As if the Hobie Mirage Pro Angler wasn’t cool enough, Hobie recently announced an electric motor that mounts in the MirageDrive well. The motor will work in any of the Hobie kayaks that have MirageDrive and also comes with mounting hardware to fit the Hobie Twist and Stow rudder mechanism. So it works with all Hobie kayaks.
This post is a faux review since I haven’t seen the motor in person, or used it yet. This is more an article of impressions. But I thought you might want to know about it.
Everything that comes with the Hobie eVolve Electric Motor
I like how innovative Hobie was in adapting the Torqeedo motor to their kayaks. This opens up a whole new realm for kayak anglers. You’re not just limited to where you can get “on foot.” You now have a much larger range of distance to get to that spot you know holds fish but couldn’t get to because of time constraints.
The motor allows you to get to your favorite fishing hole much faster and still allows you to switch to the MirageDrive if you don’t want to spook your prey.
The Torqeedo motor itself is no slouch. It looks solid and well thought out. The remote throttle display is impressive with the extremely useful information it provides. Including the ever so crucial “Remaining range at current speed.” I wish the trolling motors I use had that information!
Personally, I would still use the MirageDrive most of the time because it allows for hands off propulsion and is likely quieter (as implied by Hobie pro angler Morgan Promnitz in the Kayak Angler Magazine article). If you’re a kayak angler, you’re expecting to do some physical work and a few hours of exercise is never a bad thing. But for those times I want to explore an area on the opposite side of a lake from a public access, the eVolve is a great way to get there without expending too much time and energy. Then, when I get there, I can still pull it out and drop in the MirageDrive to pedal around to causally after I get there. Not to mention that the motor won’t allow you to get into super shallow areas like the MirageDrive does.
The only downside to th eVolve (without having used it) is its price. At a retail price of US$1899, it’s going to cost almost as much, or in some cases more than, a Hobie kayak itself. A non-MirageDrive adapted Torqeedo kayak motor retails at US$1799, so I can see why the cost is so high. But if Hobie wants the eVolve to take off, they should have made a deal with Torqeedo to make the price a little more reasonable.
Being that I’m not a professional angler (kayak or otherwise), I can barely justify the cost of a Hobie kayak. But I can argue the quality and usefulness of it. However, paying nearly $2000 for a trolling motor on top of that would be a hard sell at best. Maybe Hobie can put together a package deal for some of its angling kayaks. That might make the price more palatable.
Links to more information:
Article at Kayak Angler Magazine
Yes, indeed!
Hobie needs to send you one of these so you can do a real review! 🙂
Hi guys ive got one and the performance is great. Being over here in the UK i stuggled to find one.
Head winds, strong current and rip tides dont scare me anymore 😉