In the past few years, commercial all-electric vessels equipped with electric motors and high-capacity lithium batteries have begun to roll off the stocks. This article is an overview of such novelties.

year 2014

MV Ampere is the world's first battery electric vehicle ferry designed and built in Norway

Ampere is a predominantly aluminum catamaran 80 meters long and 21 meters wide. When viewed from above, it is somewhat reminiscent of an aircraft carrier: an open deck and a high cabin shifted to the edge (called an “island” on aircraft carriers). But in terms of size, it cannot stand comparison with the giants of the oceans - the deadweight is only 199 tons. At the same time, the baby is able to take on board and transport 120 cars and 360 passengers through the fjord. The journey from village to village (34 walks a day) takes 20 minutes, another 10 minutes are spent on loading and unloading. At this moment andbatteries are being charged. The lithium-ion battery pack on board has a capacity of 1000 kWh and weighs 10 tons.

In addition to the batteries, Siemens installed two 450 kW electric motors on the ship, which drive the propellers mounted on the rudder propellers. Charging stations are equipped on both banks. The vessel is charged directly from the power grid, which receives energy from a local hydroelectric power station (environmentally friendly source of energy - part of the plan) or from a 260 kWh shore battery (10 minutes on each shore).

The vessel reportedly saves one million liters of diesel fuel annually and offsets 570 tons of carbon dioxide and 15 tons of nitrogen oxide emissions compared to a conventional ferry on the same route.

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2017

Guangzhou Shipyard International, a Chinese shipbuilding corporation, has launched an electric bulk carrier, a bulk cargo vessel.

According to the manufacturer, the vessel has a range of 80 km and can carry 2,000 tons of cargo on a single two-hour charge. The ship is 70.5 meters long and weighs about 600 tons.

The ship is powered by a lithium battery weighing 26 tons, with an energy reserve of 2400 kWh, and can travel at speeds up to 7 knots (12.8 km/h).

The vessel has two electric motors with a capacity of 160 kW each.

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2019

The Ellen electric ferry is capable of carrying 30 cars and 200 passengers and is powered by a 4.3 MWh battery of "unprecedented capacity," according to Swiss battery manufacturer Lechanché, which provided the system. The maximum speed of the ferry is 28 km/h, the dimensions of the ferry are: length 60 meters, width 13 meters. The ferry has two 750 kW propulsion electric motors and two 250 kW shunting electric motors.

Within one year, this will prevent the pollution of 2,000 tons of CO2, 42 tons of NOx (nitric oxide), 2.5 tons of particulate matter and 1.4 tons of SO2 (sulfur dioxide) of the atmosphere.

The batteries are enough for 22 nautical miles on a single charge, enough for 7 day trips along the route.

The European Union, which supported the project, aims to produce 100 or more such ferries by 2030.

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