Electric Boat Costs 40–50€ to Cross Baltic Sea, vs 750€ Refueling Gas Boat - CleanTechnica
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Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News! An electric hydrofoiling Candela C-8 crossed the Baltic Sea about a week ago. The boat went from Stockholm to the Finnish autonomous region of Åland. As a stunning example of the low operational costs ... [continued]

While the much lower fuel cost has to be a bit of a shocker (we all know EVs are more efficient and cheaper to operate, but not 95% cheaper), the bigger surprise has to be how much more convenient the electric boat was in a certain key way. “We actually had range anxiety, but not for the Candela. The irony is that the photographer’s gasoline-powered chase boat had to refuel six times during the trip, while we only charged three times,” said Gustav Hasselskog.

  • brianorca@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    2 months ago

    Sailboats can operate at lower power levels, because their displacement hull is efficient at low speeds. (Where a planeing hull needs higher speeds to get more efficient.) When I had solar electric sail boat, I could motor at 2 knots with no wind using only 500w of solar without touching the battery. I usually ran it at 3.5 knots if there was no wind, which gave me lots of range on battery for a full day on the water.

    They also have the sail as a primary power source when there’s enough wind, so you don’t always need the electric motor. Sometimes, if the wind is strong enough, you can use the water turning the propeller to generate electricity to charge the battery. Or if the wind is light, you can use the motor to add more speed than sail alone, using less battery than using electric alone.