Brunswick, the global recreational marine giant, just introduced its new Veer X13, built with rotomolded polyethylene, at the big Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
The boat can be powered by Mercury’s Avator 7.5e electric outboard, the first in Mercury’s Avator series. (Mercury, of course, is a Brunswick brand.) The new Veer also be powered by Merc’s four-stroke gas outboard, but the theme here is Brunswick’s move to be a force in creating a future without fossil-fuel emissions.
The new Veer, created by engineers at Lund Boats (another Brunswick brand), is aimed at first-time boaters. “Veer provides an affordable, low-maintenance option for new boaters,” said Matt Atilano, Veer’s strategy director.
The first Veer, the X13, is 13-feet-long with a 4-foot beam and a draft of just a shade more than 6 inches. It weighs 382 pounds without the motor. The price starts at $11,995 and it will be available this spring.
Brunswick says the new Veer is a multi-purpose boat that’s low-maintenance and user friendly. It can hold two people, and all the horizontal surfaces are covered with a soft Marine Mat material. The driver sits on a padded bench seat at the transom. For the gas-powered version, a three-gallon tank sits in a space below. For the electric version, remote battery packs stow below the foredeck hatch.
The electric Avator outboard has a removable, rechargeable 48-volt, 1kW lithium battery pack that is the equivalent of a 3.5 gas outboard. It weighs 58.5 pounds with the battery, which was designed by Brunswick’s partner company Mastervolt.
Brunswick says you probably want to order a second battery pack to extend the Avator’s range. It has two charging options: a 110W charger, and a 230W charger. Both plug into a standard house current. Charging time for a depleted battery is 10 hours with the 110W charger, and 4.5 hours with the 230W charger.
We’ll wait to see if the Veer X13 or future models have appeal to more than cost-conscious new boaters. I’d think they might be fun as a second or third boat, or maybe as a towable tender, but all that remains to be determined. Read more at http://veerboats.com and see the video below:
