Electric Hybrid Boats??

[budlin00]

I was at the dealership with my father in law picking up his Toyota Hybrid car. A salesman (go figure!) came up to me and tried to sell me a new hybrid. I've always been a big truck person, so hybrids haven't even made my eyebrow budge yet. We got into the discussion that I don't feel electric hybrids will own the market for at least another 30-40 years. No way that oil suppliers will let the automotive industry take their business away that heavily. I told him I wasn't interested, and also because I don't think the absence of gasoline would help my fishing out. He told me that there are a new line of electric hybrid boats coming out, motors built by Toyota, and they are getting really good feedback on them. I haven't heard a single word of electric hybrid anything other then a car. I even went to the Auto Show here in Houston, and saw or read about no such thing.<br /><br />Has anyone heard anything about this? Would you consider switching to a new electric hybrid boat?<br /><br />The things that scare me are the batteries cost $3K-$4k, but suppose to last for 10 years. Batteries never last as long as they're suppose to! Especially in boats!

 

[iboater]

Re: Electric Hybrid Boats??

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BQK/is_1_8/ai_96379174 <br />This might be interesting for you.<br />I've never heard or seen any hybrid boats either

 

[bayman]

Re: Electric Hybrid Boats??

This is one of the closest things I have seen out there. I think these are special order boats though:<br /> http://www.solarsailor.com.au/solutions_rec.htm

 

[jtexas]

Re: Electric Hybrid Boats??

My boat is hybrid...gas engine on the back, electric motor up front!

 

[Mike Robinson]

Re: Electric Hybrid Boats??

I doubt that a hybrid form of propulsion would be effective for boats. <br /><br />I believe that hybrid cars work best in stop and go traffic when they can generate power from braking the car. I remember reading somewhere that a hybrid car isn't any more economical than a similarily sized/powered conventional car on the highway.

 

[craze1cars]

Re: Electric Hybrid Boats??

I feel a hybrid boat would be completely impractical. Heavy with batteries, AND fuel, an electronics nightmare on the water. No thanks. <br /><br />But how about a hydrogen fuel cell boat that uses water for fuel? Now THAT's an idea, if I do say so myself. So everyone send me a dollar so I can get the business off the ground by buying lotto tickets...

 

[Wimperdink]

Re: Electric Hybrid Boats??

Originally posted by craze1cars:<br /> I feel a hybrid boat would be completely impractical. Heavy with batteries, AND fuel, an electronics nightmare on the water. No thanks. <br /><br />But how about a hydrogen fuel cell boat that uses water for fuel? Now THAT's an idea, if I do say so myself. So everyone send me a dollar so I can get the business off the ground by buying lotto tickets...

Run a hose out the bottom of the boat... no need for a fuel tank.

 

[fixin]

Re: Electric Hybrid Boats??

Why bother with Hybrid?<br />

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Electric Hybrid Boats??

There are already a whole bunch of hybrid boats on the water. They are called SHIPS. Diesel engines turn generators that produce electricity, in turn power huge electric motors which turn the props. Nothing new or exciting about it. Its just a matter of one day scaling it down a notch...<br /><br />Besides GM has a hybrid pickup. It gets an amazing 16-18 mpg. The same as my ten year old Ford pickup. I fail to be impressed...

 

[QC]

Re: Electric Hybrid Boats??

Mike Robinson is absolutely correct. What Jason describes is a locomotive. Locomotives are inherently inefficient as you lose the energy wasted when converting from reciprocal to electrical. The only way to make that system better is to capture the energy wasted when braking. There ain't none a dat in a boat . . .

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Electric Hybrid Boats??

Ships and locomotives use diesel/electric propulsion because it eliminates the need for a clutch mechanism. Unlike steam that has maximum torque at zero RPM, you can't stop a gas engine and restart it when coupled directly to a load so the combination works well although at the cost of heavy losses in efficiency. Hybrid cars, like one poster indicated, are not getting the economy the manufacturers indicate are possible except under extrememly ideal conditions. In the winter, the engine is needed to make heat -- so much for economy. In the summer, the A/C draws power like mad so the engine needs to run more to make up for the loses. Snow birds are up in arms since they thought they could leave their hybrids over the winter with little or no maintenance. Not so -- it is required they be run every three weeks. Guess that would apply to boats as well. Battery weight, space utilizatioin, and related drive train weight would be a definite drawback on a boat although it would probably be an acceptable alternative on a displacement hull.