Technology

Electric boats seem like a great idea, especially with all the pollution the really large cruise ships put out. I’m happy to finally see this become mainstream. On the water there’s nothing to really get in the way of solar panels, either, so it makes sense to have them for charging.

If it's a sailboat, it's supposed not to use motors most of the time anyway. Sailboats use solar panels and wind generators since they became available.

Now, if it's not a real sailboat, but a electric motorboat with a sail just for helping, then it does not deserve the environmental badge. Solar panel power is not significant enough to move a boat, comparing to real sails.

Electric boats are not something new. Pre-nuclear military submarines were electric with batteries charged by diesel generators. There are some industrial boats that use electric motors powered by diesel generators. Same for freight trains which have been using that configuration for many years.

A substantial generator is required for a large electric power boat, no way around it. It may not need to run full time if there's a battery, but it would still need to supply the bulk of consumed electrical power. Not really any environmental benefit. Though there are some other benefits in terms of operating costs.

It's possible to go all electric without a combustion powered generator on a sailboat. That's feasible and you don't need a $10M boat to do it, can be done with any sailboat. Though one thing is a boat must have a reliable motor to be seaworthy. You'd still need a generator backup. In that article they state the featured boat does have one. It would have to support the full electrical load of motor, charging, and accessory so I'd expect it to be pretty hefty.

The title of that article is a fallacy really. Sailboats are environmentally friendly anyway. Doesn't matter if they have an internal combustion engine or electric motor. You only use the motor in situations where you can't sail such as tight channels or doldrums. That's infrequent enough to be negligible. Though I have seen people who own sailboats just motor them around all the time. You gotta wonder why buy a sailboat if you're just going to motor everywhere, but people do it.

I think it's more for the rich to escape the rising ocean levels and riots. A regular yatch will require refueling, where they may come into contact with the poor. An electric yatch can stay out in the ocean indefinitely with solar panels.

That actually sounds and looks super cool. Does anyone know how do I become one of them superrich? Alternatively, does any lemmy have $10m to spare? Thanks in advance!

The first thing you notice about the boat is the curved solar paneling, which is curved

Sufficiency is just as important as efficiency, if not more so.

This is ultimately symbolic of how much electric transport is actually going to bring to the Solutions side of the board. The whole thing is a collective self-reassurance that no, we will never have to give up our personal cars. Cause unlike 10,000 years of ice age-surviving ancestors, we would perish under any such arrangement.

Regular sailboats have very low fuel consumption. Like 30HP motors used only when not possible to put the sails. Here it is not a sailboat, this is a luxury appartement on water. The carbon footprint will never be neutralized.

Electric boats sound like a good idea to me couldn't wind, solar and tidal power all be combined. Making me wonder why supertankers, cargoships etc can't be doing some of that.