Remigo One Electric Outboard Motor Review: Boating Without the Gas Hose

After moving to one of North America’s largest river islands late last year, I decided that I should check out more of my new home by water. I have long been a fan of the freedom that a small dinghy or bass boat offers, even on larger rivers like the mighty Columbia here in Oregon.

My hunting/fishing/contracting Uncle Rob had a small, 8.5-foot dinghy for me to borrow, so I was set on that front. The issue was the motor: My home and car run entirely on electricity and solar power, as do all of my lawn tools and even my riding mower, so I didn’t want to buy a gas outboard and deal with gas for a single appliance. Lucky for me, there has been a slew of great electric outboard motors coming out in recent years, perhaps none more compelling for my purposes than the Remigo One.

This rudder-shaped outboard boasts a 1,000-watt motor and built-in battery, as well as an easy load-and-unload system for taking it on and off your boat. It’s extremely easy to run, reliable, and very quiet at low speeds. You’ll get several miles of range, even traveling upstream during a falling tide. It’s been the perfect companion for my aquatic exploration.

Fit and Fin-ish

Photograph: Parker Hall

The Remigo One is a 25-pound electric outboard that comes in a large cardboard box with cutouts for the motor, transom mount, and two magnetic power keys (one with a wrist sling, one without). The idea is that you put the mount on your boat, then just bring the entire unit to and from said mount between charging sessions, using the built-in handle.

It’s an impressively well-made machine that feels extremely solid, which you want in any piece of marine equipment. The mount-and-remove style is very practical and means you never have to worry about dealing with both a battery and motor should you want to store your boat anywhere you worry about hardware getting taken.

Installing the transom mount is very simple: Place it on your boat’s stern and screw in two screws with the built-in hand turns. It takes about two minutes if you’re slow. From there, you slip on the motor, pull out the handle to flip the handle around, and install an included locking ring to keep the motor from flying off the mount.

The all-in-one design of the Remigo One isn’t just aesthetic: The white aluminum housing works as a rudder to help you steer the boat, even without pressing the forward or reverse buttons on top to turn on the motor. Those controls are simple, with 10 power levels in either direction dictated by how many times you press the buttons. A double press of both buttons will cut the motor, as will removing the magnetic key (or falling overboard with it attached to your wrist).

You can see how much power you have left and what speed setting you’re on via a simple series of LEDs on the top of the device, bright enough to be visible even on a bright summer day.

Remigo sells a remote controller, which is helpful for folks who don’t have long arms like I do and don’t want to reach all the way on top of the motor to change the speed while at full tilt. If I bought one of these motors, I’d probably snag the remote too: It’s a nice addition that I ended up preferring to the onboard buttons. Speaking of, my first review unit came with a broken reverse button, something the Remigo team immediately remedied with a replacement unit. I doubt this is a common problem, as the folks at the brand told me mine was the first unit in the USA to have an issue. The second unit functioned flawlessly (as did the first unit, to be fair, simply not in reverse).

On the Water

Photograph: Parker Hall

I mounted the Remigo One to my 8.5-foot plastic bass boat and set sail, reaching a maximum speed of about 5 knots when heading upstream and about 7 knots downstream, according to a GPS app on my phone. It’s a very smooth ride, even at top speed, with the motor emitting a pleasant hum.

Photograph: Parker Hall

The transom mount is firm and confidence-inducing, so when you’re running at speed you can take your hand off the tiller to grab something without fearing you’re going to veer sideways and throw yourself off the boat. The fact that you set the power with the buttons and not with a twist throttle also makes this a lovely outboard experience: Your hand and wrist never get tired, and you know you’re going a constant speed.

You’ll get about an hour of run time at full power, about five at half power, and something like 10 hours at the lowest setting. This means anywhere from about five to 20 miles of range depending on how hard you push the thing and whether you’re boating up- or downstream or against the tide. It’s more than powerful enough to push my whole three-person family a few miles down the river from my house and back and would be perfectly suited to any situation you’d normally buy a sub-5-horsepower gas outboard.

In fact, I loved using the lower power settings on still inlets, because it acts like an electric trolling motor, silently pulling me past a local great blue heron and toward some houseboats. Once I'm done with my peaceful adventure and want to head home, I can turn up the power and boat on as normal.

I haven’t taken it on smaller bodies of water, but I imagine this motor would be a perfect all-in-one solution for folks who fish on smaller lakes and ponds and don’t want to buy both a trolling motor and an outboard. One Remigo pulls double duty quite well.

I traveled a maximum of about 10 miles in a single charge before I reached the low battery warning on the Remigo. That was a couple hours on the water for me, and I was ready to get off my tiny boat anyway. If you need more running time or distance, there are many larger electric outboard motors on the market. It takes about six hours to fully recharge on a 120-volt outlet.

There are even several direct competitors of the Remigo One. The EPropulsion Spirit ($1,650) and the Torqueedo Travel ($1,699) are worth considering for folks who are after a quality electric outboard. Both have removable batteries but lack the sleek all-in-one, rudderlike design of the Remigo. If you want that, it’s worth considering the Temo-1000 ($3,499), which has a slightly worse design but functions similarly.

I have yet to spend time with those motors, but I feel confident in saying, based on my experience with the Remigo One, that they simply can’t be that much better. This motor is quiet and stable, the range is excellent, and it’s one of the easiest-to-set-up and easiest-to-use products I’ve ever tested. Other motors might offer differing levels of power, different interfaces, and different battery options, but if this simple machine fits your needs, I highly recommend you check it out. It’s the perfect go-anywhere accessory for small boat owners.