Electric Ferries Coming to Maine?

[Hunter216]

Those are serious ferry boats!

Yes great upgrade for both islands.
They are being built in Romania. The smaller version for Amherst Island is slated to be in service this year. It will be transported to Canada aboard a larger vessel.

The larger Wolfe Island version will be sailed across the Atlantic under its own power with an escort vessel. I think I will wait until it’s in service locally before I take a ride!!!

 

[Hunter216]

Lacking anything constructive to do I took a look at the status of the ferry builds for Wolfe and Amherst Islands. Seems the boatyard has continued to work on both vessels so it’s possible Amherst will see theirs this year as scheduled. The Wolfe Island version is progressing well and they are installing items such as the diesel backup gen and the the main power panel. The panels weigh 10MT tons each!

 

[Hunter216]

I realize that the shape of the new electric ferries is similar to a barge so large capacity to handle weight but if they say the panel(s) weigh 10MT each - so minimum 20 MT for them assuming only 2 ??? plus the weight of the batteries, plus the wire to connect it all..... that starts to add up. The cargo layout schematics indicate they can take a row of transport trailers down the centre plus multiple rows of autos on either side.

It will be interesting to see them in service on the car wash days we see in the early spring and late fall !!!!

 

[Hunter216]

Latest posting on the status of the two ferries. Amazing that there is 90km of cables on the larger Wolfe Island version.

 

[JohnShannon]

I wouldn't want my boat to be made of stone, I find the decor weird. Some airport gate seats and some z-brick

 

[Hunter216]

I wouldn't want my boat to be made of stone, I find the decor weird. Some airport gate seats and some z-brick

Don’t think the boat is “made of stone”

A little background on why the decor was selected.

Redirect Notice

www.google.ca

 

[Mr Fox]

Flat out guess, but electricity has been about $0.1/kwh since 1900 of course adjusted for inflation it is relatively cheaper. The rest of it should be accurate to within 20%

FWIW Portland Maine has a residential rate of 11 cents/kWh, NYC is 24/kWh, (according to my electric bills). It’s location dependent not only due to cost of production, but also due to infrastructure maintenance and I’m sure some other factors such as taxes etc.

 

[Hunter216]

Just checked on the status of the two electric ferry’s for Ontario.
Amherst Islander is finished and waiting for sea trial and eventual delivery. Covid delays in play but “finished”
Wolfe Islander is floating. Launched early Sept.

 

[srimes]

Our Navy has a ton of experience with electric ships, notably aircraft carriers and submarines. Not only do they not need to plug in every 20 miles, they can help provide emergency power to a city after a disaster.

 

[Hunter216]

Our Navy has a ton of experience with electric ships, notably aircraft carriers and submarines. Not only do they not need to plug in every 20 miles, they can help provide emergency power to a city after a disaster.

I assume you are referring to nuclear powered vessels? Awesome power in a small physical footprint, downside is storage of “spent” fuel rods etc.

Ontario I think missed out on an opportunity for great PR on renewable energy with these new ferry’s. Both islands have substantial wind turbine facilities already in use. The province could have placed a new turbine at each dock that fed directly into the “charging station”

 

[jaysweet]

Our Navy has a ton of experience with electric ships, notably aircraft carriers and submarines. Not only do they not need to plug in every 20 miles, they can help provide emergency power to a city after a disaster.

To redirect the focus a little: we've had 2 electric cars for a few years now, and they're great. Almost no maintenance: they just run, and run... One has a 240 mile range (Chevy Bolt), and the other (Chevy Volt) is 53 miles (or 63 if you drive 55mph) with a gas backup motor. Electric vehicles have arrived, and they work wonderfully for everything other than long trips. The Volt is perfect for long trips, too, which is apparently why Chevy stopped making it(?).

 

[srimes]

To redirect the focus a little: we've had 2 electric cars for a few years now, and they're great. Almost no maintenance: they just run, and run... One has a 240 mile range (Chevy Bolt), and the other (Chevy Volt) is 53 miles (or 63 if you drive 55mph) with a gas backup motor. Electric vehicles have arrived, and they work wonderfully for everything other than long trips. The Volt is perfect for long trips, too, which is apparently why Chevy stopped making it(?).

I also have a Volt and love it. It's a fantastic car but fundamentally too expensive to build with 2 drivetrains. It was only marketable when sold at a loss, subsidized by the government and GM. Now that full electric cars and infrastructure are becoming viable for the masses the Volt doesn't manse sense. It was never intended to be in production long term. It's an electric car with training wheels.

Battery electric ships don't make sense at all, and in many cases would probably be worse for the environment than burning fossil fuels. Battery power is great for a canoe or even getting a sailboat away from the dock and back. I do see how it could work for a short-distance ferry.

As great as my Volt is overall, it specializes is short distance trips. For long distance a Prius would get better mileage. Most boat use is fundamentally high-energy demand/long distance, and batteries just don't have the energy density to compete with liquid hydrocarbons.

 

[JohnShannon]

Well if you liked your Volt (RIP) you can today go buy a Honda Clarity PHEV 45 mile range, any number of Mercedes or BMW's (typically 20 miles range) Prius Prime 25 mile range or soon a Rav 4 Prime with 300 HP and 45 mile electric range. They have figured out how to do this at not a bad price. The electric miles are almost free the gas miles are there if you need to make a long trip.

 

[jaysweet]

I also have a Volt and love it. It's a fantastic car but fundamentally too expensive to build with 2 drivetrains. It was only marketable when sold at a loss, subsidized by the government and GM. Now that full electric cars and infrastructure are becoming viable for the masses the Volt doesn't manse sense. It was never intended to be in production long term. It's an electric car with training wheels.

Battery electric ships don't make sense at all, and in many cases would probably be worse for the environment than burning fossil fuels. Battery power is great for a canoe or even getting a sailboat away from the dock and back. I do see how it could work for a short-distance ferry.

As great as my Volt is overall, it specializes is short distance trips. For long distance a Prius would get better mileage. Most boat use is fundamentally high-energy demand/long distance, and batteries just don't have the energy density to compete with liquid hydrocarbons.

You're probably right about the "subsidized" part of the dropping the Volt equation. But I get the feeling that GM is more interested in talking about electric cars than in selling them. You almost never see advertising, which tells you how serious they are about them.

I certainly agree with you that the Prius (or the like) makes more sense for long trips. But the vast majority of trips are short commuting trips: my Volt does about one and a half 34-mile round trips to work for me on 100% electric. So the gas engine doesn't get used for several weeks at a time, but we have still used it to drive from Maryland to Colorado, just like a normal car. It seems to me that there's a niche for that sort of thing! I don't think the majority of people are willing to have their one-and-only car be one that requires 30 or 45 minute stops every 250-300 miles to recharge. Pure battery vehicles don't yet make sense for long distance transport, whether by car, boat, or (god forbid) plane. But most travel isn't long distance.

 

[jaysweet]

Well if you liked your Volt (RIP) you can today go buy a Honda Clarity PHEV 45 mile range, any number of Mercedes or BMW's (typically 20 miles range) Prius Prime 25 mile range or soon a Rav 4 Prime with 300 HP and 45 mile electric range. They have figured out how to do this at not a bad price. The electric miles are almost free the gas miles are there if you need to make a long trip.

I think there hasn't been any competition for the Volt up until now, because the other cars didn't have a 53 mile range. 20 miles wouldn't even get me to work and back without burning gas, and that's an important feature of the Volt to me.

 

[srimes]

Well if you liked your Volt (RIP) you can today go buy a Honda Clarity PHEV 45 mile range, any number of Mercedes or BMW's (typically 20 miles range) Prius Prime 25 mile range or soon a Rav 4 Prime with 300 HP and 45 mile electric range. They have figured out how to do this at not a bad price. The electric miles are almost free the gas miles are there if you need to make a long trip.

I just glanced at the Rav 4 Prime. Base price is $10k over the hybrid. Even if gas was $5/gallon that $10k would buy 2000 gallons. At 40mpg that's 80k electric-only miles to break even! At 45 miles/charge that's 1,778 full-charge trips: 4.9 years at 1 per day. Throw in the time value of money and there's no economic justification.

You're probably right about the "subsidized" part of the dropping the Volt equation. But I get the feeling that GM is more interested in talking about electric cars than in selling them. You almost never see advertising, which tells you how serious they are about them.

I certainly agree with you that the Prius (or the like) makes more sense for long trips. But the vast majority of trips are short commuting trips: my Volt does about one and a half 34-mile round trips to work for me on 100% electric. So the gas engine doesn't get used for several weeks at a time, but we have still used it to drive from Maryland to Colorado, just like a normal car. It seems to me that there's a niche for that sort of thing! I don't think the majority of people are willing to have their one-and-only car be one that requires 30 or 45 minute stops every 250-300 miles to recharge. Pure battery vehicles don't yet make sense for long distance transport, whether by car, boat, or (god forbid) plane. But most travel isn't long distance.

Ditto. I typically don't burn any gas during the work week, but drive 300+ miles on the weekend. Average 80mpg, $20 per week. Lockdown changed that. Here's my chart of miles between fill ups this year.