Does Electric Actually Cost Less Over Five Years?

The purchase-price gap gets the headline, operating cost decides the outcome

Electric boats often carry a real purchase premium over a comparable gas boat, which tends to dominate the conversation. Whether that premium pays for itself depends almost entirely on how many hours you actually run each year and your local energy and fuel prices, both of which this tool asks for directly instead of assuming a national average.

How this is calculated

Each side's annual operating cost multiplies hours by its consumption rate and energy or fuel price, then adds maintenance reserve and any shared towing cost. The full horizon cost adds purchase price (plus a one-time charger install for electric), multiplies operating cost by the horizon, and subtracts resale value at the end. Cost per use day divides that total by total use days across the horizon.

Worked example

At 100 annual hours, an electric boat running 10 kWh/hour at $0.20/kWh costs $200 a year in energy; a gas boat running 5 gallons/hour at $4/gallon costs $2,000 a year in fuel, an $1,800 annual operating advantage for electric. Whether that closes a $5,000 higher purchase price and a maintenance-reserve difference over five years depends on exactly these numbers, which this tool works out directly rather than assuming electric always wins.

Common mistakes

Assuming electric always wins on operating cost without checking actual annual hours overstates the case at low usage, where the purchase-price gap dominates instead. The other mistake is treating an optimistic electric resale figure as settled when the market for used electric boats is still developing.

Frequently asked questions