Cruiser

What it means

A cruiser is built to be slept on. It has at least one cabin, berths, a galley of some kind and a heads, and it is intended for passages of days rather than hours. The category shades from weekenders with a single cabin up to boats that can be lived aboard for a season.

The questions an electric cruiser must answer

Two, and they are harder than on any other type. The first is range: a cruiser is defined by going somewhere, and going somewhere on a battery means knowing the distance at a speed you can actually hold. The second is the hotel load — fridge, lights, water heating, heating or air conditioning — which continues drawing power all night while the boat is not moving at all. Solar and a large enough pack answer the second; the first is where range extenders usually appear.

Why it matters

This is the category where the specification sheet deserves the most scepticism, and where the questions we ask builders — range at a stated speed, charge time at a realistic supply — matter most.