Alfastreet 28 Cabin Electric review
- updated: 28. October 2021
Image: e-yacht.co
Alfastreet Marine has given us the opportunity to test the Alfastreet Marine 28 Cabin Electric at Jachtbemiddeling v/d Veen in Heeg, The Netherlands. The roof of this electric boat directly caught our attention. It is optional, but we will show you in our Alfastreet 28 Cabin Electric review why you should add it to your configuration and how the boat performs overall. Make sure to check out our comparison, to see, if this is the best electric boat for you.
Overview
Introduction
We tested the Alfastreet Marine 28 Cabin Electric for our review with a 15kW pod motor and a battery pack of 25 kWh. All values we mention here refer to this configuration, unless we state otherwise.
Driving experience
Let’s start with the driving experience. It was a pleasure to ride through the canals of Heeg and we were able to overtake sailing boats on the Heegermeer without any problems with the electric boat, but the 7.8 kn or 14.5 km/h maximum speed was not enough to overtake faster boats. For trips through canals or small excursions on lakes, the speed is perfectly sufficient, and that is what the Alfastreet Marine 28 Cabin Electric was built for. The driving experience, but also the comfort, is enhanced by the silence during the ride. This is common to all electric boats and electric yachts, but the special shape of the hull creates a pleasant splashing during the ride. The drive is not a sterndrive, but a classic inboard. Thus, the electric boat does not directly implement steering commands, but this fits the leisurely cruising speed.
Range and Charging
Speaking of cruising speed, you can achieve a range of up to 64 kilometers or 7 hours of operating time at just under 5 knots. The tested version uses 8 AGM batteries with 260Ah (3.1 kWh). Together you get rounded to 25 kWh. At the maximum speed, you can drive for 1.7 hours or 24.2 kilometers. The maximum range is 73.5 km or 14.7 hours of travel at 5 km/h or 2.7kn. In addition, the display at the helm always shows the current battery status and how long you could still drive at the current speed. The charging time is 8 hours at 70% discharge with the 2 kW charger or twice as long with the 1 kW charger. These values do not sound like much, but the boat is not designed to travel long distances at high speed. Therefore, the values are okay for the intended use.
Comfort
Alfastreet Marine 28 Cabin Electric Roof
The roof contributes to a large extent to the comfort. Not only does it make it simple to get the electric boat ready to go, it also secures the Alfastreet Marine 28 Cabin electric against theft. That’s because the roof can be lowered completely, so there’s no need for an extra tarp. This also means that thiefs would have to raise the hardtop first to disappear with it. For this purpose, there is an extra remote control with which you can comfortably raise it from the dock and make it ready to drive in under a minute. Also, the hydraulic roof is handy for low bridges like we had on our test drive in Heeg. It can be lowered easily via the controls at the helm while driving. However, the roof is not part of the standard configuration, but has a surcharge of about 15,900€.
Enjoying the time off with friends
We really enjoyed the benefits of the roof during our test drive. The convertible element of the roof offers the option of having the aft sun bed with shade or without shade. For the shade it has a great influence whether the direction of travel is also the direction from which the sun shines. This is because the roof does not protrude above the sunbed. This can cause the sunbed to be in the sun even though the convertible element is fully extended. Whether the sunbed is in the shade or not, it provides enough space for two adults. On deck is a bench seat in the rear and one on each side. Enough for enjoying the time off with friends. Or you can convert them into sun lounger. Moreover, besides the seat of the skipper, there is another swivel chair in front of the door to the cabin.
Images: Alfastreet Marine
Cabin of the Alfastreet Marine 28 Cabin Electric
The bed in the cabin occupies the full width of the hull. The bed can be lowered and transformed into a table with a bench on each side. Here you can linger when it gets too cool outside, it rains too hard from the side or the mosquitoes won’t leave you alone. Next to the bed, you will find a small kitchenette in the cabin, where you can prepare less elaborate dishes. It is convenient to prepare the ingredients on the larger table on the deck. But you can also use the table in the cabin for that. There is also a small toilet in the cabin with a beautiful glass sink. A door allows you to have privacy during your time in the bathroom and still have enough space there as a normally built adult. In our test, a 2m tall person could easily sit on the toilet.
Available Space
Alfastreet Marine has planned the available space very cleverly during the development of this electric boat. From this you can see that the manufacturer started with the small Alfastreet Marine 18 and is incorporating the experience gained with space-saving elements such as converting benches into sun lounger into the larger boats. What is also noticeable is that the Alfastreet Marine 28 Cabin electric is the same in basic design as the combustion engine version. This means that the space under the large sunbed, where the gasoline engine normally sits, can be used for folding bikes or water toys. Because the engine sits under the boat in the electric version. Through a door in the middle of the windshield you can easily get to the foredeck with the help of a staircase, where there is again space for sunbathing.
price-performance ratio
The materials used, such as the luxurious upholstery or the teak floors, testify to very high quality. Special features like the indirect overhead lighting in the cabin and under the hydraulic roof enhance the impression and make the electric boat very comfortable. The benches and chairs on which we sat in our test were very comfy. Alfastreet Marine offers a lot of configuration options for the 28 Cabin Electric for a small extra charge, leaving few wishes unfulfilled. On the negative side, we noticed the shoe prints on the large sun lounger, which made us wonder what it would look like if you laid on it with sunscreen. What stains would that leave? Therefore, you should probably always put a towel underneath as a precaution. In the configuration in which we have tested the boat costs 150.000€. For this the electric boat offers a lot.
Conclusion
All in all the Alfastreet Marine 28 Cabin Electric is a very pleasant boat for cruising in canals, lakes and quiet coasts. Since the boat has a CE certification of C, it should not be used on rougher waters. The spacious cabin with toilet and kitchenette makes it easy to take trips with overnight stays. During the day, the boat can accommodate up to 12 people, who can sit in the shade or not, as they wish, thanks to the hardtop roof. If you are interested in faster cruising or water sports, this is not right configuration for you. But it might interest you, that Alfastreet Marine also offers the boat with a 50kW motor with 50kWh battery. That’s not enough for every water sport, but it’s certainly enough to pull a tube. And under the aft sun lounger would be enough space to store the water toys.
Note: Comfort counts double in the rating, as that is most important to us on a boat or yacht.