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Electric boats have not yet had the same uptake as electric cars. Over the last decade, the number of electric cars has grown to tens of millions globally. It is a saying that boats are lagging a decade behind cars. The key to unlocking the electric boat transition lies in addressing the fundamental technical challenges around increased energy efficiency.
For Tesla to launch a groundbreaking "no compromise" electric car to the market, they had to rethink everything. Batteries had to be placed at the bottom of the next-generation vehicle architecture, and efficiency had to be pushed to the physical limits. Elon Musk has proved success several times by first principle thinking, instead of reasoning by analogy, as he explains in this interview.
Boats can broadly be categorized into planing and displacement vessels. Planing vessels require propulsion power to lift out of water at high speed, while displacement vessels float with static buoyancy. Planing crafts are very hard to electrify because they are highly weight sensitive and water has high resistance
The weight sensitivity challenge
Water is an order of magnitude 1000 times denser than air, meaning that boats require large amounts of energy to move through it. In addition to this, planing crafts are weight-sensitive. A heavy boat sits lower in the water and requires even more energy to push a greater volume of water out of the way and generate lift. This poses a challenge for electrification, as batteries are heavy which in turn increases energy demand. This initiates a negative feedback loop requiring more batteries and larger motors in turn due to the higher weight.
The cost challenge
Batteries are by far the main cost driver for electric boats. Conventional planing boats (with V-hull) require batteries with a high continuous energy discharge ability, typically more than 1C (meaning complete discharge in 1 hour). These high-C batteries require more cooling systems and more copper (thicker electrical cables) and are generally not mass-produced. Therefore, they cost more per kWh (several times more) compared to lower-C-rate batteries that are mass-produced in the automotive industry (typically 400-700 USD/kWh vs 100-200 USD/kWh at the module level.) Increased efficiency can also reduce the battery size needed, reducing costs.
The dual impact of increased energy efficiency
Reduced costs: Higher energy efficiency unlocks the use of cost-efficient batteries with a similar architecture to those in the mass-market automotive industry, in addition to potentially reducing the battery size needed. This will drastically reduce the capital costs of building electric boats.
Increased range: The efficiency gains also translate into increased range; vessels get more distance out of the same installed battery. This will reduce the need for charging, and broaden the applicability across different use cases.
Technology that both increases performance and reduces costs at the same time is necessary to introduce a necessary shift in the maritime industry. This will create a future where electric boats are both viable and economically competitive with their fossil-fueled alternatives.