Converting a boat to electricity...

[Simpo Two]

Anyone done this or considered it?

27' cabin cruiser, inland, currently with a 40hp Yanmar diesel that's noisy, vulnerable to weed blockage, has to be serviced and cosseted over winter. Being free of all those things is interesting...

[pilsdoughboy]

I thought about this in the past, I wanted to use a mobility scooter for the controls and motor. My plan never got passed the thinking stage though!
I've used an electric outboard on a dinghy, tiny little Chinese thing, it was superb for the Norfolk Broads.

[Simpo Two]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Shore power. The current marina has a 16A supply, though I'm not sure how long that would take to recharge batteries sufficient for, say, 16 hours cruising.

This needs to be a proper installation, not bits of old milk float, so I'm expecting it to romp well into five figures.

[Badda]

Sounds like a job for a Torqeedo! I really want one of their small ones for the tender but they are too pricey currently. A 40hp equivalent is approx 15k however...

[Evanivitch]

There's a few companies that have done canal boat conversions (in use in Brecon) and the such.

https://castlenarrowboats.co.uk/electric-boats/

[Huntsman]

I looked into it for the 16ft launch I am rebuidling*, intending to use it to navigate the whole length of the Thames.

I concluded its not really viable cost wise.

• Not seen it for 4 years!

[Simoncelli58]

A perfect candidate I would say - Displacement speed , short range and fairly infrequent use . Standard lead acid batteries , as many solar panels as possible and a slow charger (pontoon electrics will never be Tesla supercharger capable)

I recently had a customer inquire about a project to convert his twin petrol powered 35 knot sports cruiser to electric .

He wanted a 2 hour duration @ 30 knots . We did some very rough calculations - The cost was totally prohibitive ,even using lightweight Lipo batteries the battery bank would weigh over 3000kgs and would need more storage space than the whole boats interior , as well as the small problem that if he did travel 60 miles in 2 hours it would take 8 days to recharge on a pontoon plug . One day but not now .

Your project is totally doable today

[ruggedscotty]

The issue with electric propulsion isnt the motor or charging...

its the capacity of the battery and the weight of the battery that you need to consider if doing it right. Good thing is no heavy engine.. so that frees up weight for the battery, but you need to know what sort of range and motor power you need for your craft.

https://www.mitgroup.co.uk/sector/marine/electric-...

https://www.rubanbleu.com/en/1699-how-to-choose-an...

https://www.sailingtoday.co.uk/practical/electric-...

https://www.fischerpanda.co.uk/electric_propulsion...

lots of info out there and lots to find out and worki out on what you want from the outfit and how you plan on doing it.

it could be done with a generator battery set up - recharge your battery from shore, that does most of your day to day sailing, and then have a generator for your boat electrics and to charge the battery / power the propulsion motor.

Getting a good design around that would be best of both worlds, the issue is living on the boat and what that needs for living needs etc.

and then looking at your travel needs... the size of a fuel tank compared to the size of your battery bank is something to behold. lol

[Simpo Two]

Badda said:

Sounds like a job for a Torqeedo! I really want one of their small ones for the tender but they are too pricey currently. A 40hp equivalent is approx 15k however...

They all seem to be outboards. I don't actually need 40hp; 30 would probably do. Normal max cruising speed is 6mph.

Evanivitch said:

There's a few companies that have done canal boat conversions (in use in Brecon) and the such.

https://castlenarrowboats.co.uk/electric-boats/

Might be useful for ideas, though too far away to to do the work.

Simoncelli58 said:

A perfect candidate I would say - Displacement speed , short range and fairly infrequent use . Standard lead acid batteries , as many solar panels as possible and a slow charger (pontoon electrics will never be Tesla supercharger capable)

Your project is totally doable today

If this is what you do, do PM me some ideas and rough budget. 16 hours at 4kts would be good. And air-cooled if possible, I want to get away from raw water.


ETA Just seen your links Scotty, thanks, I'll check them out. Want to avoid a generator though. Cooking is gas, heating is diesel, lighting is LED.

Edited by Simpo Two on Saturday 6th February 13:37

[kilty2]

I follow a sailing Youtube channel where they converted their bot to electric. Some detailed info here :-

https://www.sailinguma.com/electro-beke

[CanAm]

Evanivitch said:

There's a few companies that have done canal boat conversions (in use in Brecon) and the such.

https://castlenarrowboats.co.uk/electric-boats/

“Our electric boats can cover up to eighteen miles on a single charge, so you don’t need to recharge the narrowboat every day.”

They doesn’t sound too impressive to me as a non -boating person. I’m assuming the central heating runs off the same batteries, so possibly 3 hours cruising on one charge.

[Evanivitch]

CanAm said:

Evanivitch said:

There's a few companies that have done canal boat conversions (in use in Brecon) and the such.

https://castlenarrowboats.co.uk/electric-boats/

“Our electric boats can cover up to eighteen miles on a single charge, so you don’t need to recharge the narrowboat every day.”

They doesn’t sound too impressive to me as a non -boating person. I’m assuming the central heating runs off the same batteries, so possibly 3 hours cruising on one charge.

Not sure on heating and cooking. But when you realise that the speed limit is 4mph, plus time taken in locks, pub lunches and scenic spots, you don't need much range. I believe they've also provided power points along the canal where you're likely to stop, so it's a matter of topping up regularly.

[GliderRider]

Presumably for heating you can use air to air, or water to air heat pumps to reduce the energy useage?

Pure canal use should have a much lower power requirement than, say, chugging up the Thames against the current, so if river use is going to be the exception rather not the rule, maybe an outboard to assist in those occasions would significantly reduce the battery capacity required.

The W1DA yacht is designed to use renewable only, going so far as to have a very unusual propeller design for maximum efficiency; Maybe have a word with them? W1DA yacht

W1DA propeller:

[hidetheelephants]

Everything I contributed to your previous thread still applies, the only real difference is that the price of used battery cells has hardened so doing it with used gear would be somewhat more expensive and the cost of new cells has dropped a bit. Easier than ever to get the bits speaking to each other though, as clever people have produced some very smart aftermarket chargers/BMS and motor controllers since then.

[Simpo Two]

Ah well done HTE, I knew I'd been here before but the difference now is that I'm keeping the boat so don't mind not getting the investment back. I've also given up on finding anyone competent to do hull cooling - they say 'yeah easy mate' then run away when they see it. Wasted a few hundred like that. So electricity neatly knocks that problem away.

In reply to some of the above, heating and cooking are taken care of, so no problem there. The issue is range, especially given that public mooring spots don't have power - you'd have to pay to stay in a marina, and book it in advance, which is quite the opposite of why I have a boat. If I'm overnighting I prefer to be in a field in the middle of nowhere. My target is 16 hours at 4mph so we'll see what the experts say.

No plans to change the propeller; looking forward to doing some research next week!

[hidetheelephants]

Simpo Two said:

Ah well done HTE, I knew I'd been here before but the difference now is that I'm keeping the boat so don't mind not getting the investment back. I've also given up on finding anyone competent to do hull cooling - they say 'yeah easy mate' then run away when they see it. Wasted a few hundred like that. So electricity neatly knocks that problem away.

In reply to some of the above, heating and cooking are taken care of, so no problem there. The issue is range, especially given that public mooring spots don't have power - you'd have to pay to stay in a marina, and book it in advance, which is quite the opposite of why I have a boat. If I'm overnighting I prefer to be in a field in the middle of nowhere. My target is 16 hours at 4mph so we'll see what the experts say.

No plans to change the propeller; looking forward to doing some research next week!

Prop is literally the easiest thing to change; does it have sentimental value? If so, get it polished and mounted on a bit of mahogany.

GliderRider said:

Presumably for heating you can use air to air, or water to air heat pumps to reduce the energy useage?

Pure canal use should have a much lower power requirement than, say, chugging up the Thames against the current, so if river use is going to be the exception rather not the rule, maybe an outboard to assist in those occasions would significantly reduce the battery capacity required.

The W1DA yacht is designed to use renewable only, going so far as to have a very unusual propeller design for maximum efficiency; Maybe have a word with them? W1DA yacht

W1DA propeller:

Heating; you could use a heat pump but I've not seen a marine offer for that, although I can't claim to have looked very hard. Most just use an Eberspacher or similar. Using an electric motor at low power settings has little effect on efficiency with modern controllers so it can and should be specced for the maximum performance you can envisage needing. Faffing with an outboard is not needed.

That is a freaky looking device, like a waste disposal grinder.

Edited by hidetheelephants on Sunday 7th February 20:43

[Krikkit]

Wouldn't the easiest way be to buy a written off Leaf and use that - completely over spec motor, inverter and controller, battery pack that's easy to package.

For heating I'd be tempted to use a diesel heater as they're very efficient and doesn't eat into your range.

[Simpo Two]

hidetheelephants said:

Prop is literally the easiest thing to change; does it have sentimental value? If so, get it polished and mounted on a bit of mahogany.

No, I just didn't have any plans to throw away something that works.

Krikkit said:

Wouldn't the easiest way be to buy a written off Leaf and use that - completely over spec motor, inverter and controller, battery pack that's easy to package.

Maybe but that's way above my ability. I just want to find somebody competent to sort it out so all I have to do is get on board and enjoy it.

Krikkit said:

For heating I'd be tempted to use a diesel heater as they're very efficient and doesn't eat into your range.

Fitted from new!

[Krikkit]

Best place to start might be some of the new engineering firms doing car EV conversions as it's much the same kind of attitude, and if they're not interested they might be able to suggest someone.

A few have cropped up in my browsings:

https://falconelectric.co.uk/
https://zero-ev.co.uk/
http://www.avt.uk.com/

And this hire firm in Wales have a couple of electric narrow boats: https://castlenarrowboats.co.uk/electric-boats

[Simpo Two]

Thanks Krikkit! I have some useful leads but will check out your links later. Basically it seems the world and its brother is hurling itself into electric boats and it's a bit of a jungle at present.

Fischer Panda was interesting; they have an electric wing I had a good natter with. Obviously they sell generators, which I was desperate to avoid due to noise and complexity - but when they said one could recharge four hours' running in an hour my ears pricked up. It's very quiet, the diesel and seacocks are already there, it means I can have half as many batteries, I can run it while I'm underway so can still be totally quiet when moored, it makes the boat self-sufficient, the range becomes infinite...