It makes the
boat a lot heavier, when it should have been a lot lighter (battery weight).
It makes the
electric system very complex.
battery capacity constrains the
power output and causes significant problem when motoring for any distance.
Hallo Talbot , you are right .
electric propulsion ads weight but not much since you can take the amount of
diesel normally carried to less than half of for the
FastCat from 600 liters for an
ocean crossing to 200 liters saving 320 kilo,s there.
To my simple mind, a hybrid system is much more simple and offers significant weight savings.
A pure hybrid system is simpler but use almost as much
diesel as a pure diesel system and our reasoning is that we want to save on
fuel
By hybrid, I mean the
installation of a purpose designed
generator, that is used for
engine drive. It is then available for
battery charge and running AC. A
single generator would be a simple
installation, and the battery weight savings would be substantial. You also avoid all that speed reduction by being able to use folding props.
To minimize speed reduction when not
charging battery's we
lift the
propulsion out of the
water
As another idea for weight saving, has anybody investigated the use of titanium
anchor chain - A very quick look suggests that it is less susceptible to
corrosion, and strength to weight is much superior, hence possibility of reducing the weight - of course that would have a knock on effect of reducing the effectiveness of the
anchor system.
Titanium is very brittle and weight for a chain is needed to keep the anchor in place
we have special chain produced for us in 8 mm made out of Duplex
Stainless steel with a weight of 1.4 kilo per meter and a breaking strength of 6400 kilo or 14400 LBS