Slightly bigger electric boat than normal...

[IanD]

https://spectrum.ieee.org/electric-boat-battery-ship-ferry

 

40MWh of batteries weighing 250 tonnes... 🙂 

 

[1st ade]

Wow!

[MtB]

12 minutes ago, IanD said:

40MWh of batteries weighing 250 tonnes... 🙂 

 

Can we have a look at the battery charger please? 

 

 

 

 

[IanD]

2 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

Can we have a look at the battery charger please? 

 

 

 

I imagine it'll be quite substantial, charging a 40MWh battery in 40mins needs 60MW...

[MtB]

1 minute ago, IanD said:

I imagine it'll be quite substantial, charging a 40MWh battery in 40mins needs 60MW...

 

So it won't be running off a Honda EU20...?

 

 

 

[IanD]

8 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

So it won't be running off a Honda EU20...?

 

It could do, if you had 30000 of them... 😉 

 

23 minutes ago, 1st ade said:

Wow!

5000 x 8kWh batteries, 8 x 2200kW electric motors each driving a waterjet. *Proper* engineering... 😉 

Edited November 7, 2025 by IanD

[alan_fincher]

3 hours ago, MtB said:

Can we have a look at the battery charger please? 

 

 

I doubt they bought it at Halfords

[MtB]

1 hour ago, alan_fincher said:

 

I doubt they bought it at Halfords

 

Indeed!

 

Like all "Billy big-balls" battery installations, its the charging that's conveniently swerved. 

 

 

 

 

[IanD]

4 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

Indeed!

 

Like all "Billy big-balls" battery installations, its the charging that's conveniently swerved. 

 

 

The video on the Incat site says they're installing 50MW connections to the HVAC grid at both ends of the ferry crossing, so I assume somebody has thought of all this.

 

Where this is converted to DC and at what voltage is going to be interesting, the voltage the battery bank is at which will be set by the motor drives and motors as well as the charger. A 2200kW 3-phase PMAC motor would need an awful lot of current with a motor drive running from 800V DC, so maybe they're using something higher to keep the currents down. Or maybe 3000A or so is absolutely fine in an installation of this scale... 😉 

Edited November 7, 2025 by IanD

[ditchcrawler]

When I was in Norway their ferries automatically connect to the charger while they load/unload cars and passengers. I think I posted photos/video some time back  

Quote

 

 

[IanD]

4 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

When I was in Norway their ferries automatically connect to the charger while they load/unload cars and passengers. I think I posted photos/video some time back  

 

 

This boat is in a different power league to those Norwegian ferries though, apparently it's the most powerful electric boat/ship ever built by quite a long way -- 24000hp doesn't half push those Incat ferries along at some speed, as anyone who has ever been on one will know... 😉 

 

(and this one is 130m long, which is also one of the biggest ever built)

 

https://incat.com.au/electric-future/

 

 

Edited November 7, 2025 by IanD

[ditchcrawler]

1 hour ago, IanD said:

 

This boat is in a different power league to those Norwegian ferries though, apparently it's the most powerful electric boat/ship ever built by quite a long way -- 24000hp doesn't half push those Incat ferries along at some speed, as anyone who has ever been on one will know... 😉 

 

(and this one is 130m long, which is also one of the biggest ever built)

 

https://incat.com.au/electric-future/

 

 

I wasn't doubting you when you said they were the biggest, I was just pointing out how other Norwegian ferries connect to the charge system 

[David Mack]

There's an easier way for ferries which only travel a short distance.

 

[ditchcrawler]

 

[cuthound]

Well let's hope it is more successful than Boris' cable car crossing...

[Ronaldo47]

At £4.10  each way, it's not cheap (£41/ week if used every work day)  although it seems this is halved if you get a season ticket. 

[matty40s]

The ship’s 40 megawatt-hour energy storage system, which Incat says is four times as large as that of any existing ship, has 12 battery arrays with 418 modules apiece, for a total of 5,016 lithium-ion batteries distributed between four rooms

 

These will be able to keep the ship going for 90 minutes before needing to be recharged

 

 

 

Just 90 minutes from all that....more work needed.!!

[IanD]

3 minutes ago, matty40s said:

The ship’s 40 megawatt-hour energy storage system, which Incat says is four times as large as that of any existing ship, has 12 battery arrays with 418 modules apiece, for a total of 5,016 lithium-ion batteries distributed between four rooms

 

These will be able to keep the ship going for 90 minutes before needing to be recharged

 

Just 90 minutes from all that....more work needed.!!

 

Why, when the trip is only an hour long, with recharging while unloading/loading?

 

Batteries are nowhere near usable for long-range shipping (or planes) -- which is why they're being used here for a ferry, which they're ideal for... 😉 

[Ronaldo47]

The government's Green Maritime Plan  document does envisage that short-distance ferrys would be the only type of vessel for which pure electric propulsion would be suitable. 

[ditchcrawler]

This video shows Norwegian ferries connecting to the charging power every time they docked.