Imagine a yacht that is almost completely silent, with a close to unlimited range, and that doesn’t pollute. While it may sound too good to be true, this is what Silent Yachts is aiming for in its line of electrically-powered luxury catamarans. The company offers catamarans ranging from 44 to 80 feet long and recently upgraded and improved its Silent 55 design. One of the new designs has been delivered and three more are on order.
The new Silent 55 is 54’8″ feet long by 27’7″ wide, providing lots of available deck space for solar panels and good storage below decks for lithium batteries. The company offers four configurations to suit the desires of potential owners. The “Cruiser” option is driven by two 30 KW (around 40 HP) electric motors and promises to be “noiseless cruising without any emissions, with unlimited range.” (There is also a diesel generator tucked away to charge the batteries if need be.)
The company also has a higher-powered/higher-speed version, as well as hybrid, capable of over 20 knots. At the other extreme, it also offers an electric-motorsailor version with a mast and sail.
The basic Silent 55 coasts around $1.6 million, which Silent Yachts suggests is roughly comparable with the cost of a diesel-powered catamaran of the same size.
Whether or not an electric catamaran suits your tastes or checkbook, the potential for electrically powered motor vessels is enormous. As battery technology continues to improve and prices continue to fall there may be a shift away from diesel smoke to greener, if somewhat slower vessels. We recently posted about a new all-electric, 60-meter long, Danish car and passenger ferry.
Here is a video review of the Silent 55 by Jack Haines from Motor Boat & Yachting:
Oh brave new world — how about aesthetics being included in the design remit. Admittedly I am a classic wooden sail boat and traditional wooden work boat freak so a GRP boat is never going to excite me. Particularly not a power boat but some modern designs do have some class (and I do love steel tug boats as well). This boat is, however, plug ugly and stark. As a cafeteria it might be OK but as a boat it sure wouldn’t turn heads on my dock! Nor does it look particularly sea worthy. Just look at the windows! It reminds me of the car carriers of the world, and aren’t they always tipping to extreme and dangerous heels, or even flipping over?
Oh, and by the way, your average classic wooden sailboat, while not exactly low carbon foot print, has a lot going for it environmentally! The wind is always free although it may be flukey, non-existent or even hurricane force………..and you don’t need a lot of electrical stuff and storage batteries, solar panels, etc.
Oh brave new world — how about aesthetics being included in the design remit. Admittedly I am a classic wooden sail boat and traditional wooden work boat freak so a GRP boat is never going to excite me. Particularly not a power boat but some modern designs do have some class (and I do love steel tug boats as well). This boat is, however, plug ugly and stark. As a cafeteria it might be OK but as a boat it sure wouldn’t turn heads on my dock! Nor does it look particularly sea worthy. Just look at the windows! It reminds me of the car carriers of the world, and aren’t they always tipping to extreme and dangerous heels, or even flipping over?
By the way, your average classic wooden sailboat, while not exactly low carbon foot print, has a lot going for it environmentally! The wind is always free although it may be flukey, non-existent or even hurricane force………..and you don’t need a lot of electrical stuff and storage batteries, solar panels, etc.
It’ll be fine… as long as you never leave the dock.
My impression of solar power to batteries. It takes more panels of a factor by 10 to create the offset used by an electric motor. So unnless they are using the motors only at night with a genset? The solar panels just wont be able to keep up with the demand of the batteries for recharge.
These yachts to me appear to be great if your doing a short haul like Marina Del Rey to Catalina. Yet to go to Hawaii the energy just isnt there.
“It takes more panels of a factor by 10 to create the offset used by an electric motor”
The video review said that if the sun is shining, the solar panels can drive the boat at 5 knots indefinitely.
The US Navy’s ASDS Advanced SEAL Delivery System that was supposed to utilize retired Ohio class submarines as a launching pad: the Lithium Ion
batteries blew up, program over!
https://www.forecastinternational.com/archive/disp_pdf.cfm?DACH_RECNO=40