use, it gets harder and harder to get it properly connected (but the plastic threads will happily thread on crooked). Hartley S/V Atsa (Sent from Green Turtle Cay, Abacos)

I bought a Torqeedo Cruise 4.0, and it threw an error on first use. It turns out that mine was an older model with two flaws: 1) A Plastic motor housing that was something less than bulletproof 2) A Shipping carton that, if handled VERY badly, mashed the skeg up into the motor housing, cracking it. Torqeedo support was awesome. I shipped the motor to their US service center, and they replaced the motor pod with the newer aluminum version at no charge, and returned it to me. On an Avon 2.8 meter dinghy with an inflatable floor, I get an easy 11 knots of speed with around 3,200 watts of power draw. I think I’m a candidate for the higher speed propeller, since the Cruise 4.0 is happy drawing 4,000 watts continuous and over 5,000 for some period of time. It is a darn expensive setup, even though I went the eBay route for batteries, and I worry about theft, but having a quiet and non-smelly dinghy is really really nice.

I’m amazed this comment thread is still active. I have the 1003 and absolutely love it for getting in and out of the marina for day sailing or an overnighter. I’m looking to do some long weekends this year and have an old 80 watt solar panel a salty dog gave me from his storage shed. Does anyone have experience charging the Torqeedo battery directly from a third party panel? Is a charge controller needed and if so what size? I’m a total noob when it comes to electronics.

I have not charged directly from a panel, but according to the manual it “is possible to charge the battery from any DC voltage source within a range of 9.5V … 50V. The required minimum current is 4A.” and “It is also possible to charge the battery with solar panels with an open-circuit voltage of up to 50V. For charging please use a wire cross-section of at least 0.5 mm 2. In that case the battery will dynamically adjust to the panel power.“ There are apparently built-in electronics in the battery, according to their website (“All Torqeedo batteries are equipped with an integrated BMS. The BMS protects against overcharging, overcurrent, excess voltage, deep discharge, short-circuit, overheating etc.”)

Readers may find the following email exchange I had with Torqeedo USA regarding charging from different voltage sources: I had posed the following question: “I find that its very difficult to charge the battery on my sailboat’s 12V system. Either the engine has to be running or the solar panels need to be putting out a lot of amps. I suspect that the 1003 battery only charges when my house batteries are seeing 14V (i.e. a charging voltage). I have limited experience with lithium batteries, but according to the manual : ‘is possible to charge the battery from any DC voltage source within a range of 9.5V … 50V. The required minimum current is 4A.’ and ‘It is also possible to charge the battery with solar panels with an open-circuit voltage of up to 50V. For charging please use a wire cross-section of at least 0.5 mm 2. In that case the battery will dynamically adjust to the panel power.’ I have several solar panels on my boat, but they all feed into charge controllers to reduce the voltage and then feed the house batteries first. I was wondering whether there would be any advantage – i.e. quicker charging – if I fed the output of one of the solar panels directly to the 1003 battery. For example, one of my panels is rated at 145 Watts, with a voltage of 18V and a max current of 8.1 amps. When fed through the charge controller, the output is 10.5 amps at 14.4v. So, my question is: given the same wattage, does the 1003 battery charge quicker with a higher voltage (and lower amps); in other words, if I charged it at 18 V at 8 amps (directly from the panel), would it charge more quickly than at 14.4v at 10. amps (via the controller and the house batteries)?” Torqeedo USA’s response was as follows: “The battery determines how much power it wants to draw. The higher the voltage the less current draw there will be. After testing I found that max 3.72 amps is the highest the battery draws. The battery circuitry will not allow much higher than 4 amp input without displaying an error code. I hope this information was useful for you.” My take away from this is that — all things being otherwise equal — charging at higher voltages is going to get the Torqeedo battery up to a full charge quicker, since the battery will not accept more than around 4 amps but will accept higher voltages (and therefore higher wattages). This would seem to explain the huge difference in recharging time between using a 12 volt source (which, at 4 amps, means the battery will only be accepting around 48 watts per hour) and using the line voltage recharger. If you work backwards from the charging times for the line voltage charger indicated in the Torqueedo manual, it would appear that the line voltage charger puts out around 90 watts per hour (it says 6 hours for the 530W battery and 10 hours for the 915W battery, but I don’t know whether lithium batteries have a charge acceptance curve, unlike lead acid cells, so I may be way off here on my math), so that’s a lot more than the battery can accept from a 12 volt source. So, apparently if I charged directly from my 18V solar panel the Torqeedo could be accepting 72 watts per hour, which would be a significant reduction in recharging time. Also, to answer an earlier query, the shear pins are now available from Defender. Item # 457591

In my experience with Valence and Simpliphi lithium batteries, the constant current phase (similar to lead-acid’s bulk phase) can go up to C/2 without any issues at all. Higher charge rates are possible with careful temp monitoring and a good BMS. Neither requires voltage limiting until reaching about 95% SOC.

The times they are a changin: Torqeedo was just acquired by venerable engine manufacturer DEUTZ and apparently will operate pretty much as is “within the framework of the new E-DEUTZ strategy.” http://www.torqeedo.com/us/en-us/news-and-press/news-and-press/blog-2017-09-27.html

I have a Torquedo 503L. It was working fine. One day it just stop working. There is no signal at all in the tiller. The battery is fully charged. There is nothing in the display and it wont start. What shall I do. This motor is always giving us grief. There is no display and no indication of anything in the tiller. Thanks for your help

After owning a 1003l for 7 years and a cruise 2.0 for 2 years, I am recommending against torqeedo motors at this point. The cruise works better than the 1003, primarily because it’s not such a black box (the battery is your own that you are in control of and that you can troubleshoot with common sense and a little bit of know-how). The travel just sucks. Mine had issues from the beginning with all sorts of codes and I sent it to torqeedo and had it fixed for free. “fixed” means that it generally had only some minor issues instead of total failure issues. With very light use eventually the motor went to crap again and I had to have the “pylon” replaced. The nearest guy who could do this is a couple hours away. $700 later and I tested it on the back of the boat and it seemed to work (I never stress tested it under load). Then it sat for another 2 years until I had a use for it (today). It just screwed me off the lake with the good ol E45 error code about 100 ft from the ramp. It would not reset and as soon as any power is transferred to the prop it shut down and shows E45. I just got back from paddling back upwind (after being blown a few hundred more feet away from the ramp) a good hundred yards with an emergency paddle. I do not know if I should be cursing torqeedo for doing what I pretty much should expect it to do (fail and strand you), or at myself for letting this POS motor do it to me again. I had this thing fixed for only slightly less money that I thought the motor was actually worth. Now I am $2500 in to a motor that is very unreliable. I can buy a new 4 stroke remote steering 9.9hp gas motor for $3000. If you can have a gas motor, I say you should just use a gas motor. Unfortunately I am on an electric only lake. My $80 30lb walmart ozark trail trolling motor has been 100% reliable for almost 3 years now on a jon boat that gets used weekly and gets left out in the weather. It is a better motor than the 1003l that i am stuck with. I would trade this POS torqeedo for a decent trolling motor any day. Also, if you hit a rock under the water on my lake with the torqeedo, you will find yourself spending $35 for a skeg or $99 for a prop because they completely shatter on either model. Not a dent or a ding, but blamo… gone completely. My cheap $80 walmart motor came with an extra prop; I have not needed to use it yet. It is made of plastic that is appropriately impact resistant. Torqeedo: nice try and you had some things right, but your product is just not reliable at all.

Sorry for you pain, TimB, but I’ve had a very different experience. I did get an E45 error message and shut down a couple of weeks ago, and couldn’t reset it until the next day, but otherwise have not seen any error messages in last several years. Also the same battery I got with 1003 in 2011 is still going strong and I can’t detect any loss of capacity.

I did send the main unit in two winters ago for a seal and motor checkup since I leave it in saltwater all season (except when hauled onto Gizmo’s stern to cruise), but they didn’t find anything wrong and it cost little. At that time I also had them put a new skin on the tiller electronics because the old one had gotten cruddy in the sun, but that’s it. I happily use the 1003 almost every day (and also took it down south again last winter). I’m still in love with it, and am glad to see more and more them in use on tenders and smallish sailboats.

I, like Ben, have had a different result as well – we bought our 1003 in 2013, though we didn’t really use it until 2015 – after that, we’ve been full-time cruisers, so it has gotten a lot of use. I have found that the errors & the “grumbling” malfunction appear to be related to the connectors – an E30 or “grumbling” can be fixed by a little scrubbing inside the motor-to-battery plug (I’m not bold enuff to stick my SS brush inside the battery side yet). For us, this has been the most common problem, usually experienced when arriving in a port and setting up the dinghy after a few days at sea. I got a couple E45 errors, but since I started cleaning the small control plug, these have disappeared (knocks on teak!). I have noted a weird problem if the controller is allowed to time itself out and turn off – the only way back to proper operation is to disconnect the controller and start over. It doesn’t like having the safety magnet removed while running – this also requires a “cold start”.

And yet another addition to the never-ending Torqeedo thread! Ours decided that cleaning the connector pins was not enough – it was E30 every time (yes we have oars!) – so I contacted the Maryland Torqeedo shop – Hartge Yacht Harbor – and brought our 1003 in. They have now diagnosed the problem as water infiltration into the motor housing – needless to say, this will be expensive! We were hoping it was just the cable, but now we’re buying a new motor and all the parts. We were also informed that Torqeedo now directs that the 3 seals be tested/renewed every 3 years (we’re at 5 years now) by a factory service center.. On the plus side, drive pins (shear pins is what I would call ’em) are now easy to get.

Great to see that this thread is still active. Lots of useful information, with some caution on the info w/r charging from panels => the earlier models have less protection in the BMS (apparently, from Torqueedo’s info). For me, the older 503/1003 (without the USB capacity) are charging great from two regular 100Wp panels @ 4A max. Best of all: the battery will transfer the 200W directly to battery, which means that I can go all day at 200W and not draw any power from the battery – or even charge and sail at the same time when using less than the 200W on the motor!.

Anyway, this led to another question coming to mind. It would be great to use the battery for other purposes as well. I have been experimenting with a 29.4V Li-Ion for 220V by means of a booster and this works great.

To use the 503 battery for this purpose, I would need to hook up the inverter to the motor cable connector (4pins for DC – not the small regulator pins). It would be great if somebody could direct me to the right type of connector for this use – or DIY workaround. I have seen that the cable is available from Torqueedo as a spare, for some 70 bucks but – as another poster already noted – saving 60 and getting some soldering practice works great for me.

Happy sailing & best regards from the Amsterdam canals!

No, the Travel Motor and others will fail badly when there is simply a rope in the sea. The motor will die even after you remove the rope. This is an upsetting design. I bought the Travel 1003CL model and it was killed by just a rope on the propeller for less than 0.5 seconds. They finally repaired mine after 45 days. Horrible experience on sea.

Sorry to hear about this, Antony, but in all these years no one else has reported such a failure. In eight years of use, I’ve never caught a rope in my test 1003, but it’s certainly tangled with floating kelp balls that stopped it dead. Usually it’s just a matter of clearing the kelp, and off I go, but sometimes it takes a complete reboot.

By the way, the same battery I got with the 1003 in 2011 is still going strong.

And another reboot to the perpetual Torqeedo thread 🙂 As I said last fall, we had Hartge refurb our 1003 then, and it has been 100% trouble-free this year (we didn’t use it much until March, but extensive use since then has been 100%). As a special benefit, they were able to remake ours into a “normal” length, instead of “long” – which helps in shallow water AND maneuvering it on & off. The growling problem has disappeared entirely, and the only error code was generated because I went from forward to reverse without waiting for the prop to stop – always a problem. The plastic battery connector remains a sore point, though I’ve been able to get it right the first time by turning the motor sideways and visually aligning the connector before rotating the collar – not a perfect solution, but better than cursing the cross-threaded jam-up.

Torqeedo has issued a safety warning that involves many Travel and Ultralite batteries out in the field:

https://panbo.com/important-safety-warning-possible-fire-risk-with-torqeedo-outboard-motor-batteries-travel-and-ultralight/

My 2011 Travel battery has a serial number that’s within the warning’s range and yours might too. I’ve already filled out the form at https://www.torqeedo.com/us/en-us/service-centre/information-and-return-shipment/safety.html and Torqeedo is willing to ship the battery back for inspection and possible repair. But personally, I’m no hurry to lose the use of it and think it highly unlikely to cause problems while I wait.

However, I have begun work on an entry about Lithium-ion battery safety on boats in general, and Torqeedo’s outboard battery issue specifically.

We’ve had a T1003 since 2014. Used in the PNW for summer cruising (3-4 weeks a year), and long weekends.

I have very mixed emotions about it. When it works, it’s a great little outboard, easy to get on and off the dingy, super quiet, and relatively reliable. BUT there is generally nothing the end-user can do to repair the unit in the field, other than replacing the prop, or cleaning the connectors. Getting the unit repaired takes a long time, and you’re relying on access to a service center.

In our second season, there was a warranty claim related to the circuit board on the tiller. Because our local service center closed, the entire unit had to be shipped to Illinois. Torqeedo covered this (because it was in warranty), but we were without an outboard for 2 weeks of our summer cruise. I can’t recall how long it took for the unit to be repaired, but I would suspect that it was around a month.

This year I’ve become extremely frustrated with the timeliness of repairs, service, and responses to inquiries from Torqeedo. We have a battery temperature error, which likely means that the battery needs to be replaced, our local service center (who have been great!) submitted an out of warranty claim, and were told that we may also qualify for the battery upgrade program. However, 5 days later, and no word from Torqeedo on the status of our claim, or what sort of rebate may be offered.

Based on the way things are going, I’m expecting that the total turn around on this issue will be 5 weeks (I’m almost at three weeks, and shipping take 5-10 business days). I’m tempted to just buy a new battery at this stage, as we start our trip next week, but they’re over $1,300 Canadian.

When you compare that to the time to repair/service an outboard, it’s a pretty big drawback. Would I buy it again? Probably…. but we’re a relatively young cruising couple, and our rigid dingy rows quite well.

I have no issue with the battery and the power that the Travel 1103 can do. But the repair that I had was about 3 months. BTW, the motor is strong on my Portland Pudgy and able to tow my William SportsJet 395 with 3 men on board. If there are no problems with the debris in the sea, it is an excellent outboard! Reliability is an issue for me. I had used it on Pudgy to high waves like 2m+. But debris is a killer.

This has turned into the Torqueedo thread that cannot die… :}

I posted my first comment back in 2011 and I still own and use my T1003 although I just upgraded from my original battery to the newest high range unit. I found out my old battery was part of the recall and Torqueedo offers a rebate on a new one so I decided to bite the bullet and get the new one. Should provide a much better range than the old one who was starting to give us problems towards the end of the season. It would go from 100% down to 0% whenever you gave it “full throttle”. If you kept under 50% throttle it would last hours. So this new battery should be an improvement.

We had the motor in for service twice in the last 3 years. First time was to replace the shaft seal. After a few month’s use we notice the motor would do a horrible grinding noise at speed so we brought it back and were told our motor was one of the early ones that had a design flaw. Seems the magnets worked themselves loose and rubbed on the windings which would short the motor out. That’s the grinding noise we heard before the motor would stall. The service technician replaced the guts of the motor and the main board. They also found some corrosion on the board they thought came from condensation. Supposedly there were no leaks so that was the only explanation they could come up with.

Last year the motor ran fine all summer long except for the battery problems so I’m hoping we have all that behind us and am looking forward for many more years of Torqueedo ownership.

Overall we’ve been extremely happy of the last 8 years even with some of the recent repairs and bills that came with them. I still think we saved over owning a gas motor for that period and I’m keeping my fingers crossed there won’t be any major problem for a while.

Might as well post an update, too 🙂 Our two batteries are off to Torqueedo for “inspection” – the process of getting them in was fraught with some really silly problems involving poor coordination at Torqueedo – the freight company showed up looking for the batteries a month+ after we told them where we were (and we were long gone at that point) – and the second shipment of empty boxes went similarly awry. But now they’re on their way to the service center. We elected to keep our old batteries as they were doing fine (crosses fingers). Our rebuilt motor has been 100% this past summer, and we worked it pretty hard at times.

Like many others the 1003 is the motor I love to hate, or hate to love… something like that. I cruise the Caribbean, and I loved the motor when it worked. However mine has had two failures: (1) The tiller screen cracked and leaked, and the microswitch for power on corroded out and failed. Being on my own somewhere lonely, I took it apart myself and replaced the switch, luckily I found a cheap alarm clock with the same switch and just commandeered it. Some clear packing tape took care of the leak.

Next, I had to fight upwind one day and used full power, which I basically never did because it was such a battery suck. After a few minutes that growling noise an earlier poster reported started up, and just like them, my motor was an earlier model and the magnets had falled apart. Of course that was the end of use for that season, since I couldn’t send it back from whatever little country I was in at the time. When I got it to a service center, the repair was about $800. While the motor was less than a season old, they claimed it wasn’t covered by warranty because I must have had a prop strike to cause this failure; but there was never any prop strike, and the leading edge of the prop was pristine. They replaced the whole motor pod and admitted mine was an earlier flawed design. I insisted they send me the replaced parts and it was clear upon inspection what the failure was. All in all I was rather incensed at the haughtiness of the service folks and the lack of warranty coverage. I will continue to use my motor while it still runs but I would never recommend its purchase.

I found this thread while searching for the E45 fix. Actuallu I have two problems, periodic E30 and E45 for the first time My 1003 is 13 month old. Used once or two a month criusing around marina in San Diego. When it works – I love it. When it does not I hate it. E30 is something I use to live with and know how to “fix” it. E45 is completely new to me. Here is how I got to this problem: reversing the direction too fast ( it should be hanled in software) . But, I could not recover from it, no matter I what I tried. Recharged battery, multiple on/off – nothing works. When I tried to to turn it on while having “trottle/direction” handle in non zero position, I saw E30 first and then, like 5 sec later E45. Today, I have sent an email to the service center ( IL, USA) and will update with their solition to the problem. I suspect it is a motor problem.

We were seeing similar errors, steadily getting worse, when we took our 1003 to Hartge Yacht (S of Annapolis, MD). They quickly diagnosed water inside the motor housing as the culprit. Apparently, after we bought our 1003 in 2013, the factory started telling people that you need to take your motor in every 2 years to get the seals renewed – and we were right at 5.5 years by then 🙁 . Not a cheap fix, but a year later it’s still working 100% error-free. On the plus side, they were able to change our long-shaft into a “regular” one.

Hello everyone. I’ve had my 1003 a couple of days now, and from out of the box could see the potential problems staring me in the face. 1.Those connectors! 2. Motor housing seals! 3. Main motor shaft seals. Electrical connectors and salt water don’t mix, I think it’s definitely best to leave the battery connected whenever possible this making the pins are always kept dry. In the end I will hard-wire the controller to the battery and battery to motor thus negating the connectors completely. Removing this point of failure is one of my priorities on this motor.

Hi Paul, Kamaloha has good advice below. And I can add that I’m still using the same 1003, battery included, that I wrote about here in 2011. I’ve used it a lot, and it spends every summer with its lower unit almost always in saltwater. I had to replace the tiller electronics once, and I’ve sent the lower unit in about two years ago for servicing, but I don’t think they needed to change seals.

I suggest that you use it for a while before making those changes, then reflect upon how hard it will be to charge it, transport it, secure it, and use it once you can’t take it apart. Not to mention voiding the warranty…

I just got a 2008 Com-Pac Picnic Cat and I’d like to get a Torqueedo 1103c for it. My question is should I get the short shaft or the long shaft? The top edge of the motor mount on my Picnic Cat is about 14.5″ above the bottom of the transom. On the 1103cs (short shaft) the distance from the underside of the motor mount to the center of the propeller is about 24.5.” On the long shaft it’s about 29.5.” I live on the north east end of Long Island, NY and would use the boat in some fairly shallow bays. Any advice or insights would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Hi Alec, this Com-Pac site recommends a long shaft:

https://www.gisails.com/boats/compac/picnic/

It’s a bit confusing that long shafts are also called 20 inch, but I believe that’s measuring to the top of the prop, not the center. Also, note that you can unlock the 1103 tilt lever when in shallow water so that it will kick up if it hits bottom, but in that mode you can only use a small amount of reverse power or the prop will climb out of the water. Cool boat, by the way, and I suspect that you’ll love having easy electric auxiliary propulsion.

At the risk of making your shopping more confusing, I’ll add that the Travel 1103C now has pretty serious competition in the ePropulsion Spirit 1+:

https://panbo.com/epropulsion-spirit-1-0-plus-3hp-electric-outboard-now-available-in-the-u-s/

My brother-in-law just bought one for his inflatable and is quite please so far.

Thanks for your input Ben! OK. long shaft it is then. Yes. Traditionally, the long shaft designation of 20 inches generally refers to the distance between the underside of the motor mount and the catavation plate above the propeller. I will check out the E Propulsion. I guess I just want to know if something goes wrong with the motor, that there is a substantial enough company behind the product to back it. Regarding each company’s strength, how does E Propulsion compare to Torqueedo? Do do you know anything about E Propulsion or their products reliability? Also, do you happen to know if there is a forum about them? I have looked at their website and it is slow and buggy. But I don’t know if that should reflect on their products. if you have a chance, please let me know what you think.

Thanks again!

Well, there’s the rub, Alec. I have heard good things about ePropulsion’s new U.S. distributor Mack Boring over the years, but I’ve only seen one Spirit 1 outboard in the wild and it’s brand new. It’s also worth noting that they’re using a different and possibly less stable battery technology. Meanwhile, Torqeedo has established an excellent record, in my opinion, and really proved their deep responsibility to customers last year with a hugely expensive battery recall program that I don’t think they really had to do. I’m planning to write more about all this soon.

I have to agree with you on that. We were able to upgrade our original 9 year old Torqueedo battery last fall as part of the recall and it’s like having a brand new outboard motor. Mind you we did upgrade a lot of the motor’s components (mainboard, seals, etc…) over a year ago but the new battery made a huge difference. It’s the largest capacity battery so no more range anxiety. The motor still make a bit of a whining noise at certain speeds but otherwise I have no other complaints. This may well be the last outboard motor I will ever buy, It’s the perfect motor for my Walker Bay 8′ dinghy.

Thanks for your response Ben. I am eager to hear more about E Propulsion. But for the moment, I’d like to ask you a question. If the Torqeedo 1103C and the E Propulsion Spirit 1 were the same price, which do you think you’d buy?

Thanks again.

That’s easy for me… the 1103C. I got to try one last summer and it’s quieter, more responsive and more powerful than the 1003 I already love. Also, I’m a little concerned about the Spirit’s folding tiller design. It’s up swing is limited, which could be a problem with my standup steering preference (particularly valuable in my crowded harbor) and it seems like a little clumsiness could cause breakage when you’re moving the motor around.

But those worries are tentative and also the two motors are not even close to the same price. Therein the rub.

Updating my earlier posts about my Torqueedo 1003. Since the local dealer serviced the motor with new seals and internal upgrades, the motor has been trouble free (until recently). This spring we discovered the on/off button on the tiller has become unreliable. You push down on the button and it either fails to turn the motor on or off. I have tried holding it down for a long time, pushing it multiple times and it’s hit and miss. Seems like a very long push works but in some cases I have just unplugged the tiller to turn the motor off. Maybe the plastic is getting too stiff as it ages but it’s currently our only frustration with this motor. Anyone had to deal with this issue? Am I looking at a new tiller unit??

Hello Maurice, We had your EXACT problem! But all I had to do was buy a new circuit board from Torqueedo Parts ( https://www.torqeedo.com/us/en-us/products/spare-parts ) for $61.22 (#000-00216) and replaced ours. I also bought a new gasket and some screws, but I really didn’t need them. Once you’ve replaced the board, you MUST recalibrate the throttle control – which they don’t tell you, but there is a nice video explaining how on their website.

Hartley S/V Atsa

I came across this site when I was havng issues with my 1003 motor, not showing any connection after I had used the motor to push my Herreshnoff 12 1/2 (Bullseye) under power alone to Bucks Harbor and back from my mooring on Eggemoggin Reach in Maine. After I got the battery recharged, I began a sail around Deer Isle with my sister’s grandson, but the motor failed to ever start to help. I discovered yesterday that I had cross threaded the motor control cabe to the battery and that was the problem. Your email thread provided the solution along with the service people at Torqeedo. This thread stll has great value.

Join the conversation Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Don't subscribe All new comments Replies to my comments Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. You can also subscribe without commenting.

Editors' Blog

David Burch wants to educate us about Electronic Navigation Charts (ENC)

Panbo(at) gets more stable: Seakeeper 1 install in progress

Epoch’s new 460 amp-hour, external communicating battery arrives and testing begins

METS 2023: EPT Technologies solid-state battery destruction demo

Gizmo’s new (though previously owned) compass, thanks to Max Marine Electronics

Join our list and be notified of new posts, subscribe to panbo.

Subscribe to Panbo to be notified of new posts and content

Press Releases

Recent Panbo Comments

Recent forum posts.

Interface HVAC with MFD

We are working on an electronics refit and in the proce...

By Trey Weitzel , 1 month ago

B & G Net Work Pilot auto pilot compass not working

Our B&G auto pilot compass is not working. It was w...

By Todd Young , 1 month ago

RE: Epoch 460 battery

What does “awaiting moderation” mean? Did I break a rul...

By Jim Duke , 2 months ago

I made a previous request to Ben which may have gotten ...

I think this is a fine place for it and comes with the ...

By Ben Stein , 2 months ago

Epoch 460 battery

Ben, The comments on your Epoch 460 article is gettin...

Open Monday - Friday 8:30 - 17:00. To benefit from the latest news and offers please sign up to our newsletter. Thank you .

• Volvo Penta Engines
• HONDA GENERATORS
• HONDA POWER CARRIERS
• HONDA WATER PUMPS

• Volvo Penta Parts
• Honda Engine Parts
• Suzuki Engine Parts
• Tohatsu Engine Parts
• Torqeedo Parts
• Nanni Engine Parts
• Spark Plugs
• Bilge Pumps
• Sea Water Systems
• Control Cables
• Engine Controls
• Fuel Systems & Filters
• Stern Tube Glands & Seals
• Battery Cables
• Heater Hose
• Paints & Primers
• Coolants & Descaler
• Grease & Sealants
• Fuel Treatments
• Valeting & Cleaning
• Workshop & Service Products

If you cannot find what you are looking for on our site you can use.............

• Honwave Range
• Honwave Parts & Accessories
• UL Ultra Light
• Highfield Parts & Accessories

• Personal Watercraft
• Trailer Parts & Accessories
• Marine Commercial
• Marine Leisure
• Volvo Penta Parts & Accessories
• Honda Parts & Accessories
• Suzuki Parts & Accessories
• Misc Clearance
• Over 130,000 parts on offer
• Free Click & Collect. T&C's
• 24hr tracked shipping
• New Engines
• 2-6 10 items
• Short 7 items
• Long 5 items
• Tiller 8 items
• Remote 2 items
• Manual Tilt 4 items
• Electric start 8 items
• Yes 4 items

Torqeedo Travel 1103 CS - 1151-00

Torqeedo Travel 1103 CL - TOR1152-00

Torqeedo Travel 603 - TOR1153-00

Torqeedo Travel 903 S - 1156-00

Torqeedo Travel 903 L - 1157-00

Torqeedo Travel XP S - 1162-00

Torqeedo Travel XP L - 1163-00

Torqeedo Travel XP RS - 1164-00

Torqeedo Travel XP RL - 1165-00

Torqeedo Travel S & Battery Bundle - 116066-00

Torqeedo Travel S & XP Battery Bundle - 116067-00

Torqeedo Travel S 1100W - 1160-00

Torqeedo Travel L 1100W - 1161-00

Torqeedo Travel Battery - 1166-00

" * " indicates required fields

Torqeedo Travel 1003 CL

Now lots of companies say that right? But then you show them a pic of a 1988 mariner 40hp an they start sucking thier teeth! Or even worse you show them a nice 90hp mariner 4 stoke that you have lovingly cared for all its life only for them to offer you three boiled sweets and a bag of marbles for it (We can even offer px on boats and trailers too!). Well that wont happen here. We care about all of our customers and are committed to doing things the right way. So come on – lets get the deal done!

We’re not government-backed, so we won’t make it sound too good to be true, but here’s our promise: If you’ve got a similar engine to trade in, regardless of its age or condition, we’ll take it as px, and what’s more we will use Bill Higham’s good old fashioned values of quality and integrity to work out a deal that’s right for you. 😄

Description

Additional information, torqeedo electric outboards.

• Reviews (0)

The Travel 1003/1003C delivers over 1,000 watts of input power. In terms of propulsion is comparable with 3 HP petrol outboard. With the Travel 1003/1003C you can discover the world on water, completely waterproof to IP67.

Thanks to the on-board computer with its GPS-based calculation of the remaining range, you always have your own travel guide with you.

Compared with the Travel 503, the Travel 1003 has higher overall power and offers over 60% more battery capacity. The Travel 1003C model offers 3 times the battery capacity of the 503, enabling a greater range.

Both motors are suitable for inflatables and other small boats. The Travel 1003/1003C will also easily propel tenders, dinghies and sailboats up to 1.5 tonnes.

• Can do everything that a 3 HP petrol outboard can, plus it’s environmentally friendlier, quieter, lighter and more convenient
• On-board computer with GPS-based calculation of remaining range
• Solar rechargeable – including during the voyage
• Can be easily dismantled for transport and space-saving storage
• A clean affair: no matter how or where you store your Travel, there’s no risk of leakage or petrol smells
• Stepless forward/reverse drive
• Manual tilting device with grounding protection
• 4-step manual trim device
• Completely waterproof (IP 67)
• Tiller control
• Travel 1003 : Integrated battery with 530 Wh Li-Ion / Travel 1003C :  Intergrated battery with 915 WH Li-lon
• Total weight kg : 1003 – 14.4 (S)/ 15.0 (L) / 1003C 14.9 (CS)/ 15.5 (CL)
• Shaft length: short 62.5 cm / long 75 cm

EQUIPMENT INCLUDED : Travel 1003/1003C with battery and charger

WARRANTY : 2 years

TRAVEL 1003 WITH INTEGRATED BATTERY (29.6 V / 18 AH)

Travel 1003c with integrated battery (29.6 v / 31 ah).

When travelling through water, displacement increases power required in proportion to the cube (third power) of the speed. This means that doubling water speed increases the power required eightfold.

Conversely, it also means that only a slight reduction in speed will increase the range attainable significantly. Simply reducing speed by even half a knot has a considerable effect on the remaining range.

As mental arithmetic to the power of three is quite tricky, the on-board computer of the Travel constantly calculates the remaining range for you. To do this, it combines the consumption data from the motor with the charge level of the batteries together with the speed over water obtained via GPS. This means you can read the remaining range in real time from the Travel’s display. Using the TorqTrac App you can even read the remaining range from a map on your smartphone.

Note: Speed and Range are indicative only. Actual results may vary depending on hull design/configuration and on-water conditions.

SPECIFICATIONS

Back in 2003, ecological issues in Lake Starnberg, Germany, resulted in the introduction of restrictions which essentially banned the use of internal combustion engines. Doctors Christoph Ballin and Friedrich Böbel took up the challenge of creating a viable electric alternative to the outboard motor. The result was the Torqeedo travel range.

Since then, Torqeedo has moved from strength to strength, fully focused on developing a comprehensive range of electric outboards that provide a genuine alternative to petrol motors. As environmental concerns grow, their mission to deliver an alternative to fossil fuels for the outboard industry has become increasingly important. At Bill Higham, we’ve been supporting this mission for over a decade and stock a wide range of electric outboards.

Torqeedo electric outboards and inboards for sailors

Torqeedo now provides a range of electric propulsion solutions for sailors. The Travel range is a light, clean and quiet option for small dinghies and day-sailers, while the Deep Blue Saildrive range can power larger sailboats and catamarans. There’s also a range of pod drives, suitable for sailboats up to 10 tons and a powerful range of inboards. No matter the size of your boat, Torqeedo has an electric solution for you.

Torqeedo electric motors for motor boaters

Transform your motor boating into a green, quiet, powerful and efficient experience. Torqeedo’s Travel range provides a lightweight option for smaller boats while the Cruise range is suitable for those in need of a little more power. These outboards come in variations up to 20hp and are fed by super dense battery solutions. For larger vessels, the Deep Blue range is available in 40hp or 80hp options. These outboards, usually coupled with BMW iDrive battery solutions, come with a nine year warranty that promises 80% residual battery capacity with a nine year daily use cycle.

Torqeedo electric motors for kayaks

The Torqeedo Ultralight system weighs just 8.9kg, including the remote control and battery, making it perfect for a lightweight boat like a kayak. Whatever you use your kayak for, the Torqeedo Ultralight will completely transform the experience.

There are no reviews yet.

Only logged in customers who have purchased this product may leave a review.

Related products

Torqeedo Travel 1103 CL

Torqeedo Travel XP Electric Outboard

Torqeedo Travel 603 Short Shaft

Finance is provided by omni capital retail finance ltd which is a credit provider/lender. bill higham marine limited does not receive payment for introducing customers to omni capital retail finance. omni capital retail finance ltd finance options are subject to individual status; terms and conditions apply. omni capital retail finance ltd is registered in england and wales with company number 7232938. registered address: 10 norwich street, london, ec4a 1bd., authorised and regulated by the financial conduct authority, firm reference number: 979658.

• The Portable Boat and Electric Outboard Specialist
• Est 2007 - based in Christchurch, UK

• Search for:

No products in the basket.

• ePropulsion eLite 500W Ultra Portable Electric Outboard
• ePropulsion Spirit PLUS / EVO Electric Outboard Motors
• Torqeedo Travel 903 1103 & XP Electric Outboard Motors
• ThrustMe Kicker Electric Outboard Motor – Superlight
• TEMO 450 Electric Outboard Motor
• Outboards over 3hp
• Kayak Motors
• Epropulsion Accessories
• Torqeedo Accessories
• Aquaglide Chelan Inflatable Kayaks SPECIAL OFFER!
• Aquaglide Cirrus ULTRALIGHT Inflatable Kayaks (from 6kg!)
• Aquaglide Blackfoot Inflatable Adventure Kayaks
• Spinera Hybris Inflatable Kayaks – from £400
• Spinera Molveno Inflatable Canoes
• ORU Folding Kayaks – Open Cockpit – Lake, Inlet, Beach & Haven
• ORU Folding Kayaks – Closed Cockpit (Bay, Coast)
• KXone Slider Performance Inflatable Kayaks CLEARANCE
• SpearFish Fast Efficient Inflatables
• DinghyGo Sailing Inflatables
• PORTABOTE Fold-Flat Boats
• FRIB Folding Hull RIBs
• Epropulsion Electric Outboards
• KXone Kayaks
• SpearFish inflatable Boats
• Spinera SUP’s
• Torqeedo Electric Outboards
• Delivery and Returns
• Privacy Policy
• Terms and Conditions

Torqeedo Travel 903 1103 & NEW XP Electric Outboard Motors

£ 29.00 – £ 2,999.00

• Description

Specifications

Accessories

• Reviews (0)

Torqeedo Travel 603, 903, 1103 & NEW XP Electric Outboard Motors

The Torqeedo 603, 903 & 1103 are high quality German-made portable electric outboard motors with lightweight lithium ion batteries. They are easy to use, easy to handle/store, and incredibly quiet.

NEW! (15 Nov 2023) 1.6kW Torqeedo Travel XP… scroll to bottom of page.

Torqeedo kickstarted the electric outboard market when they put a lightweight, rechargeable, and waterproof lithium battery roughly where you’d expect the fuel tank to be on a petrol outboard. With no need for a separate heavy “car battery” to manhandle and put elsewhere in the boat, the “Torqeedo Travel 1003” made the idea of “going electric” much more appealing and viable to a larger segment of the boating market. They sold like the proverbial warm carbohydrates. And, as is usually the case with electronics, their latest models, the 603, 903 & 1103 – and the newly-announced Torqeedo Travel XP – are even quieter, more refined and more robust than the original, with much larger battery capacities too. However there is no point trying to hide the fact that Torqeedo no longer have this market to themselves; if you have not already seen it please also read our Epropulsion Spirit motor page.

Both manufacturers make portable electric outboards with lithium battery packs, and power capacities from 0.6 to 1.6kW. The 1kW models are roughly equivalent, in terms of what they achieve on the water, to 3hp petrol outboards. But much easier to use, quieter, cleaner and easier to store. The advantages are so significant that it’s now difficult to think of a reason to buy a small petrol motor.

As of January 2024 we are still the largest UK dealer (by units sold) for Torqeedo and Epropulsion electric outboard motors. There are many similarities between the two, and some important differences. We use them both regularly for our personal boating, and it’s only by stocking both brands we believe we can listen to you and recommend the one that will suit you best (rather than being a single brand dealer and forced to try and sell you that one).

Torqeedo 1103, 903 & 603 electric outboards highlights (for new Torqeedo Travel XP pictures scroll to bottom of page):

• High Power. 1600W or 1100W for the new XP; 1100W for 1103, 900W for 903, and 600W for 603. Apart from the ePropulsions, almost all other portable electric outboards are classed as “trolling motors”.
• VERY EASY to Use.Twist and go; no messing with a choke, pulling starting cord, or spilling petrol, etc.
• No Carburettor to “gum up” when stored. (The most common problem with small petrol outboards.)
• LIGHTWEIGHT. Total assembled weight for the new 603 is approx 15kg, 17kg for the 903 & 1103, 22kg for the XP. All dismantle quickly into 3 pieces, the heaviest (being the main shaft/motor assembly) of which is 11kg.
• IP67 Waterproof, so even if you submerse them (up to 1m) they still work. Yes we’ve tried it, much to the astonishment of onlookers!
• Built-in GPS & Digital Display, showing battery charge state, speed, range and power draw.
• QUIET! Where the Epropulsion Spirit is very quiet, the Torqeedo 1103 at 33db is roughly equivalent to a human whisper (effectively silent in water). NB if you have seen the similar looking predecessor (now discontinued) 503/1003 motors, these had quite a distinctive loud “whine”, but this is a thing of the past.
• Integral Battery, much like the fuel tank on a small petrol outboard.

We usually have stock: come and see a Torqeedo Travel, and the rival Epropulsion Spirit, talk about them, touch them, and so on – then make a decision and take one away the same day if you want to! Contact us to arrange a time/date: Mobile – 07768 600595 Tel – 0800 999 2535 (FREE from UK landlines) Email – [email protected]

Power Comparison: Torqeedo vs Petrol and rival ePropulsion

The acceleration up to those displacement speeds is also impressive, as electric motors (unlike petrol ones) generate full torque from very low revs. So the Torqeedo outboards have lots of low to mid-range push, but not the whizzy top end of a petrol. Unlike “trolling motors” they will be genuinely useful as a main propulsion unit – just not for anything much over 5 knots (10kmph).

The 1103 at 1100W is 10% more powerful than the Epropulsion Spirit PLUS/EVO but Torqeedo’s specification and our own trials on several dinghies do not suggest any great increase in speed, which would make sense.

However the new Torqeedo Travel XP (announced 14 Nov 2023) has a 1600W version. We have not been able to try it on water yet but would expect this to make a significant difference… Torqeedo are claiming it’s equivalent to 5hp.

Battery Life (range)

The lithium battery supplied with the “Power” version of the new Torqeedo XP has a capacity of 1425Wh. We believe this to be the largest integrated battery outboard capacity on the market . Watt hours are the lowest common denominator of battery capacity; “amp hours” really does not tell you anything without the voltage. But if you are used to thinking in (12V) amp hours (Ah) then 1425Wh is the equivalent of 119 amp hours at 12V. Lithium battery amp hours are all usable (unlike the 50% or so for lead acid batteries) so if you want to compare it to a “car battery” it is roughly equivalent to the usable capacity of a 240Ah 12V lead acid battery.

If you’re running a Torqeedo XP (1.6kW version) with the 1425Wh battery flat out you will get approx 53 minutes run time. BUT, if you’re after 4-4.5 knots in a typical inflatable dinghy that probably only needs about 500W… and then you’d get nearly 3 hours. So a range of 12-13 nautical miles (~25km). Whilst that is not enough for everybody it is enough for a lot of users, and if you slow down a bit more the range increases significantly again. The amount of power needed to go a bit faster – or the amount of power saved if you go a bit slower – is exponential.

The Torqeedo 903 & 1103 models have a 916Wh battery. So taking that 500W as our typical running power, you get just under 2 hours run time.

Typical yacht tender users therefore find the Torqeedo 1103 and 903 have a realistic range of 8-10 nautical miles, if they’re happy with 4 to 4.5 knots. At 2 knots the range is meant to be huge, but we’ve never had the patience to find out!

The Torqeedo 603 has a 500Wh battery with different internal architecture, weighing just 4kg (and floats!). If we go with 500W again, then it will last an hour. The range at the same speed will be 55% of that you could achieve with the 1103’s larger battery. Let’s say 5 nautical miles for the typical yacht tender user (which is still quite a lot).

As “range anxiety” is usually the main worry for those new to electric power, the digital display is very reassuring. Range is inversely related to speed, so if you have further to go than currently indicated, simply slow down until the range increases to the required distance. As a further precaution an alarm sounds as you pass below 30% capacity, with the display flashing a recommendation to slow down. Because they are lithium manganese based, the full capacity can be used without detriment to the battery lifetime (unlike lead acid batteries, which dislike being discharged more than 40-50%). You can also buy another battery of course!

The Torqeedo 1103 is available in two shaft lengths, Standard or Long. The 603 is only offered as an S shaft.

The conventional measurement is from the bottom of the top of the clamp (ie where it sits on the transom) to the cavitation plate. As Torqeedos do not have a cavitation plate there is no direct equivalent, but approximately:

– S or Standard shaft Torqeedo motors equate to a petrol outboard with an 18″ (450mm) shaft. If your transom height is 45cm or less, this is the one you need.

– L or Long shaft equates to a petrol outboard with a 23″ (575mm) shaft. You need this if your transom height is more than 45cm.

For PRECISE DIMENSIONS see specifications tab.

The reason the Torqeedo (and Epropulsion) electric outboard motor shafts are a little longer than “normal” is that the propellers have a larger diameter than those on petrol outboards, and to work most efficiently a propeller needs to operate in non-turbulent water (ie well below the surface and ideally below the boat’s hull). So if you have a larger propeller it has to sit deeper, to be immersed.

Historical Changes to the Torqeedo Travel Range

Torqeedo have been making electric outboard motors called “Travel xxxx” since 2008. Here is a summary of the major changes (there have been lots of smaller ones) and approx dates.

Nov 2023: XP range introduced. BIG CHANGE! Whilst bearing some visual similarity with previous models these have significantly higher power outputs (up to 1.6kW) and battery capacities (up to 1425Wh). They also have a click-in battery (no cables to connect), colour display, and Bluetooth connectivity.

Sept 2023: 903 introduced.  This is a downrated version of the 1103 but with the same capacity (916Wh battery) and some cosmetic changes (black paint), at a slightly lower price.

Jan 2021: 603 introduced. This is a downrated version of the 1103, to fill the hole left by the old 503. Supplied with a 500Wh battery.

Dec 2020: 1003 & 503 models discontinued …. the direct-drive 1103 (introduced 2019) continues unchanged into 2021. The end of the 503 & 1003 was an end to the gearbox whine and very weak shear pin issues you may still sometimes hear about, but do not affect any current model (ie 603, 903, 1103).

Jan 2019: 1103 introduced. Big news as it saw Torqeedo offering direct-drive (as opposed to gearbox) motors for the first time. It’s a bit heavier but much quieter than the 1003, with better throttle response and more mechanically robust (with a much stronger shear pin)

Oct 2016: 1003C introduced with higher capacity 916Wh battery (as opposed to standard 1003 with 532Wh).

Mid 2015: 503 & 1003 have faster charging batteries with USB output socket.

There were many other changes: battery capacities, improved software, beefed-up transom clamp, etc. Be aware, if buying secondhand, the 1003, launched in 2011, looks very similar to the similarly named (but massively different!) 1103. If you are looking at a “secondhand Torqeedo bargain on ebay” , bear this in mind – in particular find out when it was made and which battery it has! If it’s a 2013 520Wh battery then yes, it may still work fine, but by now (in 2023) it will only have about 400Wh capacity – because (like all batteries) they “lose” roughly 4% a year – and it will be the older, slower charging, variety.

Choosing Between the Models: Torqeedo 603, 903, 1103 & NEW XP

The 603, 903 and 1103 all look pretty much the same, and indeed the leg part weighs the same for all three models. That’s because it is actually the same motor, in different states of “tune”: either 600W, 900W or 1100W.

There are bigger differences in the batteries, although again all live inside the same size/shape casing. The 603 has a 500Wh battery weighing approx 4kg, and actually floats if dropped. The 903 and 1103 have 916Wh batteries weighing approx 6kg, which don’t float.

The Torqeedo Travel 903 model, announced Sept 2023, has some black trim on the lower parts of the head and battery. Other than that it’s a slightly downrated 1103, outputting max 900W rather than 1100W. Since for most applications – particularly inflatable dinghies – those extra 200W make very little difference, and it’s a bit cheaper, it’s something of a bargain! The black trim also has the advantage of making it immediately identifiable over all previous Travel models.

The all-new Torqeedo Travel XP , announced Nov 2023, also looks quite similar… but the all-black tiller and lack of cables are a clue to some of the important differences (see below).

NEW! Torqeedo Travel XP

14 Nov 2023  

Just announced, and looks like the biggest news for Torqeedo’s integrated battery model TRAVEL range in several years. What we know so far: – Power Input 1.1 or 1.6kW (previous models from 0.6 to 1.1kW). This may not make that much difference on an inflatable dinghy (we think it probably still won’t plane, tbc), but may be more significant for those wishing to power a heavier dayboat (eg Drascombe) or small yacht/river boat. – 1080 or 1425Wh capacity batteries – No Cables to Connect. Battery clicks on, instead of two cables with slightly fiddly screw connectors. – Colour display. With more information, we think. – Built-in Bluetooth so will connect to your phone etc via new TorqView app – Tiller tilts to a much higher angle (90 degrees) than previous models, which either matters or doesn’t (depends on your boat)!

How can we help?

We understand there is a lot of information to digest when trying to decide which product is for you. We have a lot of knowledge in this space and would love to help you make an impartial, informed decision.

Email: [email protected] or Phone: 0800 999 2535

Additional Info & Advice

The Nestaway Boats Electric Outboard Guide

Lithium batteries have made today’s small electric outboards not just comparable with, but, for most users, better than...

Electric Outboard Motor Range Anxiety

We are often asked ‘How far can I go on one charge?’ The answer is much further than...

Electric Outboard Motor Top Tips

Electric outboard motors are easy to maintain, here are a few Electric Outboard Motor Top Tips to help...

Torqeedo Travel 603 & 1103 Electric Outboard Specifications

Which size shaft – s or l.

Both the Epropulsion and the Torqeedo spin much larger propellers, more slowly, than comparable petrol outboards. This makes more efficient use of the high torque characteristics of electric motors. BUT a large propeller is only more efficient if it’s actually underwater, and that means the shafts have to be a bit longer. So the “S” shaft electric motors are almost the same length (from top, to bottom of skeg) as an “L” shaft petrol motor.

The lengths from top of clamp bracket (where it sits on transom) to the upper tip of the propeller (in upright position) are:

• S shaft 47cm to suit all boats with transom heights up to 45cm. This is the vast majority of small dinghies, inflatables etc
• L shaft 59cm most often purchased for the back of small yachts etc where you want the propeller to be quite deep

If you’re worried about this, don’t. We can work out with you which shaft length is most likely to be correct but if you buy one and find out immediately on installation that it’s the wrong size, then for the cost of the postage each way (about £30 in total) and assuming it’s returned to us in brand new condition (unmarked, with all packaging etc), we’ll change it for you. (Subject to availability and cost difference between shaft lengths where applicable.) It’s useful if you can measure top of transom to bottom before phoning or emailing us.

What you get in the box

The following items are supplied as standard with the Torqeedo Travel 603 & 1103:

• 916Wh battery with 1103, 500Wh with 603
• mains charger with EU and US leads
• battery retaining pin
• magnetic kill cord

Technical Drawings / Dimensions

Click below for downloads:

• Torqeedo 1103 
• Torqeedo 603  

User Manuals

• Torqeedo 603 & 1103 Quick Guide  
• Torqeedo 603 & 1103 Full Manual  

Torqeedo Travel Electric Outboard Motor Accessories

Torqeedo 12V DC charging cable (for 603 & 1103)

Torqeedo 603/1103 battery bag

Spare Propeller Tqdo 603/1103

Electric Outboards

Torqeedo Travel 903 CS electric outboard (900W motor, 915Wh batt) with FREE UK Delivery

Torqeedo Travel Battery Extension Cable

Torqeedo Travel Motor Head Cover

Torqeedo Travel Top Mount Remote Throttle for models 403-1103

Torqeedo Spares Kit (kill cord, batt mount pin, steering lock)

There are no reviews yet.

Be the first to review “Torqeedo Travel 903 1103 & NEW XP Electric Outboard Motors” Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a review.

You may also like…

Epropulsion

Epropulsion Vaquita (Lagoon) Electric Kayak Motor

Torqeedo Ultralight Kayak Motor

Username or email address  *

Password  *

Remember me Log in

Lost your password?

Email address  *

Your personal data will be used to support your experience throughout this website, to manage access to your account, and for other purposes described in our privacy policy .

• Realting.com
• Residential

Property for sale in Moscow, Russia

Property types in Moscow

Properties features in moscow, russia.

• Skyscrapers
• Apartments for Sale
• Apartments for Rent
• Houses for Sale
• Houses for Rent
• Luxury Real Estate
• Mansions in Russia
• Palaces in Russia
• Watch Video
• Residence permit in Russia

• WhatsApp Facebook Twitter Pinterest Linkedin Email

Apartment 107 sqm in the OKO tower

Description

For sale 2-room apartment on the 55th floor in the OKO tower . Spacious apartments with designer finishes. Excellent view characteristics: a panoramic view of the city and the towers of the Moscow City business center. Layout: living room combined with kitchen, one bedroom, dressing room, hall. If you want to rent or buy an apartment in Moscow City, then send us an individual request!

• Property ID: HZ304
• Price: $950,000
• Property Size: 1152 Sq Ft
• Bathroom: 1
• Property Type: Apartments for Sale, Moscow City apartments
• Property Status: For Sale

Similar Listings

128 sqm apartment near the Kremlin with a view of Theatre Square

• 3 Bathrooms
• Contact for price

Apartment 76 sqm on the 34th floor in NEVA TOWER

Penthouse 284 sqm on Zvenigorodskoe highway

Compare listings

Reset Password

Please enter your username or email address. You will receive a link to create a new password via email.

• Svetlana Panova

• Share WhatsApp Facebook Twitter Pinterest Linkedin Email

Send a Request

• ‹ Return |
• › Products
• › Travel 1103
• › Travel 1103 C

JavaScript functionality for your browser has been deactivate. Please activate JavaScript so you can use all functions on this page.

The 1103 C model is the top-of-the-line model of our globally successful Travel series. Featuring a direct-drive motor design, it comes with the high-capacity 915 Wh battery – a range-extending 73% increase in capacity compared to the base model. The 1103 C delivers 1,100 W, a strong aluminium pylon for increased protection from impact damage and an upgraded transom mount.

Travel 1103 – Benefits:

• With its integrated lithium battery and its outstanding efficiency, the Travel is the alternative to a small petrol outboard
• Can do everything that a 3 HP petrol outboard can, plus it’s environmentally friendlier, quieter, lighter and more convenient
• Completely waterproof (IP67)
• Instantaneous throttle response
• On-board computer with GPS-based calculation of remaining range
• Solar rechargeable – including during the voyage
• Can be easily dismantled for transport and space-saving storage; the outboard on its own weighs only 11.3 kg (S) / 11.7 kg (L)
• A clean affair: no matter how or where you store your Travel – there’s no risk of leakage or petrol smells