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Hey guys, I'm going to respond to this as much as I can while trying to stay true to the forum guidelines.
Electric vs. Gas motors (in general). Electric = High torque at zero RPMs, fine speed control, quiet, consistent. Gas = High torque at full throttle (need clutch or torque convertor), no fine speed control, inconsistent (lot of variables factoring the delivery of power), noisy & fumy.
Gasoline vs. Batteries. Gasoline = lighter, pay-as-you-go cost (buy fuel as needed), dirtier. Batteries = heavier, pay-up-front cost, cleaner.
Ideally anything powered by batteries would use a form of a lithium battery, but the cost is just too high at the present time for high-power applications. Low-power applications like computers, cordless drills, cell phones, etc. are different applications than cars, boats, and winches. Then there are moving and stationary high-power applications, and the advantage for a stationary application like a winch or off-the-grid power supply, is that weight doesn't play nearly as much of a factor as it does in moving applications like boats, cars, ATVS,or motorcycles. This leaves the cost of the batteries to be more or less the major issue. And on that note, having an external battery pack gives the user the ability to decide on cost, size, and technology. Everyone is waiting for the lighter lithium batteries to come down in cost, and when it does, weight won't even be an issue.
Good examples of the high cost of lithium batteries are replacement batteries for hybrid cars and the top of the line boat from GoFloat (their site is under construction) and compare it to the electric golf car industry, which still uses cheaper, heavier technologies to make the product affordable. Even those cheaper, heavier technologies have a wide range of prices between products and companies. Like most of you would want, I wanted the cheapest, lightest, and correct battery type for the application. While a deep-cycle can cost around $70/battery, which isn't that expensive, it does weigh more than the lithium but is significantly less in cost. Going with a starting battery (non deep-cycle) would work until it gets drained too much and then the batteries becomes useless. That's why the deep-cycle is a more robust, cost-effective battery.
As for carrying batteries, you could do it by hand, wagon, or set them on top of the machine as you push it along. That's why it has 4 wheels. I typically just put my wakeskate on top then batteries on top of that. For sandy, soft or muddy locations, weight becomes an issue and being able to separate the load is important.
The picture with the wake doesn't showcase the machine, it showcases that it is designed and built by a rider. I get more air behind a wake, but to eliminate any confusion, I have removed the pic.
I hope that clears up some of the major ideas bouncing around with electric vs. gas in not only our industry, but with other applications in the world weighing the advantages and disadvantages of going electric.
Kyle
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