PA 14 electric motor maximum capacity

Is the 400 watt motor rating listed on the MD 180 PA 14 Maximum Capacities sticker for motors mounted in the drive well only?
What is the rating for an electric motor mounted in the rear on an adapter plate?
I am hoping that the answer from Hobie is that the 400 watt motor rating only pertains to motors mounted in the drive well since this is the only place Hobie designed to accept a motor.

Matt ........ what’s the answer

Didn't even know that was on a sticker. Maybe for the EU.

That has to be for the drive well.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Is that your opinion or the official response? An official response is required

I don't know what the 400 watts means, but if it helps I have a 55# thrust Motorguide mounted on the back of my PA 14 with an adapter plate and foot controllers for steering
I've never had an issue with it, the only issue is lugging around the deep cell marine battery (AGM 92 amp) which is pretty heavy. Runs at least 4 hours on a charge, I've never been out longer than that to see just how long it would run

https://imgur.com/ezm3sdU
https://imgur.com/ThfazcX

Apparently is related to NMMA safety requirements. Has to do with transom size, freeboard, boat volume.

Regulation calculated to 400 watts and that is a conversion from horsepower. That apparently is just over 1/2 HP (.53).

55lb Thrust = 0.84HP

So... 55 thrust would be too much on the PA 14.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Thanks Matt

Thank you Matt.

I have 2015 PA 14
Have a 40 lb Minkota on a side mount

I have it there so I can still maneuver and get exercise with standard drive, I am disabled Vietnam Vet.
Some tournament organization are going to allow motors here in Arkansas. BASS is ok with them KBF is also. Locals will maybe but are -
very fuzzy about how to rate for a motor.

I wish I could afford the one you sell but not my fixed income.

Is there a formal document or something can get to help me prove I am ok?

Arkansas put 1 HP on registration They cannot do decimal points. (Thought that was funny.)

Just the sticker on the boat. I did read into the regulations a bit and they discuss rounding up to the next HP, so 1 HP seems valid. Engineering is currently reviewing the calculations.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Seems other manufacturers have already changed their calculations and wording.

Looks like we will be able to change the max HP. The review finds specifications of 3 HP for kayaks under 15 feet.

We would set it at 1100 watts which covers the 1103.

This would be an NNMA standard and does not mean damage caused by using one would be covered by warranty. That appears to have been the reasoning behind the 400 watt limit as that is the Torqeedo 403 output (evolve). A concern about powerful motors mounted to plastic.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Huh .......... sooooooo Hobie screwed up again and caused problems throughout the industry. At least they looked back and changed their mistake. Wonder what will happen when an even stronger engine comes out.

Don't see how we screwed up the industry and I sure don't care what other manufacturers have done. That's funny. We opted to cap the HP at the 403 output to avoid overloading the boats according to the engineers. The new Torqueedo has a reasonable mount option, so engineering agreed to push the number up a bit. We are still way below what NMMA says in max (3 hp for kayaks). That would be double what we are likely to put on "our" sticker.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Outboard ratings can be confusing, especially when comparing electric motors with gas engines. Some may wonder how a 1.5 hp electric motor can be equivalent to a 3 hp gas motor. It all has to do with where and how HP is measured. Torqeedo has a good explanation here:

https://www.torqeedo.com/us/en-us/technology-and-environment/performance-and-efficiency.html

Here is a comparison between the Ultralight Torqeedo motors:

403 motor
400 W input
180 W propulsive
0.54 hp calculated input
0.24 hp calculated propulsive
1.0 hp advertised/comparable

1103 motor
1100 W input
540 W propulsive
1.48 hp calculated input
0.72 hp calculated propulsive
3.0 hp advertised/comparable

Peter