Nissan's old leaf batteries power up UK's first electric ferry

The boat, called e-Voyager, was designed and developed by students at the University of Plymouth, the University of Exeter, Teignbridge Propellers, and EV Parts. The whole project, funded by a Maritime Research and Innovation (MarRI-UK) initiative and the Department for Transport (DfT), cost around £1.4 million (USD 1.8 million). The boat’s battery storage and the motor arrangement was designed by EV parts, an engineering company to replace its original diesel motor. The Nissan Leaf batteries are linked up to provide 400 volts of power to the motors.

Currently, the boat is being tested by regulatory bodies so that it can be used for public use and begin ferrying passengers to their destinations.

Sound's great right? But, wait what about charging? Well, Plymouth City Council is going to install three 22 kWh chargers where the boat will fasten up. It is said that it’ll take three hours overnight to fully charge the vessel. Operators expect it to be able to complete its journeys on a single full charge and will top up during the day as it needs. Researchers at Plymouth University believe the knowledge gained from this project will scale up and be useful to large commercial vessels. Eventually, this could help realise the UK government's goal of reducing emissions in the marine sector by 50% by 2025. There’s a lot of concern about what will happen to EV batteries when the cars they’re built into eventually die. Besides recycling them, they can also be reused. If we’re going to cut emissions in a meaningful way, this is the way of sustainable and circular thinking we need to explore.