Electric Boats

[peterboat]

4 minutes ago, IanD said:

 

It's not even possible in midsummer if you want to cruise all day for several days in a row, unless you go *really* slowly... 😉

 

Some real figures for a real hybrid narrowboat...

 

Typical energy use for a full day of cruising : 15kWh (propulsion only -- don't forget to add domestic use on top)

Typical solar yield per day in midsummer (2kWp panels) : 7kWh

 

Propulsion use can be bigger if you're cruising fast for a long day on canals with few locks and moored boats -- I've seen up to 25kWh on the Sheffield and South Yorkshire.

 

The only way to make the numbers add up without a generator (or spending a lot of tie moored) is to go more slowly, certainly a lot more slowly than a diesel boat typically does, so instead of using around 3kW you use around 1kW -- but this is pretty much "tickover speed" cruising, like you're supposed to do when passing moored boats.

 

Most boaters wouldn't want to do this -- a lot don't even do it past moored boats... 😉

 

Of course given the onboard battery, with solar only (no generator) it's perfectly possible to cruise for one long day (maybe even two...) if you then moor up for a day or two (or three or four...) to let the solar recharge the batteries. But don't forget you won't get all that 7kWh/day solar for this because domestic power usage will eat some of this up...

 

Spring/autumn, you're going to need a genny unless you hardly move at all. Winter, you absolutely need one to stop the lights going out... 😞

I do better obviously because of a bigger roof so more solar, but even still I run the genny for hot water and a top up.

I am currently at my moorings and on a landline the last 2 weeks I have used nearly 25kwhs of electric from the landline to make up missing solar and that's with 5kws of solar.

28 minutes ago, Ronaldo47 said:

It seems from the article that many of the electric boats are in fact hybrids.

 

Reference is made to doing a day's cruising on "mainly" solar power, which according to posters on other threads, might be possible on a sunny day in mid-summer, but which is unrealistic for a narrowboat under typical English weather conditions .  

do better obviously because of a bigger roof so more solar, but even still I run the genny for hot water and a top up.

I am currently at my moorings and on a landline the last 2 weeks I have used nearly 25kwhs of electric from the landline to make up missing solar and that's with 5kws of solar.

[IanD]

12 minutes ago, peterboat said:

I do better obviously because of a bigger roof so more solar, but even still I run the genny for hot water and a top up.

I am currently at my moorings and on a landline the last 2 weeks I have used nearly 25kwhs of electric from the landline to make up missing solar and that's with 5kws of solar.

 

As you say, 5kWp of solar on a wideboat makes a *huge* difference, it's about 2.5x bigger than you can practically fit on a narrowboat.

 

I'm guessing your total electrical energy use is about 6kWh/day (guessing at solar yield), which is probably less than hybrid/electric boats with more domestic power use (e.g. bigger inverter, electric cooking, other appliances). And let's not even get into heating... 😉

 

The "electric/solar narrowboat" idyll promoted by some suppliers is an illusion, except in certain very restricted circumstances -- in reality the boat is going to rely on diesel (or HVO...) to run a generator to provide the electrical power when solar can't keep up with demand, and some liquid/solid fuel solution for hot water and heating when it's cold.

[Tacet]

On 03/03/2023 at 22:55, Alan de Enfield said:

 

 

The plan is already coming to fruition with several 'milestones already being achieved'

Alan's told us for years that either the 2025 legislation is in place or will be soon.  Only a few months remain now so it must be imminent if it is not already law.

[Ronaldo47]

The "Green Maritime Plan" explicitly states that the targets are not mandatory:

 

"8. These zero emission shipping ambitions are intended to provide aspirational goals for the sector, not mandatory targets. "

 

See my earlier post of 17th Jan 2024.

Edited February 9 by Ronaldo47
typo

[ditchcrawler]

How about this one then.  Watch as world's first flying electric ferry takes to the water with scarcely a ripple (msn.com)

 

 

[Ronaldo47]

As it is being used to transport staff associated with a hydroelectric power station, presumably no problem with availability or cost of electric power.

 

The Green Maritime plan envisaged that ferrys were likely to be the only class of vessel for which pure electric power would be practical.

.

Edited March 17 by Ronaldo47

[IanD]

2 hours ago, Ronaldo47 said:

As it is being used to transport staff associated with a hydroelectric power station, presumably no problem with availability or cost of electric power.

 

The Green Maritime plan envisaged that ferrys were likely to be the only class of vessel for which pure electric power would be practical.

.

Also a hydrofoil ferry is one of the best possible shipping uses for electric power, because they're far more efficient than displacement vessels, in terms of total energy used for a trip and required battery size as well as being faster.

Edited March 17 by IanD