Nautique announces 100% electric SAN 230

[grkero]

http://www.planetnautique.com/vb3/content.php?370-NAUTIQUE-ANNOUNCES-100-ELECTRIC-WAKEBOARD-BOAT

ORLANDO, FLA (January 20, 2012) – Today, Nautique announced its first 100% electric wakeboard boat, the Super Air Nautique 230 E.

Since debuting the Ski Nautique E a year ago, Nautique has been working to develop a 100% electric wakeboard boat and today Nautique introduces to the world, the Super Air Nautique 230 E.

The first viewing of the Super Air Nautique 230 E will be at the Detroit Boat Show on February 11-19, 2012 in the Silver Spray Sports Nautique dealership exhibit. This boat will make additional appearances at Nautique events throughout 2012.

This first-of-its kind 100% electric Super Air Nautique 230 E contains two automotive electric motors that provide all the power necessary to meet the everyday needs of our customer. Combined, these two electric engines offer a powerful 160 kW of peak output. Like the Ski Nautique E, the electric motors connect through a transfer case to the propeller shaft of the boat producing performance worthy of the Nautique Brand.

The Super Air Nautique 230 E is equipped with state of the art lithium ion batteries with an available storage capacity of up to 78 kW-hours.

“I am incredibly proud of our team and our partners, LTS, for making this new all-electric Nautique a reality!” stated Nautique President/CEO Bill Yeargin. “Since the debut of the Ski Nautique E a year ago, our goal has been to produce an all-electric wakeboard boat that has the performance boat owners expect from a Nautique along with Nautique’s extraordinary quality, innovation and industry leading technology. This is the first of many exciting announcements from Nautique in 2012,” Yeargin added.

Stay tuned to Nautique.com for further announcements.

I'm dying to know how long that 78 kW-hours lasts towing. Maybe the same as the Ski?

[DanielC]

The battery has a capacity of 78 kW Hours
746 Watts = one horsepower. Divide 78,000 by 746, and this is the result.
The battery has a capability to put out 104.56 horsepower for an hour, or 52.27 horsepower for two hours, or about 26 horsepower for four hours.
A single 20 amp 120 volt circuit can put out 2400 watts. It would take that power supply 32.5 hours to recharge the battery, assuming 100% efficiency. Of course, you could wire the boat house for 240 volt, and 50 amp, and get the charge time to a theoretical 6.5 hours.

And there is a pretty good chance your electricity is being generated by burning coal, or natural gas.

[j2nh]

Thanks Daniel, excellent post.

[AirTool]

Looking at the 160 KW peak load vs 78 KWH battery supply, If you assume cruising power is half of peak, you have about one hour of use.

[tdc_worm]

auto companies design and develop propulsion systems to meet gov't and market demands. heretofore, inboard boat builders have borrowed that technology that has been adapted by engine marinizers. with the comparatively limitless budgets that the auto companies have, that makes sense to me.

what i am having a hard time making sense of is, what's the point? the community is not demanding it. the available technology does not make it feasible. it likely wont shift market share. as Daniel C said, its not an energy producer, its an energy converter.

assuming all costs are passed down to the consumer, all this project does, in my opinion, is make our experience more expensive. i am all about progression, and maybe some things were learned, but this project appears to be almost fruitless, by and large...

[DanielC]

To be honest, I could see an electric slalom boat as being somewhat practical. A slalom boat makes about a 20 second run, stops, waits a little bit, and another 20 second run.

I could even see a boat house on the slalom lake, with an extra battery pack, and a hoist. Battery gets low, pull onto the boat house, take the battery out of the boat, put the battery on charge in the boat, and put the boat's first battery on the charger. Ski some more.

Now, who do you know that does a 20 second wake board run? Loading the boat down with extra ballast will shorten the battery life even more.

Put into simple terms this is what you are dealing with.
A cup (8 oz) of gasoline has enough chemical potential energy to push your average full sized tow vehicle, not towing a load about a mile and a quarter, at freeway speeds, once the vehicle is moving.
Show me a battery the size of a coffee cup that can do that.

[AirTool]

....as Daniel C said, its not an energy producer, its an energy converter.

Just to be clear....energy cannot be created or destroyed...only changed in form. So both drivers are energy convertors.

assuming all costs are passed down to the consumer, all this project does, in my opinion, is make our experience more expensive...

Ditto here. I'm wondering how much $$$ for projects like this add to the cost of the new boat I can't afford.

[tdc_worm]

Just to be clear....energy cannot be created or destroyed...only changed in form. So both drivers are energy convertors.

true, as stated by the law of conservation of energy. i dumbed it down, probably too much so, because i didnt want to go down the route of regenerative breaking in a hybrid, which puts the energy normally wasted when braking and coasting back in the battery packs. too many people think that electric cars are free of energy consumption, and are therefore more environmentally friendly, as per Daniel's point. now if they could figure out some regenerative method of charging the batteries when the boat comes off plane then they might be going somewhere.....

Ditto here. I'm wondering how much $$$ for projects like this add to the cost of the new boat I can't afford.

...without making your experience measurable better even if you could afford it....

[Nautiquehunter]

At this point I would think using proven technology like natural gas or even a hydrogen hybrid would be a faster,cheaper and better way to go . Especially since the technology already exists.I wonder how much the government contributed to to car companies to develop battery technology?

[shag]

I feel the current electric vehicles are very cost ineffective. Some of them tout "up to 40 miles" on one charge. I bet its less, which is nothing, and the very sporadic charging stations still cost money to use. Not until they can make an electric car that will go easily over 100 miles, and have free charging stations all over, will the electric car craze even begin to catch on, and then it will still be very slow. Even the hybrids are not all that great.
I have a 1998 VW TDI diesel I bought for 4K a few years ago that routinely and w/o effort, gets 40 plus mpg. That is the way to go. IMO

[swc5150]

Shag touches on a good point = diesel. Whatever happened to that VW diesel motor MC was offering a couple years back? Tons of torque, good fuel efficiency; of course it was about a $16k upcharge, if I remember correctly?

While I applaud CC for experimenting with alternative propulsion systems, I would prefer they pursue avenues that have the potential to be viable options for buyers. I just don't see an electric boat being any more popular than the electric car. I'll be honest, I think the internal combustion engine is the technology of the future. If we would just tap our own petroleum resources, fuel wouldn't have to be cost prohibitive for some. Sorry for that little rant!

[DanielC]

Hydrogen can come from basically two sources. Taking the carbon out of natural gas, or electrolysis. Using electrolysis, it takes more energy the split water into hydrogen and oxygen, that you get back by burning it again. It is another form of a battery.
Natural gas is an alternative, there are probably a few members on this board who live overseas, that are using natural gas right now.

The government did not contribute to car companies. They took from you taxes, and foolishly squandered the money collected on bad ideas like Solyndra.

Meanwhile the present administration is blocking a pipeline, that would move oil from Canada, to Texas to be refined. Instead, Canada, is looking at selling the oil to China.

[hyparks]

Yes most ski and wakeboard boat owners here in the UK use LPG to fuel our boats.
Half the price of petrol and also gives you some nice extra ballast.


Sent from my HTC Desire HD A9191 using Tapatalk

[tdc_worm]

with the majority of inboard tow boats being used on inland lakes and waterways that dont support diesel, it is not a viable option, either. the only on the water filling stations with diesel that i can think are coastal, and even then, the gasoline pumps outnumber diesel pumps 10:1 (random guess, no references)...

for those of us that are fortunate enough to not be bothered with the troubles of owning a waterfront house and keeping the boat at the dock (what sarcasm?), not every roadside filling station has diesel. i know it varies from state to state...

cost was also mentioned... a $15k option. no thanks. you will never recover that back in the gained efficiency.

now, if they really wanted some progression, ask PCM to source a turbocharged V6 ecoboost, have adavance adapters make a bellhousing or bellhousing adapter, drop it in, and see if it makes a difference...

[swc5150]

Good point on diesel filling stations. I carry gas cans down to the dock, so I didn't consider the lack of on-water stations. The key to progression will be a fuel efficient and affordable powerplant. If the cost can't be recouped in a very short period of time, what's the point? Perhaps there's a noise or electric motor ordinance on a couple lakes here and there, but that market would be miniscule, hence a waste of valuable R&D $$. Just my opinion I guess.