Flying electric ferries battle to smoothly sail commuters over the wave crests
As electric boats slowly gain market share among recreational boaters, a different breed of silent, efficient speed boats is now targetting commuters. Hydrofoil electric ferries are coming to a river or lake near you, and multiple companies are working to make it happen.
I’ve had the pleasure of covering electric boats for years, where I’ve seen just about everything the nascent industry has to offer. But it’s the hydrofoil electric boats that are making the biggest departure from the norm.
Compared to traditional V-hull or catamaran vessels routinely used as ferries, hydrofoil boats use significantly less energy to travel the same distance on the water. Hydrofoils, which work like an airplane’s wing placed underwater, lift the entire boat’s hull into the air. With significantly lower resistance, the boat essentially flies while using as little as 20% of the same energy required by a planning boat.
Hydrofoil boats have been around for decades, but more recent advances have replaced older internal combustion engines with electric motors, taking these boats to the next level.
The biggest name in the game is undoubtedly Stockholm-based Candela, which first sailed its prototype hydrofoil electric boat back in 2016 and has been in production since 2018. The company began with multiple models of electric speedboats for recreational boating. Now, its newest model, the Candela P-12, is going commercial for use as a ferry in rivers, lakes, and archipelagos like around its home waters in Stockholm.
The P-12 has been undergoing water trials since last year, ahead of its first commercial operations.
One of its first operators will employ it on the world’s cleanest lake, Lake Manapōuri in New Zealand, where it is expected to replace 240 tons of CO2 emissions each year by replacing combustion engine boats.
While Candela undoubtedly leads the industry, other hydrofoil electric boats have cropped up in the last couple years. Vessev, an Auckland, New Zealand-based startup, has just announced the successful completion of two weeks of intensive water testing for its VS-9 electric hydrofoil ferry.
“We have been pushing the VS—9 less than two weeks after its first flight and she has been ticking all the boxes and more,” announced Vessev CEO Eric Laakmann earlier today. “On some of our test sessions, we had 25 knots gusting 35 with wind waves to match and she was cruising over the waves.
According to the company, which released the video below, the testing occurred in sea states featuring chop and waves averaging around 75 cm (2’6″) and peaking at 100 cm (3’3″).
The VS-9 is designed to transport up to nine passengers, though Vessev claims to be developing a much larger 100-passenger hydrofoil ferry for larger operators.
San Francisco, California-based electric boat startup Navier also plans to target the commercial ferry market with its first model.
Debuted in 2023, the Navier N30 announced its first official pilot program earlier this year. The hydrofoiling electric boat was said to be partnering with payment platform Stripe to ferry its employees from San Francisco’s outskirts to the downtown area.
The plan would showcase how the normally one-hour drive could be transformed into a much more efficient half-hour ferry ride on a hydrofoil electric ferry.
Electrek’s Take
I’ve test-driven a few hydrofoil electric boats, and I’ve always been amazed by how easy they are to operate and how smooth the ride is.
On Candela’s electric boats, I’ve been able to cut right across the wakes left by cruise ships while feeling barely a ripple.
Ferries can replace a significant number of cars in waterside cities, but making the experience more pleasant and efficient is key to getting more drivers out of their cars. With hydrofoil electric boats, not only do the journeys use significantly less energy, but they’re also smoother and more enjoyable. I’ll admit to being prone to seasickness, yet I’ve never gotten even a tad bit queasy on a hydrofoil electric boat.
Check out one of my last hydrofoil electric boat test drives below, where I took the Candela C-8 for a spin around Stockholm.
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As “extreme” weather events become more commonplace, the demand for reliable and portable energy continues to rise. In response to that growing demand for dependable off-grid power, Volvo has developed the new PU500 Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) designed to take electrical power when it’s needed most.
Designed to be deployable in a number of environments at a moment’s notice, the Volvo Energy PU500 BESS is equipped with approximately 500 kWh of usable battery capacity (up to 540 kWh total). More than enough juice, in other words, to power a remote construction site, disaster response effort, or even a music festival – anything that needs access to reliable electricity beyond a grid connection.
That’s great, but what sets the PU500 apart from other battery storage solutions is its integrated 240 kW DC fast charger.
“With an integrated CCS2 charger, the PU500 is designed to work with all brands of electric equipment, trucks, and passenger cars,” says Niklas Thulin, Head of BESS Product Offer at Volvo Energy. “This ensures that no matter what type of electric vehicle or machinery you rely on, the PU500 can provide the power you need, making it a truly flexible solution for any grid constrained site or location.”
The integrated charger in the PU500 has the impressive ability to charge a heavy equipment asset (be that an electric semi truck or something like a wheel loader) in under two hours. Its on-board capacity allows to fully recharge up to 3 electric HD trucks or 20 electric cars per day, making it an incredibly versatile disaster response asset.
Electrek’s Take
As we often say over at The Heavy Equipment Podcast, “just because you’re working for the power company doesn’t mean you have power,” and there are hundreds of scenarios where the extra power provided by something like the new PU500 would be useful. Its ability to be palletized and easily moved or swapped out of a larger BESS array, too, just add to its flexibility.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Volvo.
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In a bold bid to combat the crippling air pollution crisis in its capital, Delhi, Indian lawmakers have begun high-level discussions about a plan to phase out gas and diesel combustion vehicles by 2035 – a move that could cause a seismic shift in the global EV space and provide a cleaner, greener future for India’s capital.
Long considered one of the world’s most polluted capital cities, Indian capital Delhi is taking drastic steps to cut back pollution with a gas and diesel engine ban coming soon – but they want results faster than that. As such, Delhi is starting with a city-wide ban on refueling vehicles more than 15 years old, and it went into effect earlier this week. (!)
“We are installing gadgets at petrol pumps which will identify vehicles older than 15 years, and no fuel will be provided to them,” said Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa … but they’re not stopping there. “Additionally, we will intensify scrutiny of heavy vehicles entering Delhi to ensure they meet prescribed environmental standards before being allowed entry.”
Making it prohibitively difficult for Dehli’s residents to own and operate older, presumably more polluting vehicles is one way to reduce harmful emissions and air pollution, but Sirsa’s team isn’t just targeting newer vehicles. They’re also planning to deploy more than 900 electric transit buses, part of a larger plan to replace 5,000 of the city’s 7,500 total bus with lower- or zero-emission options this year alone.
The Economic Times is reporting that discussions are underway to pass laws requiring that all future bus purchases will be required to be electric or “clean fuel” (read: CNG or hydrogen) by the end of this year, with a gas/diesel ban on “three-wheelers and light goods vehicles,” (commercial tuk-tuks and delivery mopeds) potentially coming 2026 to 2027 and a similar ban privately owned and operated cars and bikes coming “between 2030 and 2035.”
Electrek’s Take
After a Chinese government study linked air pollution caused by automotive exhausts and coal-fired power plants to more than 1.1 million deaths per year in 2013, the nation’s government took serious action, shuttering older coal plants and imposing strict emissions standards. The country also incentivized EV adoption through license-plate lotteries favoring electric cars and a nationwide EV mandate set to kick in by 2030.
The results were astounding, and the technological innovations that have come from an entire nation of talented engineers all “pulling in the same direction” have put the West to shame, with Western auto executives repeatedly sounding the alarm and lobbying for tariffs and other protectionist policies on both sides of the Atlantic.
To see India make move towards a gas and diesel ban like this, and on such an aggressive timeline, can only mean that they’ve been paying attention … and America is about to fall even further behind.
SOURCE: India Times; featured image by Sumita Roy Dutta.
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Last week, Parker Hannifin launched what they’re calling the industry’s first certified Mobile Electrification Technology Center to train mobile equipment technicians make the transition from conventional diesel engines to modern electric motors.
The electrification of mobile equipment is opening new doors for construction and engineering companies working in indoor, environmentally sensitive, or noise-regulated urban environments – but it also poses a new set of challenges that, while they mirror some of the challenges internal combustion faced a century ago, aren’t yet fully solved. These go beyond just getting energy to the equipment assets’ batteries, and include the integration of hydraulic implements, electronic controls, and the myriad of upfit accessories that have been developed over the last five decades to operate on 12V power.
At the same time, manufacturers and dealers have to ensure the safety of their technicians, which includes providing comprehensive training on the intricacies of high-voltage electric vehicle repair and maintenance – and that’s where Parker’s new mobile equipment training program comes in, helping to accelerate the shift to EVs.
“We are excited to partner with these outstanding distributors at a higher level. Their commitment to designing innovative mobile electrification systems aligns perfectly with our vision to empower machine manufacturers in reducing their environmental footprint while enhancing operational efficiency,” explains Mark Schoessler, VP of sales for Parker’s Motion Systems Group. “Their expertise in designing mobile electrification systems and their capability to deliver integrated solutions will help to maximize the impact of Parker’s expanding METC network.”
The manufacturing equipment experts at Nott Company were among the first to go through the Parker Hannifin training program, certifying their technicians on Parker’s electric motors, drives, coolers, controllers and control systems.
“We are proud to be recognized for our unwavering dedication to advancing mobile electrification technologies and delivering cutting-edge solutions,” says Nott CEO, Markus Rauchhaus. “This milestone would not have been possible without our incredible partners, customers and the team at Nott Company.”
In addition to Nott, two other North American distributors (Depatie Fluid Power in Portage, Michigan, and Hydradyne in Fort Worth, Texas) have completed the Parker certification.
Electrek’s Take
With the rise of electric equipment assets like Bobcat’s T7X compact track loader and E10e electric excavator that eliminate traditional hydraulics and rely on high-voltage battery systems, specialized electrical systems training is becoming increasingly important. Seasoned, steady hands with decades of diesel and hydraulic systems experience are obsolete, and they’ll need to learn new skills to stay relevant.
Certification programs like Parker’s are working to bridge that skills gap, equipping technicians with the skills to maximize performance while mitigating risks associated with high-voltage systems. Here’s hoping more of these start popping up sooner than later.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Parker Hannifin.
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