Torqeedo responds to Hamish Southby-Tailyour’s concerns

◼️ The shaft has no lanyard attachment point. True, but the motor part (shaft) is lightweight and certainly easier to handle than a combustion outboard. And with its removable battery, you can attach a lanyard to the handle on the motor part when you’re handing it up and down.

◼️ The shaft (the heaviest of the three parts) has no handle. The all-new Travel family includes a sturdy handle on the shaft for easy handling.

◼️ The tiller has no lanyard attachment point: In the all-new Travel family, the tiller now stays attached to the motor part and folds away with no cable connection needed. (You can remove it if needed but it is designed to fold). The new-and-improved tiller also eases docking and launching with its ultra-precise and customizable design. It’s easy to change the direction of forward and reverse, increase or decrease the friction, and even use while standing.

◼️ No dust/ingress covers for the four electrical connectors: There are no longer any cables to connect, and the point of connection comes with a cover.

◼️ No lanyards for the battery and battery locking pin. With the all-new Travel family’s click-and-play battery, the battery locking pin is no longer needed. There’s a handle on the battery if you would feel comfortable attaching a lanyard. And now you can easily use the rotation control lever and release the steering to allow 360° movement–which allows you to spin the motor all the way around and you can remove the battery over the boat instead of over the water.

◼️ No security fitting for the tiller or the battery. The handle on the battery is too narrow for the common (and more convenient) combination locks. This is improved in the click-and-play battery. Now, it’s easy to fit a cable lock.

◼️ The kill-cord does not come with a bungy/stretchy-type cord, only a light string lanyard. True.

◼️ The lever for unlocking the kick up release is too thin and not robustly attached. This is vastly improved in the new transom mount and the new lever is orange and more easily visible from the right or the left of the motor. The new, 90° tilt-equipped transom mount design lets you raise the motor completely out of the water, and the practical new three-stage rotation control lever lets you quickly choose between fixed steering, +/-60° steering, and 360°, fully rotatable steering.

◼️ The transom screw fixings are too long. The washers fall off easily if you slightly over-open them or catch them on the transom at the wrong angle when moving the shaft. That can happen, but it’s uncommon and easy to fix. We use this same screw length for all LV outboards and it has been proven to fit most

transoms and perform well.

◼️ The screen on the tiller appears delicate and I plan to add a clear protective cover. The new Travel models have a backlit, full-colour display which takes Torqeedo’s intuitive user interface with onboard GPS-calculated real-time range and runtime and makes it even easier to read. TorqLink, Torqeedo’s advanced communications protocol, and Bluetooth and wifi are built in so owners can connect with Torqeedo’s new smartphone app, TorqView. The app enables a host of new features, including maps, trip logs, and over-the-air updates. Now, motor updates can be performed anywhere there’s an internet connection, meaning the Travel is always up-to-date, safe, reliable and efficient. Torqeedo owners can also opt-in to allow Torqeedo and its authorised service centres to collect system information to provide the fastest and most efficient service and maintenance experience possible.

◼️ The threaded bezel between the battery and shaft is too easy to cross thread. There are no cables to connect with the new click-and-play battery.

◼️ The rubber bung for the charging port hardly stays in place and vibrates off. We are happy to send you a new one.

◼️ Charging on board takes ‘forever’ on the 12V system. Charging can be up to twice as fast with the new Travel family but it depends on the input power your system can deliver. Every motor ships with a 180W charger.

◼️ What looks like electrolytic corrosion is starting to manifest on the motor casing, especially around the four stainless bolts. Please get in contact with Torqeedo so we can look at the corrosion and see if you need service or we can ship you an anode. The new Travel family ships with anodes to protect them against corrosion.

◼️ Rust is starting to appear on stainless steel lifting arm and bolts. This should not happen. Please take photos and send them so we can address this issue.

◼️ The tiller section does not lock in place. This is addressed in the new Travel family. The tiller now stays attached to the motor part and can be easily used even in a standing position.

◼️ If you don’t turn the outboard off, cant it up and pull it up the beach it will start if the throttle is turned even if it is out of the water. You should always turn off the motor or remove the magnetic safety key if you want to be sure the propeller does not turn. It’s unsafe for you and your motor! If left running out of the water, it can overheat and destroy your motor. But, a combustion outboard will also spin while the propeller is not submerged if the kill switch is left in position, the motor is running and the clutch is engaged. Always attach the kill switch/magnetic key to your wrist or PFD so this doesn’t happen.