If all goes according to plan, Stockholm commuters will board the world’s fastest electric vessel, the Candela P-12 Shuttle, when they fly from the outskirts of Eckerö to the city center next year. Candela is well known as a supplier of sporty-looking electric boats for leisure, but what’s behind the sudden interest in commuting by electric ferries?
The future electric ferry is coming
Candela clearly leverages its leisure boat know-how on the P-12 Shuttle. The new electric ferry is a potential game changer for water commuting in the city of Stockholm, which is currently charged with more than 70 diesel vessels.
Battery power is only part of the big picture. P-12 is a hydrofoil. That is, with the help of three carbon fiber wings, it floats completely out of the water when in motion. This guarantees a smoother ride than traditional ferries. Candela also doubles guarantees a smooth voyage with the computer-controlled hydrofoil adjustment system “Candela Flight Controller”.
The angle of the hydrofoil also allows the electric ferry to travel much faster than a regular boat without leaving a wake.
This is important because what awakens can make all the difference between a fast ferry commute and a slow ferry commute. Wake is a wave produced by a boat cutting through water. They are less important in the open ocean, but in harbor and urban environments, the effects of wakes can pose a danger to other vessels and degrade infrastructure. For these reasons, wakes are tightly regulated in urban areas and have strict ceilings at the speeds allowed for electric ferries and vessels in other cities.
Due to the wake problem behind it, the P-12 can reach 30 knots, or 35 mph, so to speak. This is almost three times faster than the normal 12 knot limit in Stockholm’s waterways.
The need for speed, electric ferry version
So what’s important about speed? It depends on who needs to save time and how much time it saves. Candela utilizes Stockholm to provide test sites to reduce time in suburban and urban mass transit systems that currently rely on subways, buses, and underutilized ferry systems.
According to Candela’s assessment, the electric ferry will be reduced by 25 minutes from the current 55-minute one-way commute from Eckero to Stockholm city centre. The same 55-minute ride seems to apply to city buses, subways, diesel ferries, and cars during rush hours.
Candela also has a convenient element for commuting to Stockholm. Currently, there are only two 200-seater diesel ferries on the Stockholm-Ekeley route, with only two flights a day. The plan is to replace them with at least five P-12 shuttles.
“Instead of departing twice a day, there is a P-12 shuttle that departs every 11 minutes, which allows commuters to ignore the timetable and go to the dock and wait for the next boat.” Said Eric Eklund, Head of Sales and Marketing at Candela.
Flexible scheduling can help increase interest in ferry commuting. According to Candela, Stockholm’s passenger fleet as a whole sails with an average occupancy of 17%.
Increasing number of telecommuting executives don’t care about improving convenience and saving time, but many others do.
Follow the money
If the name Candela is ringing some bells, CleanTechnica Last year, we focused on the company when continuous production of the C-7 electric hydrofoil outdoor sports boat began.
“Putting a boat out of water into (relatively) low drag air is a trick for speedboats powered by internal combustion engines, but an absolute game changer for electric ships like the new Candela C7. I was enthusiastic. Clean Technica Jo Borras.
Apparently it was just the first step. The C-7 made a cameo appearance as a pursuit craft at the SailGP at the Mbadara Sail Grand Prix in the United States last March, demonstrating the ability of wind-powered monsters to catch up with the action of running around San Francisco Bay.
The company also announced plans for an electric ferry at the time, adding a cabin cruiser version to its hydrofoil stockpile earlier this month.
Candela made fun of the new C-8 version of Leisure Craft earlier this year, but the company seems to be on the path to funding mass transit.
The P-12 has a nine-month trial period in Stockholm, and if it works as expected, Candela is already considering replacing the entire Stockholm diesel vehicle.
Candela said the new electric ferry system requires minimal infrastructure (just docks and passages) from cities and suburbs, as opposed to the time and cost of building new subway systems and highways. I’m pointing out that. The spread of ferries may also ease the congestion of congested bus routes.
“The company is already interested in the P-12 shuttle as a faster, cheaper and more environmentally friendly alternative to existing diesel and land transportation, more than 600 cities, municipalities, ship operators and cities. We see great demand from developers, “explains Candela. ..
“The first P-12 shuttle will be followed by more shuttles as mass production at the company’s Rotebro plant increases. Using already streamlined production methods for the production of leisure boats in Candela, Candela ultimately aims to spit out hundreds of P-12 shuttles a year, “they add.
Get ready for the electric ferry revolution
As a record, Candela is not the only hydrofoil fan planning to attack Stockholm’s waters. Green City Ferries also operates a low wake Beluga 24 on a hydrofoil, which can be powered by either batteries or hydrogen fuel cells, depending on the length of the route.
“Up until now, high wakes have been the centerpiece of efficient water commuting,” explains Green City Ferries, who sounds a familiar note.
If you find a trend, leave a note in the comments thread.
On the other hand, when it comes to hydrogen ferries, it’s time to catch up with the Golden Gate Zero Emission Marine, which seemed ready to launch a fleet of hydrogen ferries into San Francisco Bay a few years ago.
They are still chasing, now named Zero Emission Industries as a designer and developer, and owned by SWITCH Maritime.Their first ship, dubbed ChangeUses both hydrogen fuel cells and batteries.
At the time of writing this article Change The final exam is being conducted in Washington State. With plans for a launch in San Francisco underway, SWITCH is already looking at some 1,000 aging American diesel ferries to switch to zero-emission transportation.
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Image: A flying hydrofoil courtesy of Candela.
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