29 June: XS tiller in stock (next stock S & L shaft mid-August)

ePropulsion’s “Spirit” electric outboards – the Spirit 1.0, Spirit PLUS and Spirit EVO – have had various upgrades over the years, but all looked pretty much the same since their introduction in 2015.

The new ePropulsion Spirit 2 is very different. As one would expect, there are improvements in motor power and battery capacity, but also major changes in the looks and how the battery attaches/connects.

Key Differences between Spirit PLUS/EVO and the new ePropulsion Spirit 2:

– max power output doubled, to 2kW… and 3kW in “boost” mode. In 3kW boost mode the ePropulsion Spirit 2 will get a small dinghy on the plane, we have now tested this ourselves (for latest info/picture see bottom of this page)
– battery capacity increased by 20%, to 1539Wh (from 1276Wh)
– battery attaches on an ergonomically-angled slide-in system, designed for easy installation even when you’re trying to balance in a wobbly dinghy!
– battery connects during the slide-in process… NO CABLES TO CONNECT
– status indicator on battery can be used without connection to motor
– colour display on tiller with more information including GPS speed and range
– quick-release between motor and clamp bracket

ePropulsion Spirit 2 Tiller

We think the ePropulsion Spirit 2 has the nicest electric outboard tiller on the market.

The display is bang up to date with a full-colour screen and built-in GPS. We know it doesn’t really matter all that much… but it looks fantastic. The main data sets that can be displayed include:
– Speed in knots, miles per hour or kilometres
– Range in knots, miles or kilometres
– Power being used
– Battery status

The three buttons below the screen are very simple to use, intuitively so… we’d always recommend you read the manual – please read the manual, it contains important information – but you’ll probably get away with it if you don’t!

The tiller angle can be set horizontal (as you’d use it most of the time), vertically downward in line with the shaft (for storage), at 45 deg above horizontal (may be useful if you are steering standing up) and vertically upwards.

The tiller length is adjustable, ie you can extend it by about 6″ (150mm).

If you opt for the remote control version there will be top and side mount options, more details to follow soon.

ePropulsion Spirit 2 Battery Capacity

Not that long ago we considered the (then new) Torqeedo 1003 battery to be “huge”, at 532Wh capacity. The ePropulsion Spirit 2 battery has very nearly 3 times that, at 1539Wh.

As an everyday example that means you can run a Spirit 2 at 500W for 3 hours continuously, on one charge. 500W will push a typical inflatable dinghy with two people in it at about 4 knots (8kmph), so we’re talking 12 nautical mile range (well over 20km). Obviously if you run it at higher power outputs it won’t run as long, but even flat out (2kW power) the runtime is about 45 mins.

ePropulsion Spirit 2 Battery Fitting

“Delightful” springs to mind. Again it wasn’t very long ago that we considered it normal to have to fiddle about with two cables. The Spirit 2 battery just slides into place, at a very well thought-out angle, locking into place with a satisfyingly mechanical lever action. It is then connected, ready to go (no cables).

ePropulsion Spirit 2 Battery Status Check

They do listen! You can check the charge status of the Spirit 2 battery without attaching it to the motor, by means of four built-in LEDs near the handle.

ePropulsion Spirit 2 Clamp Bracket

Again, somebody in the R&D Team listens! We have spent quite a lot of time over the years explaining to electric outboard manufacturers that, mundane as it may seem, the clamp bracket is actually quite important…

So the Spirit 2 clamp bracket does have a part-way-up shallow water drive angle, and can be tilted much higher than previous models (useful when you’ve landed your dinghy on a beach for example).

And, carrying over a very popular feature from the eLite (albeit massively beefed up), the Spirit 2 can be removed from the clamp bracket at the push of a button. This reduces the weight of the “leg” part when you’re passing it up and down. It’s much easier to do up the clamp first as a separate item, then just click the motor onto it, especially if it’s a bit choppy.

Lastly on the clamp bracket, it has a steering lock if you’re using your outboard on a boat that has its own rudder.

How Much does the ePropulsion Spirit 2 weigh?

More powerful motors weigh more right? Well yes but because the motor/leg is removable from the bracket ePropulsion have managed to keep the “pass up and down weight” for the Spirit 2 very similar to the Spirit PLUS, at just about 10kg (depending on shaft length).

The clamp bracket is a bit less than 2kg.

The battery is always the same, regardless of which model, at just over 10kg.

So while the total weight of a Spirit 2 is about 22kg the important point here is the heaviest thing you have to lift at any one time is around 10kg.

To put that into context 10kg is significantly lighter than the lightest petrol outboards currently on the market, ie four strokes. The Suzuki 2.5 and Honda 2.3 are both quoted at somewhere around 13kg but that’s a somewhat ridiculous “dry” weight… with oil and petrol in them they’re more like 15kg. If anyone reading this still has a prehistoric two stroke such as the Yamaha 2B that is just over 12kg in usable form (with some petrol in the tank)… a Spirit 2 also has quite a lot more power (and run time!), and doesn’t leave a trail of oil-injected fish gasping in your wake.

We’ve Now Tested a Spirit 2 Ourselves…

It was not an optimal test, as at the time (late Feb 2026) there was only one Spirit 2 in the UK, and it was a Long shaft, and we only had it briefly (it was going to a lot of shows). The dinghy we had to hand – a DinghyGo 275 (9ft) – is designed for a Short or possibly even an Extra Short (XS) shaft, so the L shaft we were using stuck down much deeper than necessary (ie causing more drag and more tendency to push the bow upwards.)

Nonetheless, it got that dinghy on the plane in “BOOST” mode, ie using the full 3kW output. Our driver Ian weighs (cough cough) “about 100kg” and this was in Portsmouth Harbour… ie we’re not talking about a slender child on a flat calm lake. Max speed was 14kmph, 8 knots or so, which is definitely planing in a 9ft dinghy. Because the shaft was longer than necessary Ian had to sit in the bow and steer with a foot, which is why there are no hands in the photo!

Out of boost mode, at 1.8-2kW, it was “semi-planing” at 5.5 to 6 knots. Interestingly there wasn’t much difference between 1kW (as in Spirit PLUS) and 1.5kW, but somewhere between 1.5 and 2kW the whole thing came alive and tramped along very nicely indeed. At 1.5kW output you’d have just over 1hr run time.

At 500W it was still doing just over 4 knots, so as always if you slow down a bit you’ll go a lot further… 3hrs run time at 500W.

We have since tested production models of the correct shaft length and all the predictions above were correct. Besides its performance we are finding the Spirit 2 motors are a delight to use; they have clearly been very well thought out.