Hybrid-Electric Small Vessel Drive

This project is about developing hybrid electric propulsion for small sailing vessels. The test ship is Hale Kai a cutter rigged Golden Hind 31. All designs are open hardware and or will be available in this repository.

The premise is that we would like, under normal circumstances, to have no need for the internal combustion engine. Manoevering, going in and out of port and travelling short distances should be possible under electric propulsion. However, the energy density of even the best batteries is far too low to allow for extended voyages under electric engine. One solution is to install a generator based around an internal combustion engine is reasonable. It would be far too expensive and would not make sense to replace a perfectly working diesel engine with a diesel generator, so we keep the existing engine and couple an electric engine to the drive shaft. In this way, we have,

• Electric propulsion for about an hour at full throttle and proportionally less at lower throttle levels
• Some limited electrical under sail as the movement of the vessel causes the propeller to turn
• Electrical generation when underway under engine

Specifications

• Approximately 13kWh of battery capacity at 48V
• 10 kW water cooled permanent magnet electric motor salvaged from a Hyundai Ioniq automobile

Documentation of various system elements

• Electrical arrangements
• The Gena battery - robust and even submersible
• Drive coupling