As the world moves toward a sustainable future, some regions have an abundance of renewable energy, while others are at a geographical disadvantage. Japan-based startup PowerX has a solution with the world’s first electric battery tanker, “X,” designed to transport clean energy by sea.
What does PowerX do?
PowerX is a battery startup company on a mission to change how the world uses and transfers clean energy.
While most of the world’s energy today is transferred in the form of fossil fuels, PowerX is looking toward the future with an electric-powered ship that will carry clean energy to places that need it most.
To accomplish its mission, PowerX is designing and developing a “power transfer ship” to carry renewable electricity across the world and establish an “ocean power grid.”
The startup revealed plans last summer to establish its first gigafactory in Japan to produce battery storage solutions, including its Hypercharger, an ultrafast EV charger (up to 240kW) powered by renewable energy. In addition, PowerX will manufacture grid-scale stationary batteries, marine batteries, and home batteries.
Power Base, the company’s gigafactory, features a 5 GWh annual production capacity, equivalent to around 10,000 battery storage units for its various solutions.
Moving quickly, PowerX revealed the detailed design behind its inaugural ship, “X,” at Monday’s Bariship International Maritime Exhibition.
The electric tanker that will carry clean energy by sea
The 140-meter-long electric-powered battery tanker X features an electric cruising range of up to 300km to transport clean energy from offshore wind, from one grid to another or an island.
PowerX YouTube
With 96 (2.5 MWh) marine-grade LFP batteries, the electric tanker can hold a total of 241 MWh of renewable energy. PowerX says the battery design is “highly scalable” and will be able to handle more batteries in the future.
An included power control system monitors the battery systems and charge controllers, relaying how much battery life is left.
Source: Bloomberg/PowerX
The electric tanker is optimized for short-distance travel currently. Still, CEO Masahiro Ito says as battery density increases and costs decrease, the company will be able to carry more batteries for a longer distance.
The company aims to complete its first ship by 2025, with field testing planned to begin the following year.
PowerX signed an MoU and partnered with Kyushu Electric Power Co and the City of Yokohama to turn the concept into reality and decarbonize the ports. Moreover, a new company, Ocean Power Grid Inc., will be established later this year to handle the battery tanker operations.
Source: PowerX
The electric tanker will help connect grids, offshore wind farms, and islands with renewable energy where underground cables aren’t ideal due to seismic activity, deep water, etc.
As a result, regions with abundant renewable energy can share with those less fortunate for a cleaner, sustainable future for all.
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Elon Musk reveals that Tesla has a ‘performance Cybertruck’ – indicating that it could be one of the first versions of the electric pickup truck.
Tesla is on the verge of delivering the first Cybertruck.
Despite the automaker having produced likely hundreds of trucks and being about to start deliveries, there’s still a lot we don’t know about the electric pickup truck.
Tesla first unveiled the Cybertruck in 2019 and announced specs and pricing at the time, but the automaker is known to update its vehicles significantly from prototype to production. On top of it, the auto market has changed a lot since then, and that is expected to completely change the prices that Tesla announced for the Cybertruck.
Those expected changes have led to speculation about which Cybertruck models are going to be available, when, and at what prices.
Now CEO Elon Musk is now adding some information into the mix by saying on X that he recently drove a “performance Cybertruck”:
I just drove the performance Cybertruck today and it kicks ass next-level.
This means that Tesla currently has a “performance” version of the Cybertruck, which could mean it could be amongst the first versions to come to market.
Tesla has previously announced a tri-motor version of the Cybertruck with the following specs:
Tri Motor AWD with 500+ miles of range, 0-60 mph in 2.9 seconds, top speed of 130 mph, and starting price of $69,900
That could certainly qualify as a “performance version”, but there have also been rumors of Tesla offering a potential quad-motor version of the Cybertruck, which could have even higher performance.
Tesla is expected to announce all the details of the Cybertruck at a delivery event, which could come within the next few weeks.
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Most of the fun and funky vehicles I manage to dredge up for the Awesomely Weird Alibaba Electric Vehicle of the Week are big on weirdness but short on power. This time that seems to be reversed, as this electric race car is more wild than weird and comes with some seriously impressive performance.
That means you’d better be ready to buckle in for speeds of up to 160 km/h (100 mph)! And based on some of these product photos, I wouldn’t mind buckling into the passenger seat for the first few rides.
Powering this little racer’s rear wheels is a 10 kW (13.5 hp) electric motor, which might not sound that powerful, but remember just how potent the low end torque from an electric motor is for rocketing off the line.
And since the entire vehicle only weighs 650 kg (1,433 lb), not to mention an extra 45 kg (100 lb) of cover girl model, there just isn’t that much mass here to be accelerated.
Plus the Chinese tend to rate motors with continuous power, not peak power. So there’s probably more kilowatts under the hood than we’re expecting. There’s no information on what kind of controller is powering that motor, but I’d wager that the peak power could be closer to 20 kW (27 hp).
There’s also a surprisingly large battery in this little racer, to the tune of 14.4 kWh. It’s a 96V pack built from LG lithium-ion cells and would give several American electric motorcycles a run for their money.
According to the vendor, it should be enough for 150 km (96 miles) of range per charge, though there’s no mention if that’s on a city street track or the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Speaking of city streets, the company says that the vehicle is ECE certified and “can be legally driven on European streets”. I guess we’ll just have to take their word on that, unless someone wants to buy one of these and try it out themselves.
There’s no word on DOT-certification and so it’s likely not street legal in the US. But that might not stop someone from going full-‘Murica doing donuts in the local Krogers parking lot with their bald eagle riding shotgun.
If you want to get some skin in the game (eagle not included), it’s going to cost you a cool US $28,000. Or at least that would be the first payment. There’s no telling how much you’d have to fork over afterwards for ocean freight, import charges, taxes, and other add-on charges along the way.
But for anyone hoping to try their luck with the local European cops, it’s at least comforting to see that these vehicles seem to actually be in real production.
The vendor shared several images of what look like a sea of frames alongside several partially assembled race cars.
I’m not recommending anyone actually try to buy one of these from Alibaba. In fact, I’d probably recommend the opposite. Let’s just treat this as a fun window-shopping exercise.
But for the person who inevitably ignores my warnings (as many of my readers have been known to do) and plunks down some serious cash for one of these, let me know if and when it arrives. I will be there in a second to go for a ride with you!
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This DC fast charging station tells EV drivers when renewable energy is at its peak in the grid – and thus when charging prices are cheapest.
The “Better Energy Charge” station in Sønderborg, Denmark, is owned by renewable energy company Better Energy. (It sits next to the company’s R&D solar park.)
What makes this charging station unique is its dynamic pricing model. It differs from traditional fixed pricing schemes because it incentivizes EV drivers with lower charging prices when renewable energy is at its peak on the grid.
The charging price, which is available the day before, follows the Danish energy spot prices. Similar to a gas station’s pricing signs, the EV charging station’s price board is visible from the road. (Why don’t all EV charging stations do this?)
“We want to encourage people to charge their cars when there is a lot of renewable electricity in the grid by making it cheaper when the sun is shining and the wind is blowing,” said Peter Munck Søe-Jensen, EVP of power solutions at Better Energy.
The Danish company feels its model helps drivers plan in advance to charge their EVs when energy is at its cheapest. And by charging EVs when solar and wind energy production is high, consumers can also increase the probability that it’s renewable, not fossil fuel-powered, energy.
What do you think of this model? Have you seen anything similar? Let us know in the comments below.
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