Has anyone converted from diesel engine to an electric motor? If so, what are your thoughts on the conversion?
Converting from diesel engine to electric motor
- Thread starter jr22553
- Start date
Lots of opinions from the forum and maybe some have done that and can offer their experience. My initial thoughts are high cost and short range.
You might find this thread on the same subject helpful.
You might find this thread on the same subject helpful.
Doing a Conversion from Diesel to Electric
Looking for others who have accomplished a Conversion to Electric. Just getting my boat, stating to do research and planning for this change over. Seems the rule of thumb is 3-hp needed for every ton, so approx. 20-tons that is 60-hp. Should I go with a PMAC or? what is the best setup for a...
forums.sailboatowners.com
To do it right will take many many and lots of boat bucks. Unless your thing of using a small outboard motor like Torqeedo 20 hp.
Perhaps in a lake to use to get in and out of the dock. Would not think about in the Potomac River or out in the Chesapeake Bay. You need and sustainable power source to fight the currents and foul weather that may develop. At this time a Diesel Auxiliary is still the best option in performance and cost by far.
take a look at this (270) Diesel to Electric Sailboat Re-Power, Part One: Installation - YouTube
Electric Yacht sells electric engines for $5k, equivalent to 25 hp diesel engine for up to 34’ sailboats. Has anyone experienced this engine, and thoughts please? Thanks.
Do you know if the $5K includes installation? Are the battery and control systems separate? $5K all-in seems on the low side.
Batteries and installation are extra. But I suspect the entire package is still more economical than a new Diesel engine, and better for the environment.
jssailem
SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
- Oct 22, 2014
- 22,350
While the idea of an electric motor driving your sailboat seems like a green idea and saving the planet action, the realities are a bit different. Many of the needed infrastructure are not in place. The actions taken today may actually speed up the issues that are used to blame diesel fuel as a bad thing.
This snipet from "Producing batteries for a Green Technology."
In an effort to "reduce a carbon foot print", improve our smells and reduce the noise, we accepted the destruction of lives in other countries. Why not it is "saving the planet".
At the COP23 climate meeting, electric shuttles moved delegates across town, showcasing sustainable energy and green technology. But for farmer Zhang Tuling, green technology means dusty air and stunted crops.
Mr Zhang lives near a large mine in northern China that extracts a key ingredient for batteries: natural graphite. He can testify to the hidden social and environmental toll of lithium-ion batteries - the very devices that enable renewable energy storage solutions, electric vehicles and mobile power.
The battery market is anticipated to be worth $100 billion by 2025. By 2040, batteries storing solar power for businesses and households will account for 57% of the world’s energy storage capacity.
The climate community has noticed. To keep global warming below 1.5 degrees, 100 million electric vehicles should be added to our roads globally by 2030, stated the 2015 Paris Agreement. This means a 50-fold increase from today’s numbers.
Paradoxically, realizing this goal could inflict unintended harm, on both humans and the environment. Discussions from last week’s COP23 in Bonn are making way for action. But in order for batteries to help rather than hinder our climate goals, the following five barriers must be addressed:
The carbon footprint of batteries in electric vehicles
Batteries powering electric vehicles are forecast to make up 90% of the lithium-ion battery market by 2025. They are the main reason why electric vehicles can generate more carbon emissions over their lifecycle – from procurement of raw materials to manufacturing, use and recycling – than petrol or diesel cars. Three factors account for this.
Image: International Energy Agency, Global EV Outlook 2017
Firstly, producing an electric vehicle contributes, on average, twice as much to global warming potential and uses double the amount of energy than producing a combustion engine car. This is mainly because of its battery. Battery production uses a lot of energy, from the extraction of raw materials to the electricity consumed in manufacture. The bigger the electric car and its range, the more battery cells are needed to power it, and consequently the more carbon produced.
Secondly, once in use, an electric vehicle is only as green as the electricity that feeds its battery. A coal-powered battery is dirtier than a solar-powered battery. Governments can help by speeding up their transition to greener energy.
Thirdly, while an electric vehicle has a higher carbon footprint at the beginning of its lifecycle, it is typically cleaner once in use. Over time, it can catch up on the combustion engine car. The point at which an electric vehicle’s lifetime emissions break even with a combustion engine car also depends on the car’s mileage.
For example, in Germany - where about 40% of the energy mix is produced by coal and 30% by renewables - a mid-sized electric car must be driven for 125,000 km, on average, to break even with a diesel car, and 60,000 km compared to a petrol car. It takes nine years for an electric car to be greener than a diesel car, assuming an annual average mileage of 13,500 km (as was the case in Germany in 2002, compared to 12,700 km in England in 2013). Most consumers will have bought a new car by then. The case is similar in the US, but less pronounced in nuclear-powered France.
Unlocking the green potential of electric cars requires more than just increasing production. The system in which they operate must be sustainable too.
Pollution beyond carbon emissions
Battery production causes more environmental damage than carbon emissions alone. Consider dust, fumes, wastewater and other environmental impacts from cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; water shortages and toxic spills from lithium mining in Latin America, which can alter ecosystems and hurt local communities; a heavily polluted river due to nickel mining in Russia; or air pollution in northeastern China, as mentioned above.
Batteries rely on graphite. Is the production of graphite harmless? No...
So is the world ready to have a conversation about population control? I’m not sure we are there yet????
jssailem
SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
- Oct 22, 2014
- 22,350
I would hope not.
If conspiracy theory is a consideration perhaps 2020 is a glimpse into how that might occur.
I just read John Harries thoughts about an experiment in cruising electric powered by a group out of Southern France. 1000nm.
My take on it. You need a ton of money to invest up front in technology and power storage. You need a fast boat able to do 8 plus knots constantly in order to power minimally regeneration systems. You need to become a minimalist, abandon comforts like heat, refrigerators, hot food, schedules (accept being becalmed like 18 century sailors), things that require power. And there are complications when cruising. You need to conserve power to maintain a minimal level of safety such that you can power to escape being lost on a lee shore. Wasn’t that the ever present fear of sailors during the golden age of sailing boats. The invention of steam power changed all that.
On the other hand you can invest in an electrical powered boat and reap the benefits of silence while motoring, perhaps more space on board, but don’t imagine your saving the planet, especially when your pulling into marina’s to plug in to recharge batteries.
I had a friend convert this Morgan 32 diesel to electric.
I asked his reasons for converting, since he lived about 100 miles from his boat and was doing all the work himself.
"He loved the Sailing Challenge"
He rarely used his Auxiliary power!
Also it made room for his Cabin expansion.
I witnessed him backing into the berth under sail !
_______
If you are as expecting a 1 for 1 substitution, you might ask the builders of New Sailboats, if they offer that Electrical Option.
IMHO....
Sailing is the only sport, that is already harnessing Solar energy.
Jim...
I asked his reasons for converting, since he lived about 100 miles from his boat and was doing all the work himself.
"He loved the Sailing Challenge"
He rarely used his Auxiliary power!
Also it made room for his Cabin expansion.
I witnessed him backing into the berth under sail !
_______
If you are as expecting a 1 for 1 substitution, you might ask the builders of New Sailboats, if they offer that Electrical Option.
IMHO....
Sailing is the only sport, that is already harnessing Solar energy.
Jim...
I did see an interesting new application of an older technology being applied to electric motored sailboats that essentially uses the rotating prop shaft under sail to generate electricity and recharge the batteries. Prop shaft generators have been around a long time, but this promises increased efficiency and essentially allows a way for wind to generate power via the sails (the other being a wind generator on the boat). Add solar to that in favorable climes and you have three sources of power that don't burn carbon-based fuel. The boat had do be moving at something like 4 kts for the generation to take place, but for long voyages that could be a significant source of power. Of course, that's at the expense of speed that you might gain with a folding or feathering prop.
jssailem
SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
- Oct 22, 2014
- 22,350
Yes, that concept or "Regeneration" is one of the driving forces used by the French group associated with he Elcano Challenge. In theory and in calm water testing, by Oceanvolt, the marketing numbers appeared successful. Sail a boat at 5.5 knots generate the power and charge the battery. Just like the Wright Brothers with their magic flying machine. The real world cruising attempt
In summary the following was reported:
Granted that science and engineering merge as start someplace.
I understand that the "The Elcano Challenge" started by Jimmy Cornell (an experienced world class sailor) was fired to abandon his project of sailing around the world on an all electric catamaran. What was clarified by his ambitious attempt are the engineering barriers of balancing the drag on a boat, the energy costs of regeneration, and the electrical demands involved living on a boat in the ocean. What is the phrase? An intriguing idea - not ready for prime time!
But it may be just a brilliant idea away from possibility. Such creativity has given us all sorts of new concepts. From the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk we now fly in Space.
Our 1000-mile maiden voyage from La Grande Motte to Seville showed up some of the weaknesses of the regeneration system when it failed to keep up with the overall consumption on a proper voyage,
identified the differences between marketing and performance.In summary the following was reported:
"the barriers to getting a lot more out of regeneration are formidable since, as Jimmy found out, they are running into basic physics here: drag balanced against regeneration and the need to sail efficiently."
Granted that science and engineering merge as start someplace.
I understand that the "The Elcano Challenge" started by Jimmy Cornell (an experienced world class sailor) was fired to abandon his project of sailing around the world on an all electric catamaran. What was clarified by his ambitious attempt are the engineering barriers of balancing the drag on a boat, the energy costs of regeneration, and the electrical demands involved living on a boat in the ocean. What is the phrase? An intriguing idea - not ready for prime time!
But it may be just a brilliant idea away from possibility. Such creativity has given us all sorts of new concepts. From the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk we now fly in Space.