Do we now need an electric boat forum???

[Fire99]

Having spent 6 years project managing the roll out of the EV Charging Infrastructure in Ireland and subsequently London and Coventry, I have a fairly good idea of what would be required. Electric boats are certainly something that could work. I think there seems to be a bit of a move towards displacement speed cruising with some new boats now available with smaller or single engine options. The hybrid boats like Greenline do make a lot of sense but I can’t see battery powered boating being able to cater for fast coastal cruising. The battery size and weight will turn into a trade off.
EV’s work really well when you have a driveway and a means of charging at home each night at a slower pace. This type of charging usually meets over 90% of charging requirements. The problem is how do we accommodate this in a marina with limited availability to high power charging and often limited access to higher power grid connections. Maybe marinas will have to look at solar panels or alternative energy generation. You don’t really want a situation where all the boats are running generators in the marina at night to charge huge batteries.
Electric boating will work for certain scenarios where usage is low and/or distances travelled are low and at low speed.
But overall I think we are still 15-20 years away from mass adoption

Seems fair..
Perhaps the inland waterways / canal network would be a good focus point. I could see how hire boats that trundle up canals and inland rivers between inland marinas / moorings, could probably work the the electric limitations but relatively low power demand of 4kts for relatively short passages in non-challenging water conditions.. Not to mention, if you get low on electricity you can just 'pull over' by the towpath rather than being out at sea.

 

[westernman]

Seems fair..
Perhaps the inland waterways / canal network would be a good focus point. I could see how hire boats that trundle up canals and inland rivers between inland marinas / moorings, could probably work the the electric limitations but relatively low power demand of 4kts for relatively short passages in non-challenging water conditions.. Not to mention, if you get low on electricity you can just 'pull over' by the towpath rather than being out at sea.

Have you noticed how your average canal boat engine makes one hell of a racket?
It seems that they have no sound insulation in the engine room, and that the engine mounts are solid steel with no rubber inserts.

 

[KevinV]

Have you noticed how your average canal boat engine makes one hell of a racket?
It seems that they have no sound insulation in the engine room, and that the engine mounts are solid steel with no rubber inserts.

But that single cylinder put-put-put is very charming

 

[Time Out]

Seems fair..
Perhaps the inland waterways / canal network would be a good focus point. I could see how hire boats that trundle up canals and inland rivers between inland marinas / moorings, could probably work the the electric limitations but relatively low power demand of 4kts for relatively short passages in non-challenging water conditions.. Not to mention, if you get low on electricity you can just 'pull over' by the towpath rather than being out at sea.

Nearly every small open hire boat on my local stretch of the Thames ( Teddington) all are electric.

Approx 60 plus.

 

[Fire99]

Have you noticed how your average canal boat engine makes one hell of a racket?
It seems that they have no sound insulation in the engine room, and that the engine mounts are solid steel with no rubber inserts.

I'm going to guess most of is due to the tech dating back to just before the horse was invented.

 

[Fire99]

Nearly every small open hire boat on my local stretch of the Thames ( Teddington) all are electric.

Approx 60 plus.

That would seem to be the best use of electric on boats to me. Probably.. I'd be interested to know how long the batteries last and what the replacement costs are as the years trundle by. (That's not a loaded statement.. Genuine interest - good or bad)

 

[Lodestone]

Having spent 6 years project managing the roll out of the EV Charging Infrastructure in Ireland and subsequently London and Coventry, I have a fairly good idea of what would be required. Electric boats are certainly something that could work. I think there seems to be a bit of a move towards displacement speed cruising with some new boats now available with smaller or single engine options. The hybrid boats like Greenline do make a lot of sense but I can’t see battery powered boating being able to cater for fast coastal cruising. The battery size and weight will turn into a trade off.
EV’s work really well when you have a driveway and a means of charging at home each night at a slower pace. This type of charging usually meets over 90% of charging requirements. The problem is how do we accommodate this in a marina with limited availability to high power charging and often limited access to higher power grid connections. Maybe marinas will have to look at solar panels or alternative energy generation. You don’t really want a situation where all the boats are running generators in the marina at night to charge huge batteries.
Electric boating will work for certain scenarios where usage is low and/or distances travelled are low and at low speed.
But overall I think we are still 15-20 years away from mass adoption

When you say 90% of charging requirements is that 90% of CURRENT charging requirements?
23.8% of houses in the UK are terraced
23.2% are flats/maisonettes
This means that at least 13.03 million properties in this country are unable to obtain their own charging facilites.

 

[Bouba]

When you say 90% of charging requirements is that 90% of CURRENT charging requirements?
23.8% of houses in the UK are terraced
23.2% are flats/maisonettes
This means that at least 13.03 million properties in this country are unable to obtain their own charging facilites.

Lots of people have electric cars without access to off street parking...it’s more inconvenient for sure...but they regard the benefits if electric vehicles to be worth the extra effort and cost

 

[kashurst]

When you say 90% of charging requirements is that 90% of CURRENT charging requirements?
23.8% of houses in the UK are terraced
23.2% are flats/maisonettes
This means that at least 13.03 million properties in this country are unable to obtain their own charging facilites.

And about 22% of UK households don't own a car. I suspect there is quite an overlap with people who live in flats and maisonettes

 

[Time Out]

That would seem to be the best use of electric on boats to me. Probably.. I'd be interested to know how long the batteries last and what the replacement costs are as the years trundle by. (That's not a loaded statement.. Genuine interest - good or bad)
[/QUOTEdusk

.

 

[ari]

Lots of people have electric cars without access to off street parking...it’s more inconvenient for sure...but they regard the benefits if electric vehicles to be worth the extra effort and cost

Hybrids, maybe. They are technically electric cars. I very much doubt many have pure BEV. The hours they would need to spend elsewhere waiting for the batteries to charge would get VERY old VERY quickly.

 

[Bouba]

Hybrids, maybe. They are technically electric cars. I very much doubt many have pure BEV. The hours they would need to spend elsewhere waiting for the batteries to charge would get VERY old VERY quickly.

I never talk about hybrids....an evolutionary black hole....I mean pure EVs....don’t forget, many of your sophisticated young urbanites don’t like the idea of internal combustion engines...they charge weekly at Superchargers...or at lamppost chargers or run cables out into the street...they communicate with other EV owners in the street to share facilities and to prevent charging points being blocked...they can charge while at the supermarket...there are many options. Admittedly none are as good as your own drive with dedicated charging....but that is also true of any type of car...off street parking is best in crowded environments

 

[billskip]

Hybrids, maybe. They are technically electric cars. I very much doubt many have pure BEV. The hours they would need to spend elsewhere waiting for the batteries to charge would get VERY old VERY quickly.

I've seen extension cables across footpaths and hung overhead on makeshift support in london...somewhere I have a photo of one because I could not believe they could just lay a cable from their property across the footpath.

 

[Fire99]

I've seen extension cables across footpaths and hung overhead on makeshift support in london...somewhere I have a photo of one because I could not believe they could just lay a cable from their property across the footpath.

I don't doubt it happens but (and I could end up eating my words) I really can't see that occurring in any genuine mass level. There have already been cases of people having to remove charging cables due to breech of regulations in apartment complexes etc.

 

[dunedin]

I never talk about hybrids....an evolutionary black hole....I mean pure EVs....don’t forget, many of your sophisticated young urbanites don’t like the idea of internal combustion engines...they charge weekly at Superchargers...or at lamppost chargers or run cables out into the street...they communicate with other EV owners in the street to share facilities and to prevent charging points being blocked...they can charge while at the supermarket...there are many options. Admittedly none are as good as your own drive with dedicated charging....but that is also true of any type of car...off street parking is best in crowded environments

We seem to be unable to discuss the topic of this boat forum - boats not cars in this thread.
For boats which may be a long way from shore, hybrids could make a lot of sense

 

[Bouba]

We seem to be unable to discuss the topic of this boat forum - boats not cars in this thread.
For boats which may be a long way from shore, hybrids could make a lot of sense

Yes...I agree. I think the general opinion of the forum is that practical electric boats are for the future...whereas electric cars are here and now and something that is worth dying to prevent

 

[billskip]

We seem to be unable to discuss the topic of this boat forum - boats not cars in this thread.
For boats which may be a long way from shore, hybrids could make a lot of sense

RNLI will be busy.......

 

[KevinV]

RNLI will be busy.......

I don't see why, diesel-electric is well proven technology - pretty pointless for mobo's though, except for packaging.

 

[Lodestone]

We seem to be unable to discuss the topic of this boat forum - boats not cars in this thread.
For boats which may be a long way from shore, hybrids could make a lot of sense

Unfortunately the magical thinking about imposing other forms of electric transport is relevant to the super magical thinking being applied to electric boats so alas things cross contaminate.
Confirmation bias does not solve problems.

 

[Lodestone]

We have 3 electric boat brands using our marina. The one thing that constantly has me scratching my head is that the production models all seem to be incapable of actually doing anything useful. They have an uncomfortable looking helm seat, and perhaps a nav too but other than that...they're just an electric floaty thing.

I'm interested in them, frequently stop and talk to the folk working on them but I'm wondering what market they're catering for. They are not pleasure craft, they're not tenders, workboats or ....

Then again perhaps the market is 'I have an electric floaty thing - I'm green/virtuous/avant-garde'.

The closest thing to a useful boat is a small, more modern, 'Orkney' style fisher with a RAD on the back.