E-propulsion I-Series (inboard)

[ryanroberts]

The EV car market has pretty significant problems with service life, interoperation of components and the possibility of service outside of the manufacturer's own network. If i had megabucks I might be happy with a hybrid system of some sort. But without the enthusiasm of Uma (and the obvious assistance of their very helpful sponsors..) there are enough issues for a skipper that tries to do much of their own work as it is. I would want to see significant standardisation of high capacity power systems for marine use and general idiot proofing for self maintenance.

 

[Tranona]

This statement makes me deeply sad. We can and should all do something to reduce our impact. If you’re not part of the solution you’re part of the problem.

Why does it make you sad, it is a reflection of reality. While individuals may feel good about thinking they are doing something to "help" we are collectively indeed the problem because collectively we all want something that is incompatible with reducing the use of the earth's resources.

By your own admission you are not prepared to sacrifice your lifestyle - as you say you can always pop over to Cherbourg and not bother to rush back because you can work remotely. As I said we will adapt to whatever changes come along to maintain or preferably enhance our lifestyle and standard of living. Note for example the main thrust of electric car development is to make them a perfect substitute for ICE powered cars. Even more so watch the ads which are primarily aspirational - that is your status and lifestyle will be enhanced if you buy one of these cars. The objective is to sell product, not reduce the use of scarce resources, and then we construct a narrative to help the conscience of buyers by concentrating on the reduction in local emissions from our purchase while ignoring the the vast increase in depletion of other resources needed to build and operate the car.

You may think this sounds cynical, but it is just a reading of the historical development of our advanced societies which are driven by our desire to increase our standard of living and the length of our lives. This is not going to change - indeed outside our privileged western societies the rest of the world still wants to join us. Just this week it is reported that China is introducing IVF programmes to increase its birthrates because an expanding economy needs more people.

What difference is it going to make if you reduce your diesel consumption from say 300l a year when to do so involves increasing the use of a range of scarce materials turned into an electric motor and batteries that will sit in your boat doing nothing for 90% of the time? If you really wanted to make a positive reduction in your impact stop boating altogether.

 

[[194497]]

I was in Croatia a few years back and honestly it was rare to see a sailing boat with the sails up. On one ferry journey I watched a yacht of about 40' motoring along on a broad reach in a beautiful F5, rolling from ear to ear, out in open water ten miles from the land. Hundreds of AWBs being treated like motor boats with decorative masts. It's no wonder that not much effort, relatively speaking, is going into developing usable electric power for boats; with the current state of battery technology it will never be possible to do what people seem to want, which is to drive their yacht around like a car.

 

[Tranona]

Indeed, for many a boat is just a platform for enjoying holiday time on the water rather than sailing. Typical day's routine is 3-4 hours motoring in the morning to charge the batteries heat the water for showers and get the beer cool. anchor for a swim, shower and lunch. maybe a snooze until the afternoon breeze gets up for maybe 3 hours sail to the next anchorage or harbour for overnight stop. My charter boat in Corfu would average 25 hours engine running a week for 20 weeks a year.

 

[jfkal]

Sounds nice? I wonder how many amps the engine eats up. Difficult to find any information on that. Even on epropulsion. With that one could calculate the required power.

Ar you talking A draw or Ah used. For Epropulsion divide KW by 96V and you get the amps. Multiply this with hours and you get the Ah used

 

[gregcope]

Tally Ho has a hybrid install from Beta with lots of LifePo4 to match (48V I believe) with some big fuel tanks for range. It will be interesting how much they use it in ICE mode.

Its now at a point that LifePo4 cells are cheap enough (certainly from a lifecycle POV) to make them the default install and also likely to replace gas on board with electric cooking (via a decent inverter).

I would assume that hybrid is the longer term solution to add range to a LifePo4+electric engine combo as most users only use their engines for a few hours a week. Charter boats are different so might have a different profile more suitable to hybrid.

Also, what strikes me about this thread is most of the arguments could be applied to ICE 100years ago when they were introduced (complexity, servicing, design issues). Boats changed to accommodate engines with the addition of engines in the middle and fuel tanks etc.. Change happens.