I have a relatively new Mercury 4 stroke outboard. After the introduction of ethanol in gas the year after I bought the merc, the fuel problems started. The last season before the Torqeedo, I had to have the Mercury serviced three times to keep it running at a cost of nearly $400. Just before the end of that season, my fuel phase separated and pretty much wrecked the valves in the mercury. The appearance of the Torqeedo doesn't match a standard outboard, but the fact that it starts with the push of a button and turn of the throttle and does it every time (so far) makes up for a lot. My only complaint about the Torqeedo is that you can't secure it completely since it comes apart so easily. Consequently, we take it home rather than leave it on the dinghy. On the other hand, that the motor is easy to take apart makes transferring it from the dinghy to the main boat much easier since the heaviest part (the battery) only weighs about 15 pounds. We now have two batteries, which extends our range under power to 12-14 miles. We charge the battery when we are underway under power. The charger draws 4 amps at 12 volts and takes about 14-16 hours to recharge a completely discharged battery. Recharge time after a one mile run with two people in the RIB is typically 2-3 hours