Brio e-17

The cheapest sensible entry point here

At a base price around $13,000 the Brio e-17 sits an order of magnitude below almost everything else in this band, and it earns that by being honest about what it is: a 5.2 m aluminium pontoon for five passengers — seven in the US market — with a Torqeedo outboard on the transom. CE Category C confines it to sheltered, inshore water, and its roughly 592 kg light weight means an ordinary car can tow it, which quietly makes it the only boat here that does not require a berth at all.

Its natural market is lakes where combustion engines are restricted or banned outright — a real and growing constraint across the Alpine countries — plus lodge and holiday-home owners who want something simple, quiet and cheap to run.

Confirm what the price includes

The Torqeedo model has varied by year, spanning small 2.0R/4.0R units up to the 12.0RL, and that choice changes both performance and cost substantially. The quoted base figure almost certainly buys the platform rather than a complete propulsion package, so establish exactly which motor and which battery are included before comparing it with anything.

Two further caveats: no battery capacity, range or speed is published, and Princecraft is a combustion-first pontoon builder — this is one electric variant, not an electric programme.