Tootfinder

Here is the B.C. Ferries web page about the “New Major Vessels” project. (There was stupid controversy because “omg not China” but that has died down now thankfully)
They want up to 7 (which makes sense… to be able to retire all the Queens and add one for new capacity), they asked for 5, they got 4 approved to be built by 2031. The most interesting graphic is this age graphic showing the age of ships on the major routes. Eventually, these ships WILL have to be replaced, regardless of political footballs…
#BCFerries #bcferries #ev #electric #transportation #bcpoli #ferry #boats #ships #battery

Corvus is a Norwegian company.
They do big marine batteries!
#BCFerries #bcferries #ev #electric #transportation #bcpoli #ferry #boats #ships #battery

Some really interesting electric power math here for #BCFerries upcoming large transitional hybrid-to-full electric ferries. They will be known as the “Summit” class. 2100 passengers and crew, almost 400 cars. These are big ships.
Equivalent to the biggest Spirit Class between Victoria and Tsawwassen. So would be replacing the last of the 1970s Queens and possibly one of the Spirit or Coastal ships? We’ll see.
Anyway: They will initially have 10Megawatt Hours (MWh) of battery capacity as hybrid diesel/electric which is interesting, not natural gas like some of the other recent hybrids. (Which always felt like a stupid political decision to show off LNG, not a sound engineering decision)
They will then, once docks are upgraded for electric charging, be refit with 60MWh of batteries (total 70MWh) to “enable 2 hours of emissions free sailing”. In distance terms, that’s the one-way sailing time between Duke Point Terminal in Nanaimo and Tsawwassen in Vancouver, about 40 nautical miles (74km).
For comparison, my Kona EV car has a 65kilowatt hour battery… 1000x less capacity!.. giving a range of 450km.
That’s a very heavy ship!!🛳️
It’s a pretty tight capacity window considering the major routes are all between 1.5hrs and 2hrs. But they could be being conservative in the press release, indicating they would comfortably fit those timelines, or they will be still using hybrid power and shore docking ports to augment and ensure they have adequate power. They will always need lots of reserve and backup for safety.
I also imagine in the 30-60 year lifetime of the ships, we could see the energy density of batteries in general increase, so a refit in 2040 or 2050 could replace 70MWh with 100 or 140MWh in the same physical space.
What seems sure though is that B.C. Ferries is going to have some, if not the, largest fully electric capable ferries in the world. That’s a good thing.
First ship of 4 will arrive from China in 2029. Last of the class arrives in 2031. So hopefully we get our first ride in 2030! Looking forward to it!
#bcferries #ev #electric #transportation #bcpoli #ferry #boats #ships #battery

One last thing!
The word on the water is that the first of the “Island” class small hybrid ferries will be going all-electric on the Gabriola route! There are two ships on that route, twins, they are rebuilding the docks now to get them ready for charging!
The ferries themselves are already VERY quiet. Will I take a trip to Gabriola Island just to ride the first fully electric, non-cable, ferries in B.C.! Absolutely!
Project updates for Gabriola/Nanaimo docks: #BCFerries #bcferries #ev #electric #transportation #bcpoli #ferry #boats #ships #battery