332. Canal boats of the future! (Plus narrowboat tours)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 พ.ค. 2024
- The first (possibly to-be-annual) Electrika event for people to get together and discuss electric propulsion on canal boats and narrowboats was held last weekend; I went along and this is my document of the proceedings.
More info at electrika.uk/
Shower canal map shown was from www.minimallist.co.uk/
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Theme music: "Vespers" by Topher Mohr and Alex Alena, from the TH-cam music library
#narrowboat #canal #cruisingthecut #rivers #offgrid #liveaboard
i started watching your videos during the lockdown, and to this day, every single one of them brings me great peace and calm, as well as entertainment. Thanks for that.
Ditto!!
Do any of the boats with solar panels have fold out panels used only when they’re mowed up to get extra solar input?
I love the map in the shower!! You can ponder where to go next while you scrub a dub dub
You are like a wild mix of Reporter/ DIY/ Explorer/ videographer and influencer. the amount of time it must take to make each video look this professional has to be crazy.
He does it professionally, but yes, it takes a lot of skill, experience and time.
Thank you ☺️
So the fuel cell gives you electricity costing 12 £/kWh in fuel cost alone... thanks but no thanks... just run the regular generator on HVO instead. Do they usually sell HVO at fueling stations/gas stations in the UK? Here it's about 2.5 £/liter at the pump for 100% HVO.
Triple glazing, 3 inch spray foam, mechanical ventilation with heat exchanger is like a passive house on the canal, awesome boat! Very well built, sir!
Excellent little exhibition, thanks for taking us along!
Yes. the only people pushing hydrogen are the fossil fuel companies as the hydrogen we get now is produced exclusively from methane. The processing losses in changing methane into hydrogen are such that you would be better burning the methane to get a lower carbon footprint.
The massive costs are unlikely to come down as the hydrogen fuel cell uses exotic metals in manufacture of its catalyst. These metals are very rare and very expensive. You would be better doing the triple glazing, heat recovery and extra insulation with heat pumps and as a emergency standby a small petrol generator. The £7000 cost of the fuel cell would easily convert a narrow boat to fully electric. the heat pump and high insulation would mean very low kWhs used even in winter.
great channel btw. love the videos 👍
I've been on just the one narrowboat holiday and I vowed that I wouldn't go on another until there was an electric boat available. I did most of the steering and the relentless chug of a 3 cylinder diesel spoilt the holiday. Making your way through picturesque fields should be done in peace and quiet to just the sound of the wildlife and now it looks like my wish is coming true.
Funny, I found the gentle ker'funk of the diesel charming. Each to their own of course.
His dog ! And full electric matey sounded like he was describing the starship enterprise.
I just wanted to comment on how much I love that dog.... Keep up the good work David!
Love your videos, but that dog stole the show. Those narrowboats were all beautiful. I would love to take a vacation to the UK and hire a narrowboat to cruise around for about a week.
Loved the dog. Good one David. Hope we get an update on the Yellow Peril, soon.👍🙏🇦🇺
Lovely to see a Falklands veteran proudly wearing his scarf! It's a poignant time for us relatives of veterans - my grandad was on HMS Coventry, and I grew up listening to his stories both from that experience and a long Naval career - but we can't have any idea how those who were there feel, each time the anniversary of the war comes around. I know just how modest they are about what they did, but the Falkland Islanders would want the message to be passed on regardless: thank you, Iain. And thank you as ever David for the informative video - it's surprising just how quickly technology moves! I wonder just how many boats will be powered this way in, say, five years' time...
Thank you for your kind words
What an informative vlog, Thanks David. Also, I think you should cut Twiggy in half and add about 40 ft of hull. :)
Interesting Dave, but I'm a bit jealous. Here in New England all the canals have grown over. When I go hiking I sometimes find myself on the old horse-paths that pulled the canal boats. The canals themselves are celebrated by the beavers.
Yes, but we have the intercostal waterway. One of the greatest river systems in the world.
The only reason that the British canal system is as extensive as it is today is because enthusiasts have given selflessly of their time to halt the shrinkage of the canal system and restore canals that fell into disuse. Imagine yourself in your waders up to your waist in stinking mud filling buckets being hauled up by other volunteers on the bank on frosty February Sunday mornings. The sulphurous stench from rotted vegetation is something ...... like that trip to Hawaii ...... that should be experienced at least once in your life.
Well documented. Loved the dog at the end. Technology getting better. Bit pricey but will come down. Great informative video. Thank you.
Nice vlog David we are speaking with Ortomarine and maybe we will part of the show next year 🙂🤔
Arthur Narrowboat Tranquility
That would be cool!
Another top-shelf CTC production, David! Nobody presents a story better than you. It occurred to me that despite the unspoken (or widely ignored) impractical aspects of solar it definitely forces one to think and rethink their power consumption, thereby slowly, inexorably changing the way people behave with regard to power consumption. One could say also that this is a major component in solar's continued development and refinement and burgeoning deployment. Thanks for doing what you do, old chap, these are stories that must be told. Cheers!
Yes indeed. The best thing everyone could actually do is reduce their power use.
The future of the canals is *not* solar..
It’s jet skis!!!!!! Hundreds of young people zooming around the canals at great speed enjoying themselves. Inexpensive easily accessible fun for whole families. With the incoming budget cuts, our solicitors assure us that the Canal & River Trust will license at least a dozen rental sites for a regular donation of a certain size. See y’all soon 👍
Absolutely fascinating, especially the hydrogen unit. 👍🏻
The first lady makes a lot of sense in regards to electric propulsion.
For 45 to 50 thousand pounds for one boat conversion I guess she does. I'll keep a diesel engine thanks
Ofcause if building new, you off set that against the cost of the conventional installation.
Great job covering this event.
The conversion to electric drives is moving forward. We truly do not know what it will look like a few years from now due to the research and development in technology that occur. I don’t understand the opposition to electric propulsion other than it will be a change and some folks just don’t like to change.
Fascinating information on solar power for boats. That dog though captured my heart. ❤❤❤❤
Fascinating stuff as always David. Some of the woodwork on those boats you looked round was simply stunning ! 😎
Glad you enjoyed it
Thank you David, for yet another informative look on boat electrification. Somehow though it think I would miss the purr of the engine sound when cruising..🤗
Oh, that is a NICE map. Wish there were more EV conversion options for small cabin cruisers. There are a fair number of "Sound hull but bad engine" cruisers for sale in the US.
There are but you won't like the price...
16:30 they're server rack style batteries. They've becoming quite common.
It's exciting to see how quickly tech has changed, I remember you telling us about the pros and cons of solar a few short years ago!
Battery technology, solar panels, efficiency of electric devices will continue to get better and better. Combustion engines are about as good as they will ever get. This will be the future.
Hats off Ortomarine for their efforts to bring this tech to this niche 🛥
Good video David, wife/I are still planning on retiring on a narrow boat. Love the videos.
Thank you.
Very interesting, a lot be said for a stack of solar as and LiFE batteries.
Map in the shower is a cracker. Nice to see the new tech
Between this and your eariler video on electric narrow boats - I am convinced this is the future (barring something unforeseen).
I like that resting dog touch at the end - btw.
FWIW - I now own an EV (Chevy Bolt).
☮
The trend in North America is campers(caravans) being all electric doing away with gas appliances.
Found this very interesting. Good job.
Thank you!
Brinklow is where close friends of ours keep their boat. We crew for them from time to time,, so have been in and out of Brinklow several times. Fascinating developments in the electrification of narrow boats. Another good video, David. Many thanks.
For those not so sunny days, a small wind turbine that mounts on the well deck and that can be quickly lowered for tunnels or safe keeping ? It's not going to provide the output of a bank of solar panels, but it could help trickle charge.
Wind power is virtually useless on the canals, see the last bit of this page on my website: cruisingthecut.co.uk/2024/01/23/electricity-on-canal-boats-the-basics/
This is the most awsome interessing video at TH-cam
I suspect that's not the case but thank you anyway 🤣
Relax and share it 1 time every week.
Cos in this ypu have so many things here for all boaters
If you allow me you can send me this video and i will share it in all boaters comunetys
Well done, very informative. Thanks, from a long time viewer, in the USA
I so much enjoy Cruising TheCut! It makes me want the US to have small navigation canals for boating. The C&O Canal between Washington DC and Cumberland MD could be modernized for such a purpose with new marinas and short access canals to new communities of canal boaters.
Quite some battery bank @ 16:31 . I have 2 of the same , another on the way . A 1000 each over here in sunny SA . 5 days of very cloudy conditions has recently pushed the batteries to the limit .
Must look at his panels , have 12 450 w , adding 4 more to max out my invertor . Gas hob and water heater .
Am not on a narrow boat , yet is nice to see solar applications .
we complain about fuel prices here , about 50% cheaper here .
Wonder what the cost savings would be on a narrowboat .
Yes , when it shines , the sun is free :-) You need kit to convert it to power .
Break even for me is about 5 years and no power cuts .
That guy with the fully electric boat can almost pass as your evil twin.
Thank you kindly 😂
@@iaincatt57 Do you have any public info about your build? I'm also curious if heat pumps were considered for water / domestic heating?
Brilliant vlog, interested in seeing more content on hybrids and full electric narrow boats. cheers
My like isnt working for some odd reason. Another information packed vlog that we all find interestiing..thanks David.
Fun to see the developments in electric propulsion.
When are we going to see the little yellow girl again?
In the fullness of time...
@@CruisingTheCut Twiggy or we riot
Having the solar panels helps to balance the amount extra charge needed to keep the batteries topped up although it should never be forgotten that batteries have a shelf life and although many people get confused about it , rememberwhether in a car or a boat the electric motor is just the engine and the electricity is the fuel but the batteries are really only the fuel tank and if you own a car would you like to pay up to £10,000 to replace your fuel tank every ten years? The same applies to boats, the more batteries the bigger the fuel tank but remember they have a limited shelf life and dont come cheap.
The tech is improving in leaps and bounds, in ten years suitable capacity batteries will either be much cheaper or there'll be an alternative. Also, given the use in narrowboats, I think the batteries will last much longer.
20:05 the number of cycles that modern lithium batteries will tolerate, especially the lithium iron phosphate batteries. It's quite likely they will have 90% of nominal capacity still after 10 years and not need replacement. The charging regimen that narrow boats would experience (not having superchargers) is ideally suited to a very long life and furthermore motoring at 2-4 knots really doesn't impose great demands unlike blasting along the motorway at 70mph. The biggest issue for live aboards is domestic heating.
@@stephenmccarthy6892 Are heat pumps making their way onto boats? They can multiply the kW in by 2 to 4 times heat out.
Nice 1 David, that lady [missed her name], from Ortomarine knew her stuff [Comin from an ye olde Batman], started 1982 retired 2017. Hydrogens comin, but I never seen a pump or a servo down this advertising it. Not sure Lithium, has made it, yet. But another 2 or 3 years. Nice goin young fella, keep up the good work.
Lithium is definitely here already. And the lady is called Caroline.
2,4 kW installed is really impressive. I live on an apartment, and use about 380kW on winter and 650 kW on summer (Brazil here, so a satisfied sight on winter an air con on summer). At peak power usage, that would be about 0,9 kW/h 24/7.
No, 2,4kW/h installation wouldn't quite do it - especially on winter. But it's remarkably close. Maybe a top up charge every 3 nights?
Anyway, I do believe that electric canal boats are the future. Cleaner, quieter, easier to maintain. The only drawback are the batteries. Even charging is easy to solve. The batteries are (at the moment) their weak spot.
Very interesting David, thank you for bringing the information to us.
Glad you enjoyed it
another sterling production David
Very nice and realistic. Narrowboating is Perfect for Serial Hybrid and well suited for full EV.
Miss Badger worded it wonderfully, without sounding like a sales pitch.
While H2 is Idiotic
That's putting it a bit strongly but I generally agree. The H2 man forgot to mention that BOC is probably selling him hydrogen made from fossil fuels (no better than diesel). Hydrogen made from renewables will always be a premium expensive product due to inefficiencies.
It will be cheaper to use the electrons directly. So canalside charging points should be being thought out.
Hydrogen is likely to be part of the energy mix in the future, so more readily available, and cheaper, but I wouldn't touch it with a 60ft pole right now. In 10 years, it might be worth considering.
I can't see charging infrastructure being rolled out across the canal network, CRT aren't exactly over funded right now. And some mooring spots are really remote, making getting power out there difficult and expensive.
@@philallen7626 remote sites are ripe for solar and battery storage, a swappable battery is also an interesting approach, rent the battery and buy the energy, Gogoro scooters in Taiwan is one example. Whatever the difficulties of bringing power to a remote site, getting hydrogen there is 10 times harder / 10 times more expensive.
Hydrogen should be considered the "Champagne of Energy" - very expensive, and only used for special occasions, like hard or impossible to abate sectors such as steel, glass, or to make ammonia for fertilizer - but for transportation or backup power? There are much cheaper, much simpler alternatives already available. Hydrogen has no magic wand to bring the prices down, despite what proponents say, scale won't solve this.
Hydrogen vehicle filling stations are being closed (Shell exited the UK), more are not being built, and they could not fill that bottle anyway (it's not 10,000 psi like the carbon fibre tanks in a hydrogen car). It's an industrial gas derived from fossil fuels, and all that effort, expense and inconvenience for 6.5kWh at 200W output.
Cool stuff..You're so good at your narrative approach...well done pal🙂👌
Thank you kindly
Great short film!
Mothership was my favourite interior design especially as you can walk through the back room. Nice sink and living area.
Nice review. Thank you for sharing. Have a great day and stay safe.🙂🙂
Thanks for the tour and information. Cheers
Very interesting and well done David
I've often thought canal boats were ideal for electrification, except for the potential need to recharge. It is encouraging that solar can be effective for large parts of the year.
Light days produs anof for hold ur good lithium anyway
Ore as I want to. Have my diesel for rivers and fast charge and in need of only
A really interesting video David, well done.
Nice coverage , thanks David.
Very interesting video well done
Brilliant video
The portable inverter/generator is widely available at low prices, these generally run on gasoline, are both efficient and very quiet. they are quite light and can be stored in a locker and brought out on deck when needed for use. electric boats are not new, they had them 100 years ago as launches on lakes and rivers for recreational purposes. my late grandfather used electric trucks for deliveries in his bakery business also a 100 years ago. they were very successful.
Petrol generators are available of course, however, you might like to read up on the BSS rules and regs ref storing petrol generators and the petrol itself on a boat.
Great episode! Seems like there's a lot of advantages to electric, except that boaters can't put flower bins on the roof because of the solar panels.
6:30 I’m so impressed by that gentleman, Iain.
He was able to rattle off that very VERY long, rather complicated name perfectly.
It didn’t exactly roll off the tongue. 😂
Very impressed indeed.
🙂🐿🌈❤️
[sydney australia]
I needed an interpreter for some of his monologue
That was very interesting .
stunning production !
Much appreciated!
Loved that! (I'm an electrician, everything should be electric, but we still have a way to go for that). I wonder how much of that hydrogen is "green" produced. How does the pollution output to produce the hydrogen compare to using diesel? Around here we call electric cars "coal powered" since most of our power is from coal or natural gas. It will be a while before cars can fully switch, but if I was getting a canal boat I would go electric. Then all I would need is a canal to put it in.
Fascinating! Thank you.
Great video David! almost every video makes me want another new thing lol.
I wish we had got the Caracruiser to a show like this before Dad passed away. 200 miles in a week with only 50ah usable battery from some cheap lead acids shows the potential for this sort of stuff on small cruiaers.
I'm currently working on converting a 29' grp narrowboat to full electric...hoping the Avon unfloods itself so we can get the outside painted and start sorting the rest out.
How did you get 200 miles from 50Ah, that doesn't stack up...
@@CruisingTheCut by barely using the batteries and relying on the panels
@CruisingTheCut easy you just sail down hill.
great info and as always very entertaining,
Glad you enjoyed it
The future is looking good 👍
David -you really make such excellent videos.👍
Many thanks!
I like these very informative videos.
As always... tremendously interesting and very well made! Thanks!
Thanks again David very interesting
Glad you enjoyed it
I'm glad the technology is improving!
Covering the roof with solar panels is one third of the boats paint scheme.
Just cover the whole dame thing, just go for it !!!!
Very interesting as usual!
Thank you! Cheers!
So happy to see the direction alternative power sources for boats, in general, is going. Thank you!
an interesting concept and one of the few truly usable applications with the current level of technology
Thank you.
You're welcome!
Interesting information. A lot of this is helpful for those of us in the US who have RVs. I'm not sure how hydrogen could be used with RVs but there are occasional hydrogen refueling stations along the US west coast. Also, we call gatherings like this a 'rally.' The dog was so funny! Great video with clever boat designs.
Very Interesting
good vid
Good stuff David, thx. So, by the looks of it no electrical heating yet (?). In future you would expect to see some thermal batteries too ... (that technology is shaping up. Phase change material and all that. Somewhat similar to the Sunamp Thames project which you will hopefully cover sometime in the future.) Surprised by the lack of smaller wind turbines ... Cheers from The Netherlands.
Heating would take enormous amounts of power, entirely impractical other than by burning things at present.
@@CruisingTheCut OK. In (regular) inland navigation electric heating has been employed for decennia. Brands like Speedheat. Hope you will monitor the situation for recreational use. Cheers.
I'm willing to bet the power for that heating comes from a generator though. It's more efficient for a single long space (narrowboat) to get the heat directly from burning the diesel.
19:56 As always you have produced another creative and information video. Although I don’t intend to go electric in my vehicle choice it’s still good to learn about the various options. Thanks again.
Very interesting. I like the way you are keeping abreast of developments. I especially like the ideas of Mothership Marine, not only in terms of propulsion but also in terms of fit out down to clever use of ballast and even recessed dining table leg fittings. Sadly living in Asia means such canal life is not for me but it is enjoyable to follow the many vloggers like yourself David. Cheers
I can't help but think that metered charge points should be part of the solution, on 24 hour and winter moorings, either provided by CRT/EA or marinas.
Somehow I can't see CRT stumping up for an electrical charging system.
Their budget has been cut to the bone already.
And can't see HMG changing their mind anytime soon about increasing the canals' funding seeing as the last funding round made it clear that "the narrowboat community" were supposed to be more independent ref cash.
In short CRT will be obliged to raise the licence fees whether "we" like it or not.
It does come across as a bit silly to expect our costs to be paid out of general taxation.
Doubtless we/CRT shall get grants now and again but you can't rely on this.
Electrically powered freight might be an answer to help decarbonise our atmosphere and get road surface wrecking trucks off the road.
We might even see freight move to canal side distribution centres and transferred to customers by "the last mile" type electric vans.
Knowing David he will be planning an episode or three on the reintroduction of freight on the canals even as we type.
Electrically powered boats would certainly be a way of running freight 24/7 without disturbing the neighbours.
Makes sense, all Marinas that I have seen already have electric hooks up at every mooring. An overnight stay in a marina Vs stopping at a marina for diesel during cruising time.
Hi David!
Thank-you very much, David, really informative.
Glad it was helpful!
Knots from watts!
Fascinating video David. Excited to see further developments of this technology and an increasing number of available options through this series on your channel. Running a washing machine and oven without shore hookup or a generator is impressive. Are triple-glazed windows, better insulated walls and heat exchangers found in modern diesel boats too?
Double glazing, yes, triple seems to be rare. Most narrowboats have maybe 2 inches of insulation rather than 3. Heat exchangers are rare.
The concept of living on a boat just keeps getting better.
The only question is how long it will take to recoup the initial outlay in savings.
It may never "payback" but hopefully will become affordable all the same.
Never. There is nothing to provide the payback. Governments (taxayers)will not subsidise you for any extra electricity you trickle into the power grids even if you could, which you can't.
Just another one ... Thanks!
Gee A greenfest!! Awesome ❤❤❤❤
Now I have to wonder if you could take all the ballast out of a 65’er and replace it all with LifePo4 batteries. Put the aforementioned 3kw solar on top of it then do a full charge at a marina then see how often the solar tops everything up. Certainly range at full charge would be comparatively large but also the entire assembly would likely cost an insane amount to put together.
Also you know there will be some absolute nut who puts a Tesla motor in one to see how fast they can make a narrowboat go. XD
LiFePo batteries can currently store about 160-180 Wh/kg, with the next generation it will be about 200 Wh/kg.
From what I can find online a typical amount of ballast for a 65 ft boat would be around 2.5-3 tonnes - so that would be equivalent to about 500 kWh of battery storage. That's enough to power a single-family house for two weeks straight (including cooking & heating), so with a narrowboat we're probably more in the range of months.
The only problem is how to distribute the batteries over the whole length of the boat; that's not really feasible in practice.
Good to see the newer technologies, being features !
I surprised that I didn't see Robert Llewellyn there, who has dine so much in the EV world with his "'Everything Electric show"" worldwide !
But again I see you there, promoting the enjoyment of boating !
Stay safe and dry !
Stu xx
Well done !
sbf
Can use as generator from engine when startup 30 min. And if needed can start up for fast charging.
20kw of lithium keep you going
Good video thanks
Glad you enjoyed it
Hi David nice boats fullness of time, think that means i dont know