I was able to weasel some time with the new Hobie Evolve recently when it was on tour locally. I had lots of questions and came with an ambitious agenda.
The boats involved were a Pro angler, representing a drivewell mount, and an Outback showing off the rudder mount. These kits were already installed so I wasn't able to learn much about the kits themselves or installation details.
Lets start with the
major components. motor, throttle and battery pack and recharger. As I recall, the installed kit (motor, controller and battery) weights about 15 or 16 lb.
Motor rudder mount, up / down on Outback
This bolts onto the Twist & Stow in place of the standard rudder. It does require the current rudder up/down line system (also available as a kit for the older Twist & Stow rudders) because of the additional weight and need to secure the motor in position for reverse operation.
Motor drivewell mount showing alignment tool out / in on Pro Angler:
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The alignment tool is used to line up the prop vertically so it will pass through the drivewell on removal.
Removable throttle control assembly:
You can partially see the ball mount here, and the plug-in connection.
The display has 4 lines of information:
1. Battery remaining (%)
2. Distance remaining based on current speed, power and battery charge, at present water conditions (currents, tides, wind, chop, etc). This may be selected in nautical miles, statute miles or kilometers. OR time remaining (shown in this view) at present power consumption and battery charge. If there is a GPS failure the system automatically defaults to this mode.
3. Present speed in kts, MPH, KPH
4. Present power consumption in Watts
The screen also displays error codes and warnings as appropriate.
Other items on the console include throttle control (forward or back); below the display there are 3 buttons -- set-up, units and on/off. The orange disc at the bottom is a magnetic key that, if removed, acts as a kill switch.
Battery pack:
This sealed unit is waterproof and includes a lithium-manganese battery and GPS position sensor.
Charger: (not shown) This will do a complete recharge in about 10 hours.
Modes of operation: The rudder mounted system may be operated with any combination of motor, pedal and sail. The drivewell system may operate with motor and sail. More on these later.
Performance: I collected some speed, power consumption and distance remaining data under different conditions. Here is a summary:
Note: actual range values were adjusted to 95% battery capacity. Maximum charge varies over time and circumstance -- the batteries that I used topped out between 94% and 98 % so the value used should be pretty realistic.
First note the huge difference in power requirements at different speeds. The Outback range varied between 3.3 and 24.5 miles in the power-only mode, reaching a point of diminishing returns quickly above 4 MPH.
Note also, the power curve for the Pro Angler is almost identical. It runs about .1 to .2 MPH slower than the Outback for the same power input.
Speaking of power input, here are a couple of notes. This is a 400W system, but the max power according to the display was about 350W or less, depending on speed and battery charge. Top forward speeds available for the Outback and PA were 5.4 and 5.2 MPH respectively for no wind/current under motor power. Top reverse speed is governed -- the Outback maxed out at 2.6 MPH and 165W.
Throttle position (other than the stop position) does not set watts or speed per se, but a combination that seems to have a speed priority within a small range. For example, if the system is operating at 3.1 MPH and 50 W, additional moderate pedaling might increase the speed to 4.0 MPH while reducing the power output to 31W -- without touching the throttle. In this particular example the range jumps from 14.1 mi. to 29.3 mi. More on this when we discuss hybrid power.
Power modes:Pedal only: You can pedal easily with the Evolve turned off. I ran a fast cruise at 4.5 miles in one hour without the motor. This is an estimated .3 MPH +/- slower than with a conventional rudder. There was no problem with rudder control, although at that speed the prop whirred and there was a constant left rudder input. For silent operation, the prop stops spinning at about 2.5 MPH and starts up somewhere around 4 +/- MPH.
The display shown here has power on, throttle off. It shows speed and system status but no range or power consumption:
Motor power only: As discussed above, the time/distance remaining depends greatly on power selected. and to a significant extent on wind and water conditions. The read-out updates continuously so good management practice includes using tides, currents and winds to your best advantage to maximize range.
Diligent motoring:
Hybrid power -- pedal and motor: This is where it gets interesting. In the chart above, notice the blue line. Using a moderate pedaling speed that would be sustainable for a couple of hours, speeds improved by .9 MPH and ranges improved between 50 and 100%.
Here's a combination setting of about 70W and one hour cruise that I ran in light wind and chop. The display here is showing 3:41 hours / minutes remaining at the present speed of 5 MPH:
Hybrid power -- motor sailing: Both boats did this without any problems The additional thrust gives the rudder mount system the necessary control to handle the weather helm in the Outback:
The Outback display is showing 4.4 MPH and only 60W.
Hybrid power -- triple mode (motor, pedal and sail): Here it even gets better -- 4.7 MPH and 47W.
Other modes: Here's an all out attack on a boat wake -- 100% motor and pedal for an 8.0 MPH ride!
Safety:the Evolve has several built-in features that are designed to protect the user and itself:
-- Throttle control interlock -- the motor will not start up unless the throttle is placed in the neutral position first.
-- Magnetic key -- this is supposed to be tethered to the user so if he falls out, the boat won't drive off on its own!
-- Motor position sensor -- if the boat capsizes the motor cuts off to avoid potential injury.
-- The motor momentarily stops if it strikes an underwater object; restarts when clear.
-- Throttle speed ramps up to avoid cavitation.
Installation note: I noticed the Outback plug-in location for the rudder mount motor was a bit of a stretch. Here you can see the pressure on the rudder line and the tight bend to the plug:
Make sure to plan your hole locations carefully!
Bottom line -- using the Evolve system doesn't have to deprive you of your exercise any more than a sail does, but it does add a huge range of options over the use and range of your boat and the environment in which it's operating! Used in one of the hybrid modes it can be a very potent tool.
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