Thrustme Kicker 1kW electric outboard motor unboxing and test

*** While filming this review I made the unforgivable mistake of forgetting to attach the kill cord. Although it's only a small motor used in calm conditions, kill cords should always be worn. I apologise unreservedly for this oversight - Hugo *** We’re big fans of small electric outboards on tenders. They are so much cleaner, quieter, easier to store and less hassle to use than a petrol one. Priced at £1,250 (inc. VAT), the Thrustme Kicker is £400 cheaper than an ePropulsion Spirit 1.0 Plus and over £750 cheaper than a Torqeedo 1103C. But perhaps the bigger surprise is how little it weighs, just 4.4kg including the battery, compared to 19.3kg for the Spirit and 17.3kg for the Torqeedo. It’s not an entirely fair comparison because although the Thrustme Kicker features a similarly powerful 1kW motor, its built-in battery is only rated at 259kWh compared to 915Wh for the Torqeedo and 1,276Wh for the ePropulsion so it won’t last as long at full power (30 minutes is the claim). MBY editor Hugo Andreae borrowed one for a week over the summer to get a proper feel for what it can do.