2y ago

Meet the latest way the superrich prove they're really, totally worried about the environment: $10 million electric superyachts

www.businessinsider.com

Meet the latest way the superrich prove they're really, totally worried about the environment: $10 million electric superyachts::Electric cars? The superrich have already moved on to electric yachts.

60 comments

Electric boats seem like a great idea, especially with all the pollution the really large cruise ships put out. I’m happy to finally see this become mainstream. On the water there’s nothing to really get in the way of solar panels, either, so it makes sense to have them for charging.
- There should be no superyachts no matter what powertrain
  
  I disagree, but I also don’t have a problem with people or companies being wealthy enough to make or own them, either.
  
  The sad part is that shit isn't even close to a "super" yatch. It's a very large fancy sailboat. A super yatch is a hole different ball game.
- you must be joking right someone tell me i'm not getting the /s
  
  Are you thinking he’s joking because electricity + water = zap zap? Because I’ve got some bad news for you about what boats have been carrying around for a very long time. Some underwater boats, let’s call those subs, even carry explosives that if detonated could destroy a city of 3mil+
  Edit: see Morse’s comment below for explanation, makes a lot more sense
  
  Not sure why the downvotes, it's clear as pigshit to me too.
If it's a sailboat, it's supposed not to use motors most of the time anyway. Sailboats use solar panels and wind generators since they became available.
Now, if it's not a real sailboat, but a electric motorboat with a sail just for helping, then it does not deserve the environmental badge. Solar panel power is not significant enough to move a boat, comparing to real sails.
Electric boats are not something new. Pre-nuclear military submarines were electric with batteries charged by diesel generators. There are some industrial boats that use electric motors powered by diesel generators. Same for freight trains which have been using that configuration for many years.
A substantial generator is required for a large electric power boat, no way around it. It may not need to run full time if there's a battery, but it would still need to supply the bulk of consumed electrical power. Not really any environmental benefit. Though there are some other benefits in terms of operating costs.
It's possible to go all electric without a combustion powered generator on a sailboat. That's feasible and you don't need a $10M boat to do it, can be done with any sailboat. Though one thing is a boat must have a reliable motor to be seaworthy. You'd still need a generator backup. In that article they state the featured boat does have one. It would have to support the full electrical load of motor, charging, and accessory so I'd expect it to be pretty hefty.
The title of that article is a fallacy really. Sailboats are environmentally friendly anyway. Doesn't matter if they have an internal combustion engine or electric motor. You only use the motor in situations where you can't sail such as tight channels or doldrums. That's infrequent enough to be negligible. Though I have seen people who own sailboats just motor them around all the time. You gotta wonder why buy a sailboat if you're just going to motor everywhere, but people do it.
The first thing you notice about the boat is the curved solar paneling, which is curved
- Did you see those billionaires from Hammerfell? They have curved solar panels.
  Curved. Solar panels.
- Ya heard with Perd.
- Yes, but is it curved?
I think it's more for the rich to escape the rising ocean levels and riots. A regular yatch will require refueling, where they may come into contact with the poor. An electric yatch can stay out in the ocean indefinitely with solar panels.
- Let’s hope they capsize with no one to save them.
That actually sounds and looks super cool. Does anyone know how do I become one of them superrich? Alternatively, does any lemmy have $10m to spare? Thanks in advance!
This is ultimately symbolic of how much electric transport is actually going to bring to the Solutions side of the board. The whole thing is a collective self-reassurance that no, we will never have to give up our personal cars. Cause unlike 10,000 years of ice age-surviving ancestors, we would perish under any such arrangement.
Sufficiency is just as important as efficiency, if not more so.
Regular sailboats have very low fuel consumption. Like 30HP motors used only when not possible to put the sails. Here it is not a sailboat, this is a luxury appartement on water. The carbon footprint will never be neutralized.
Electric boats sound like a good idea to me couldn't wind, solar and tidal power all be combined. Making me wonder why supertankers, cargoships etc can't be doing some of that.
- The issue is energy density. There's a reason why boat tanks are ~6 times larger than a cars gas tank. That's why they're so expensive (plus batteries are much heavier).
  
  If electric were economical the world's shipping companies would have switched over. The logistics industry doesn't care about whether or not climate change is real, they just want to move stuff as cheaply as possible

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