Land, sea, and air traffic all need to switch to zero emissions. Keep this spirit in mind lets meet Ellen.
Ellen is the most powerful 100% electric ferry in the world. She can charge at up to 4.4 MW, and battery size is 4.3 MWh. That is equivalent to ~50 Tesla Model S batteries. Or, alternatively, that is equivalent to 10 full grown African Elephants in weight.
The Danish islanders co-financed Ellen with the European Union. The ferry is projected to save 2,000 tons of CO2 emissions a year.
Ellen’s home is the Danish island of Ærø. She replenishes her power as she recharges her batteries. After which she loads her passengers on the 750-ton ship for a trip to a neighboring island. Ellen makes her carbon-neutral voyage 5 times a day.
The all-electric ferry is capable of carrying roughly 30 vehicles and 200 passengers.
Ellen can cover 22 nautical miles in a single charge, in Europe, it’s the average distance that 80% of the ferry transportation would ever travel. It’s recharging energy comes from the surplus of wind turbines on Ærø, which produce 130% of the electricity needed on the island.
Under Ellen’s hull, there are four quiet engines and 56 tons of lithium-ion batteries. Like completely electric cars, there is no backup oil-based generator.
Reference- Clean Technica, Euronews, Ellen website, CNBC