Solid State Batteries

[Aja]

Toyota have announced they have developed a battery that can propel a 'vehicle' for 750 miles on a 10 minute charge.

Could this be the end of diesel engines in boats?

Toyota claims battery breakthrough in potential boost for electric cars

 

[rogerthebodger]

Very interesting

I normlly once a month drive to my boat that is about 800 Km from home so current electric cars just dont have anywhere enough range

 

[kof]

I would take any announcement from Toyota with a massive pinch of salt (all the salt in the Atlantic!). They have made some claims that is has the "potential" to be a game changer but are a long way from a prototype let alone manufacturing - And all this from a company that doesn't really make any batteries and that actively tried to kill the EV market for the last 10 years.

I'm not holding my breath.

 

[kof]

Very interesting

I normlly once a month drive to my boat that is about 800 Km from home so current electric cars just dont have anywhere enough range

Very, very few ICE vehicles could manage that either.

 

[penfold]

It would go some way, but the cost will be key; boatbuilders as always have volume, people repowering their own boats do not so converting to electric power is likely to remain novel and the preserve of the DIYer and the very affluent for a while longer.

Toyota have announced they have developed a battery that can propel a 'vehicle' for 750 miles on a 10 minute charge.

Could this be the end of diesel engines in boats?

Toyota claims battery breakthrough in potential boost for electric cars

 

[Bouba]

Very interesting

I normlly once a month drive to my boat that is about 800 Km from home so current electric cars just dont have anywhere enough range

And if you stopped on the way to charge, stretch your legs, coffee and pee...that would ruin your boating experience

 

[Seven Spades]

Well it depends who you are. If you use your engine just to get in and out of the harbour/river and then sail everywhere and you have a marina berth to charge it possibly. If you are a liv aboard and are spending the majority of your rime at anchor you might struggle to charge it with solar. However the real determining factor is likely to be cost and my guess is that they simly will be too expensive for most. perhaps id the elecrtic motors are substantially cheaper than diesel it will make it easier to specify on a new boat. It looks like salt based batteries are likely to displace lithium in cars as they seem to be about ¼ of the cost and their energy density is fast approaching that of lithium. the chinese, Japanese and Americans seem to own most of the patents the UK is nowhere.

 

[pmagowan]

I have an engine as an auxiliary to sail so it doesn't normally have to run that much, however it occasionally does. When it is needed it is normally because weather conditions are not conducive to sail so either calm or bashing into something. I don't think the energy density of batteries is likely to be enough for quite some time and the car manufacturers get their stuff a lot cheaper than it is available to us so cost will be an issue. There are some videos of people that have concerted to all electric in their sailing boats on youtube but seems niche. Would be nice to just have batteries and solar and not carry any 'fuel' in the form of liquids or gas. Marinas would need to upgrade their facilities. For the pretty long term future I suspect diesel will be the primary energy store on a boat.

 

[penfold]

I don't think marinas would need to upgrade much; only visitors would need faster charging than can be had from the ubiquitous 16A socket, supplying 5-10% of berths with 32A outlets is not much of a stretch. Unless you're referring to the minority with defective electrics; people will vote with their feet.

 

[dukeofted]

You could recharge what most sailors use using solar panels during the week. It would only need about 500w of panels. If you backed it up with a small generator you could get away with a much smaller and cheaper battery too.

 

[Stemar]

I'm not about to chuck out the engines on Jazzcat, but the gas fridge has died, so I'm thinking about putting an electric one with compressor. This will mean increasing battery capacity significantly, so I've been musing about going LiFePO. Maybe I'll wait a bit to see what pans out.

Or maybe that's just a good excuse for procrastinating. Between announcing a breakthrough and stuff appearing on the market at a sensible price, a delay of several years is common, and never making it to market isn't uncommon.

 

[rogerthebodger]

Very, very few ICE vehicles could manage that either.

That is true

My diesel 4x4 can do 600 + kn on one tank and I then fill up to do the other 200 km

Diesel is more readily available where I do so charging points would be difficult to find for inter trio charging stations.

As hybrid is the best electric vehicle is the best as currently there is an issue with charging stations being out of order or having no electracy

Charge at start and end of journey is currently the only practical option

 

[pmagowan]

If you need a solution now I would plan with current tech. There will be a big lag, think 5-10 years before anything new is available in a reasonable way to a boater with normal means. Definitely a good time to consider reducing/replacing gas. Diesel isn't volatile so not such a biggy for having on board but I am certainly looking into gas free options for cooking etc

 

[Bouba]

I'm not about to chuck out the engines on Jazzcat, but the gas fridge has died, so I'm thinking about putting an electric one with compressor. This will mean increasing battery capacity significantly, so I've been musing about going LiFePO. Maybe I'll wait a bit to see what pans out.

Or maybe that's just a good excuse for procrastinating. Between announcing a breakthrough and stuff appearing on the market at a sensible price, a delay of several years is common, and never making it to market isn't uncommon.

Even in this forum we have seen many latest greatest battery breakthroughs and almost none of them have gone into mass production

 

[Bouba]

That is true

My diesel 4x4 can do 600 + kn on one tank and I then fill up to do the other 200 km

Diesel is more readily available where I do so charging points would be difficult to find for inter trio charging stations.

As hybrid is the best electric vehicle is the best as currently there is an issue with charging stations being out of order or having no electracy

Charge at start and end of journey is currently the only practical option

800 kilometers without passing an ev charger isn’t easy...except, apparently, Albania

 

[rogerthebodger]

800 kilometers without passing an ev charger isn’t easy...except, apparently, Albania

And deep dark Africa

I drove from Johannesburg to Blantyre 1700 + Km and had difficulted finding petrol let alone an EV charging point after half way

From JHB to Durban about 600 Km I only know of one Jaguar charging point on the way.

 

[Bouba]

And deep dark Africa

I drove from Johannesburg to Blantyre 1700 + Km and had difficulted finding petrol let alone an EV charging point after half way

From JHB to Durban about 600 Km I only know of one Jaguar charging point on the way.

I lived in West Africa for a little while...and it’s true....but by far the worse part of traveling through Africa are the non stop police and army check points and the corrupt officials manning them
Ps..I’ve been to Blantyre

 

[rogerthebodger]

I lived in West Africa for a little while...and it’s true....but by far the worse part of traveling through Africa are the non stop police and army check points and the corrupt officials manning them
Ps..I’ve been to Blantyre

West Africa is worse than South Africa but it is going that way

 

[Bouba]

West Africa is worse than South Africa but it is going that way

I never went to SA but spent time in Malawi, Zambia and a little bit in Kenya and Zim

 

[Koeketiene]

You could recharge what most sailors use using solar panels during the week. It would only need about 500w of panels. If you backed it up with a small generator you could get away with a much smaller and cheaper battery too.

1. You would only need about 500w of panels... Only... I sail an older 36' boat and it has not been easy to find enough free room to put up 180w of solar panels.

2. A small generator... why not? Buying an additional engine which can not be used to propel your boat to charge another engine so that engine can propel your boat... In what world does that even begin to make sense?