Electric Canal Boats…the perfect EV ?

[Hillhater]

This may be an ideal application for an electric drive package….an electric drive mobile home !
Canalswere one of the earliest forms of freight transport in the UK and Europe, .
Originally horse drawn, then through the usual power changes of steam, and ultimately xdiesel inboard drive systems.
Whilst their use for commercial freight is mostly past , there is a huge revival of the canal boat community as a recreational and even full time live aboard homes.
Diesel has been the default propulsion system for many years (100+ ?) but lately the advent of economical larger battery systems has enables a move to electric drive, frequently supported by solar on the extensive roof area of these traditional “long, narrow” boats
due to the speed restrictions on most canals (4-5mph) and the lack of strong currents or winds, very little power is needed , 2-5 kW being more than sufficient, which can often be provided by solar alone. Due to the large displacement of these boats , battery weight is a non issue,..limited only by finance,

 

[floydr]

Electric Narrowboats: The Future of Canal Boating - Narrowboat Nomad

Electric narrowboats are becoming increasingly popular among canal enthusiasts in the UK. Narrowboats have been a traditional mode of transportation on canals

narrowboatnomad.com

Electric canal boat conversions

www.diyelectriccar.com

Later floyd

 

[nicobie]

That looks pretty cool. However there is nowhere close enough for me to use one.

 

[Hillhater]

I guess that is the advantage of the heritage of past industrial history in UK and Europe. Much of Europe (and UK) is criss crossed with man made canals and navigable rivers which are now largely repurposed for leasure boating.
Both private and commercial hire boats are common for holidays, whilst many folk live full time on these spaceous craft.
And, they are not all “traditional” designs…

 

[stan.distortion]

It's not just leisure or habitation, the canals are the most efficient form of freight transport possible and will likely remain so for the foreseeable future. That's mostly thanks to the low speeds, a 30-40 ton barge needs just 1 horse (power) to move at around 2.5mph and a roof area of 30+ square meters means they can be entirely solar powered even with the UK's poor solar conditions. It doesn't work directly unfortunately (I've been working on this one for a while), a barge covered in panels wont be able run 8 hours a day, 365 days a year unless it's so packed full of batteries that load space is limited but it works out very well with an overnight grid connection and enough battery capacity for a bit over 8 hours running, grid charged on dull days and surplus fed back on sunny ones averages out to a net surplus.

 

[Mojave]

I always thought that canal boats would be perfect for conversion. They have no effective weight limit, require very low power to run, only cruise for at most a couple hours a day, usually significantly less, and can get electrical hookups very easily. Plus, one of the nicest features of cruising is it's peacefullness. Not having a diesel idling all the time would be so much nicer, not to mention the smell.

I would still love a classic diesel powered boat, with say an engine from the 1920's, but if it's just a modern perkins or other type diesel, then just swap it for electric.

 

[stan.distortion]

I always thought that canal boats would be perfect for conversion. They have no effective weight limit, require very low power to run, only cruise for at most a couple hours a day, usually significantly less, and can get electrical hookups very easily. Plus, one of the nicest features of cruising is it's peacefullness. Not having a diesel idling all the time would be so much nicer, not to mention the smell.

I would still love a classic diesel powered boat, with say an engine from the 1920's, but if it's just a modern perkins or other type diesel, then just swap it for electric.

Or leave it in place and run electric in parallel. I'm in Ireland and we're both blessed and cursed with almost empty canals (the semi-state corporate governing body is basically trying to force houseboats off "their property"), sad to see but it would allow zero emission restrictions within urban areas with very little inconvenience. At some stage I'll be fitting a motor to a friends barge, a QS138 initially because I happen to have it here in another project but the aim will be to test the minimum realistic power to be safely usable with a bit of headwind or current, On paper an el-cheapo 1500w hub motor should be adequate and if so then it should be possible to add electric power for less than 1000 euro fitted as pretty much all house barges already have at least 2kw/hr of batteries with plenty of space to add more and I've little doubt they would after experiencing silent cruising.