Keeping the electric dream alive

While the focus at Oxe Diesel Outboards remains diesel outboards, the company is also preparing for a potential hybrid electric revolution. "We developed the concept of a hybrid electric diesel engine and took it to the Miami boat show in 2023," says Lenny Jensen, chief technology officer at OXE. "In 2023 and 2024, there was a lot of excitement about electric, but the problem everyone confronted was the battery weight. We're talking about 1000 kilos of battery for an hour of full power.

Nobody wants a ton of batteries to run for an hour and spend the rest of the day charging."

Faced with the weight to power battery conundrum, OXE opted to focus on a hybrid engine that would utilize electric power when needed. "We wanted to eliminate range anxiety, especially in areas where you don't have recharging infrastructure, so we put a 150-hp axial flux electric motor onto the back of our 300-hp diesel," says Jensen. OXE engineers have positioned the 400-volt, 230Nm (170 ft lb) motor under the cowling and connected it to the primary drive belt for seamless power transfer or combination.

The diesel engine is a turbocharged and intercooled, 3-liter L6 block built by BMW that delivers 945Nm (697 ft lb) of torque at the propshaft at 1750 rpm and 300-hp at 4200 to 4400 rpm. Jensen notes that with this configuration, vessel operators can add the electric power to the diesel and have 450-hp when they need it.

Or for commercial fishermen, Jensen suggests that they can use the diesel when they need power, and the electric for coming in and out of harbors, hauling gear, or trolling. "And when you're running on the diesel, you can use the electric motor to charge the batteries," he says.

The OXE 450 remains a concept prototype at this point. "We're keeping the project alive," says Jensen. "We see a lot of things happening with batteries, new chemicals, new combinations." Jensen and the OXE team expect lighter and more power dense batteries to be developed that will make the project more viable.

"Our main focus remains on diesel," Jensen says. "And providing service, support, and parts. That's the key to success." Jensen points out the obvious: that for fishermen, uptime is everything. "For our US customers, we have our parts inventory in Albany, Georgia, and we now have what we call TAMs, technical area managers." As Jensen explains, the TAMs can take calls from engine owners and marine technicians and troubleshoot problems online, or if necessary, go on site and work with technicians directly.

While promising service support and parts to vessel owners running OXE 300 diesels, Jensen adds that when the time is right, these engines can easily be converted into hybrids. "We just have to change a few things and we can mount the axial flux electric motor on any OXE 300," he says.