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Exploring the Cost and Feasibility of Battery-Electric Ships

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32 points gnabgib | 4 comments | 20 Nov 24 16:52 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source
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tonymet ◴[20 Nov 24 19:21 UTC] No.42197211[source]▶
Ferry service in the Puget Sound (Seattle Area) has suffered due to delays with electric ferries. The state refuses to maintain their existing fleet. Every line has frequent delays, and the international route which was suspended for “a couple years” in 2021 is now delayed until 2030.

The frustration people have with electric isn’t the technology – it’s the dogmatic commitment to technology that isn’t quite ready, based on false promises of it solving climate change .

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laurencerowe ◴[20 Nov 24 20:25 UTC] No.42197763[source]▶
Meanwhile Norway has 80 electric commuter ferries in service. https://businessnorway.com/articles/norway-showcases-award-w...
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nickff ◴[20 Nov 24 20:41 UTC] No.42197893[source]▶
The Norwegian ferries appear to be much smaller than the Washington state ferries.

Here is the largest e-ferry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-ferry_Ellen

And a guide to the WA fleet: https://wsdot.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2021-10/WSF-FleetGu...

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laurencerowe ◴[20 Nov 24 20:54 UTC] No.42198011[source]▶
> Here is the largest e-ferry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-ferry_Ellen

Norway's largest e-ferry is three times larger. https://www.electrive.com/2021/03/02/worlds-largest-electric...

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1. nickff ◴[20 Nov 24 21:05 UTC] No.42198094[source]▶
According to your link (and all other articles I found on that vessel), that ferry is capable of operating all-electric, but actually operating as a hybrid.
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2. wongarsu ◴[20 Nov 24 21:11 UTC] No.42198150[source]▶
The Seattle ferries GP was talking are also retrofitted to be hybrid-electric, so that does seem very comparable
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3. nickff ◴[20 Nov 24 21:19 UTC] No.42198229[source]▶
I was initially responding to a post stating that there were many all-electric ferries, and my point was that there were none (operational) of a size comparable to WA state ferries. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42197763

There are many large hybrid vessels; notably, this has been common for submarines for a very long time. The largest currently operational diesel-electric (hybrid) submarine seems to be the Chinese Qing-class, of ~3800 tons surfaced displacement.

4. tialaramex ◴[20 Nov 24 22:12 UTC] No.42198650[source]▶
Although the news at that time was about delivery of a first electric ferry, that was 2021 and things change. The Ferry company's web site says now it has three electric ferries as a result of conversions and indeed they charge at both ends of the route. It's in Norwegian but the translation looks reasonable to me.