Futurist Foresight - Applied Technotopia

An electric ferry that recharges in only 10 minutes.How very sustainable!

climateadaptation:

smarterplanet:

World’s First Electric Car Ferry Recharges in 10 Minutes | Wired.com

The world’s first battery electric car ferry is under development in Norway. It’s capable of carrying 120 cars and 360 passengers, and it can fully recharge in just 10 minutes.

Called ZeroCat, the 260-foot ferry will enter passenger service in 2015 on a route between Lavik and Oppedal. The ferry’s electric powertrain was designed by Norwegian shipyard Fjellstrand with battery technology from Siemens, and it will be run by ferry operator Norled.

Instead of a 2,000-hp diesel engine — which powers the current ferry and sucks up over 264,000 gallons of fuel each year — ZeroCat features an 800 kW battery that weighs 11 tons and drives two screws. Though the battery is quite heavy, the ship only weighs half as much as a conventional catamaran ferry, thanks to twin hulls made of aluminum. Those hulls are a slim design, which further increases efficiency, with Siemens estimating the ferry will need only 400 kW to cruise at 10 knots.

Can’t wait to ride in it. I should be in Norway early fall…

Update: Sharp eyed tumblr ricanontherun noticed the ship is flying under what seems to be the Puerto Rico state flag. Norled is a subsidiary of a larger transportation company called DSD, based in Norway. The flag is the same, but has a slightly italicized effect, slanting the star and stripes. As far as I can tell, DSD has been flying the flag since 1903. Unclear the legal issues. It’s possible DSD registers in PR. Anyone?

(via emergentfutures)