Hi,
First I don't have an electric boat, and there are lots of members here who have actual experience, so take this just as it is presented, and my ideas are yours, as my experience is that companies generally lack vision to exploit the unusual to a point where they will point blank refuse to even accept ideas for free. This is because of the internal culture.
So, you would have to start your own company rather than try to get something made by association with an existing one, unless you were paying them directly, in which case once you are successful, they will simply steal your idea, and tie you down with lawyers, because their almost sole interest is short term shareholder gain.
So, be prepared to build your own units that will be for sale.
I do not understand all the items you are mentioning, but to make money, as well as to forward the public acceptance of electric boats, you have to end up getting the product well known. The key to this is the acceptance of the boat building industry.
If all boats had gas engines, and you thought of marinising a diesel, then it is simple, you just start selling the diesels, and people will buy, based on reliability of no sparking system that will fail when wet, as well as better economy of fuel.
Right now, the 'industry' appears to consist of relatively few expert companies, making products that are very driveable and useable once installed. And the challenge focus appears to be to match the performance, including range, of IC engines. It will come, or partly so at the least. The battery technology will happen, not because of the boat industry, but because of the auto industry.
And when it does, those existing companies will have a lead, but not for long.
If we break it down into basic thinking, people will not buy electric drives because they do not trust that there will be enough range, and they don't want to mess around with batteries.
They will not be interested in anything that involves Hydrogen because of the Hindenburg. They will avoid buying hi-tech new ideas, in case there are snags that occur with time, such as with the Wankel rotary engine and the seals. The amazing looking cars that they were fitted into were worth only scrap prices for a few years, until someone produced kits to convert them to take a stock Ford piston engine. So, keep it simple.
In the 1960's, the NSU company of Germany made 50cc 2 stroke mopeds, and sold them in the UK.
They sold well because of few competitors, until Honda came along.
The reason was that everyone had bikes, there were few cars, and here was a bike that was better.
Here below is a description of a drive unit for a boat that might gain acceptance from boat builders. Others here will disagree, because when ICE is mentioned, relative to Hybrid, they are thinking of current engines, with the electric part added on. Or automobile technology.
A boat that is, say, 25 to 30 feet long does not NEED 40HP to run under power. The reason engines in boats are those sizes that they are is because they are offshoots of industrial engines, such as the Yanmar, which is used in refrigeration units on large tractor trailers. This eliminates tooling costs.
So, you look at what a boat can use, and we are talking sailboats, because power boats need power first and last.
So, say, guessing, a 30 footer needs 8 HP to drive at hull speed.
When docking or in no-wave zones the speed will be lower. Say, 4 HP needed.
So, if the ICE is running at 4 hp, it has another 4 to spare that could be recharging batteries.
I have no idea what the figures are, but I am guessing that if you run such a boat using just 4 HP, it will go faster than 50% of hull speed.
So, here's what you might need to make money:
A small ICE that does not provide the full power to go hull speed.
A small electric drive that makes up the balance.
A situation where the batteries can be charged on the go, like a car, never plugged in, fully stand-alone, and never worried about.
All this in a compact unit that fits well into existing boat engine compartments with room to spare.
And a battery bank that does not require a mortgage to buy, nor does it have an expectation set that it will have good range. It doesn't need it.
The controls are set up so that 'full throttle' will actually give maybe 60 to 70% of available power.
The other 30 to 40% is labelled as a 'boost' feature. And it has a timed usability, as it will be when full battery power is added to full ICE power. These %ages and HP figures can be adjusted in the design, mine are examples only.
Overall, don't try to get an electric drive to do what an ICE has been doing successfully for years. Get it to do more, by allowing a smaller and lower cost ICE and clever integration of the two power sources that allows sole use of either type, and little chance of stranding provided that there is fuel in the tank, little of which will be required each hour, causing less need for hauling fuel or buying at high cost marinas. Also, this idea has the capability of adjust to favour each power method, such as by increasing the battery bank size, or the HP of the ICE if they really think that they must. But that is AFTER the idea gets accepted by the boat builders.
John
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