Jim,
You've drilled staight to my point. Today, an unsuspecting boater can re-power their boat with electric from an "reputable" vendor and end up with "inadequate power or other possible negative outcomes".
If a boat owner, regardless of the boat, wanted a diesel repower, in 15 minutes, multiple vendors could provide a detailed proposal all the way down to the zincs for what they need with very predictable results and cost.
Now imagine the same for request for an electric drive. What do I need? What will it cost? How will it perform? What are my compromises over a traditional repower? These are the questions that we see asked over and over and over on this board. The sad part is that even we, the "experts" don't have specific answers. Look at the responses given here, the suggestions are often all over the board, culminating with "go ahead and try it, if it doesn't meet your requirements, oh well..."
Is it any wonder that most people won't risk a conversion at this stage of the industry? While there are well executed installations available, there are many more systems that are functional yet ill-suited on the market. If I didn't have my personal background in technology, project management, electric car conversions from 20 years ago, building boats and a well calibrated BS meter, I would never have started my conversion.
When my boat is up and running, I intend to publish detailed performance data along with a post-implmentation review of what went well and what didn't. From my perspective, what this industry needs more than anything is consistant and objective data from a variety of conversions so that a potential customer can set realistic expectations.
I know we're on the same page...
Eric
Marina del Rey, CA
PS. Range is not the only tradeoff. Electric storage also takes up much more space even with reduced range, one of my issues for my conversion. I bought Lithium for its' volumetric density and it is still a problem in my old boat.
--- In electricboats@yahoogroups.com, "luv2bsailin" <luv2bsailin@...> wrote:
>
> Point taken. I should elaborate a little on my point as well. While the electric auxiliary conversion industry is new and one could say immature, the technology itself is not. Calling it an immature technology in my mind implies unreliability, inadequate power, and other possible negative outcomes. That's what I'm trying to argue against. A well executed installation using current or even decades old technology will be far simpler and more reliable than any internal combustion engine. The only disadvantage of electrics compared to petroleum power is lack of range. Energy storage technology is where the real work is needs to be done.
> Cheers,
> Jim
>
> --- In electricboats@yahoogroups.com, "Eric" <ewdysar@> wrote:
>
> > Jim,
> >
> > Thank you for the correction. I know that you know what I meant. ;)
> >
> > Right after I posted, I knew that I should have been more specific. Electric drives with electronic controllers in auxiliary sailboats are a relatively immature industry compared to traditional ICE systems.
> >
> > Fair winds,
> > Eric
> > Marina del Rey, CA
> >
No comments:
Post a Comment