New Cruise Tiller version coming soon
You may have seen on the Torqeedo website that they have introduced a new tiller version of the Cruise models for 2012. This model is not yet available in Australia and you’ll have seen that we didn’t list it in the online store until now. We expect to have this model available late September/early October and even then it could be in short supply. If you’d like one from this coming shipment now is the time to let us know by putting down a deposit. This will claim your place in the queue and if you do it soon, before the shipment is finalised, you can be sure of having one allocated for you.
This model is based on the Cruise R models that we know and all that’s really changed is that it has different fittings at the top to take the tiller, which is the same as the 1003 model. Compared to the old Cruise 2 models, these are waterproof and have a built-in GPS for range calculation and have an LCD display of speed, power, battery capacity remaining and range till empty.
Here’s a video of the Cruise 4 Tiller version…
We expect the manifest for this shipment to be finalised in the next week or so, so if you want one be sure to get your deposit in ASAP.
Torqeedo 26-104 battery
Also in this shipment will be the initial supply of 26-104 batteries for Australia and I expect them to remain in limited availability for most of this year. So the same advice applies here—if you’re planning to buy some please let me know so we can put one aside for you. Because these batteries are so well protected against overcharge, overdischarge, overcurrent, reverse polarity, submersion and so on, they have applications beyond powering Torqeedo motors, and indeed beyond the marine industry. To begin with I recommend they be used only with Torqeedo chargers until we learn more about them and get to test them with other charging devices.
The energy density of these batteries is excellent and they are lighter than the Thundersky and similar LFP batteries that I have been using in some recent projects. A 100ah pack made up of Thundersky cells would weigh in at 30kg made up of 8 cells at 3.5kg plus an allowance of another 2kg to cover cell connectors, cell protection, and battery management unit. In practise you can count 80 to 90 ah being available for regular use.
Complicated installation of Thundersky cells equivalent to around 5 Torqeedo batteries.
For a more realistic comparison we could consider 130 ah LFP cells from CALB. If we allow for 80% depth of discharge the amphour rating becomes 130 x 80% = 104. So this is a fairer comparison and this set of 8 cells would weigh in at around 37 kg. Adding waterproofing would bring the weight to almost double that of the Torqeedo battery.
This comparison is worthwhile because it highlights the true value of the Torqeedo 26-104 battery. It may seem expensive but when you consider weight and cost of installation of other lithium batteries you can see the value of these plug-and-play batteries.
And lastly, the other items of interest earmarked for this shipment are flexible solar panels and Ultralight motors, both of which are out of stock at present.
PS 1 only Cruise 4 Long Tiller version available now.
I have a Cruise 4 Long which started life as a remote model but is now available as a tiller version. The intention of this conversion was to use it for display purposes at the Sydney Boat Show.
The main difference between the Cruise 4 tiller and the Cruise 4 remote is the upper brackets on the motor and by simply swapping these and the plastic cover it is easily converted. I have only one set of the tiller brackets and cover and so this is available for one motor.
I am offering this at $4995.00 and comes with the normal two year warranty. This is a new motor which has never been used.
I’m travelling just now and away from base for a few days. When I return I’ll get some photos of the actual motor and put them up here.