E PROPULSION -
September 24, 2021
E'LAB #1 Excess innovates with its hybrid Excess 15 project E'Lab
And off she goes !
We have recently launched, at Excess catamarans, a hybrid electric version of our Excess 15, in collaboration with Torqeedo. This Excess 15 is a prototype, fitted with two Deep Blue 50kw engines, a large bank of Lithium batteries, generators and Torqeedo’s unique Energy Management system. Our objectives with this project are to test the technical solutions, try different configurations of propellers, sail the boat long distances, run hydro-generation tests and share these tests with our Community, our Excess Tribe.
Owners, prospects, journalists, colleagues and partners, we open this testing experience to our Community and this is why we named this prototype Excess 15 “E’Lab” as she is an open air, open sea, sailing laboratory !
We will relate our experiences and learnings through the Excess Lab and we hope that you will be numerous to follow, participate and contribute to this experience.
E’lab is a prototype, one of a kind, we are not offering the hybrid electric solution yet (!) on board our Excess range. We want to make sure that we have the right technical solution to offer, answering the needs of our Clients and at an appropriate price. The solution we currently have on board is not a green solution as we carry generators to power the battery banks, when needed,. But we believe that through this experience and our testing we will be able to come up with an optimized solution which will lead into less fossil fuel consumption in the future. This is therefore a Step 1 of a longer process and we are very proud at Excess to be partnering with Torqeedo on this new journey!
E’Lab will sail for 2 months across the West Mediterranean sea, following our Excess Tour calendar (here) and we will share, on the Excess Lab, the findings from the various tests we will run during this period.
Join us on board E’Lab during one of our Excess Tour in France, Italy or Spain, to share the experience and your feedback on how we should design the solutions of tomorrow.
I look forward to exchanging with you all very soon!
All the best,
Thibaut de Montvalon
Director Excess catamarans
4
comments
Out of curiosity, what were the main factors while choosing the XCS15 (the largest model) against a 12 or 11 ?
The space available for the hybrid system?
The weight of the system vs weight of the boat ?
The cost of the system vs the cost of the boat …?
Thanks
But at Excess we certainly question ourselves and want to shake-up established standards in order to spring new ideas, innovation.
And we’re passionate about the environment, finding a sustainable path for our industry which has a long way to go! So we try to reduce our footprint where and when we can.
We chose the Excess 15 as our test boat for the hybrid propulsion for several reasons:
-first and foremost, electric propulsion is a perfect fit for Excess: it is sleek engineering, forward thinking, silent and totally compatible for clients who put sailing first;
-second, the Excess 15 is the right size boat: offering enough space to store 80kW of Lithium batteries plus the Energy Management system which also requires space to be stored;
-Torqeedo had just the right engines available for a catamaran such as the Excess 15, with their 50 kW Deep Blue engines;
-and finally, with her Pulse Line rigging option, the Excess 15 delivers good sailing speed which is key for hydrogenation.
C'est une expérience intéressante. Je pense qu'à un moment donné toutes les marques devront s'impliquer dans cette technologie. Aujourd'hui, les générateurs sont obligatoires pour des longues traversées. Mais les projets technologiques progressent beaucoup dans ce domaine. Du moins dans le secteur des batteries. Il y a aussi les piles à combustibles. Pour la recharge, il peut être nécessaire de combiner éolien, hydrogénérateur et panneaux solaires. Avec un petit générateur portable, certains s'en sortent. Mais c'est un beau projet.
Pierre GUYOT
It could be interesting to have more information about the extra weight and cost.
Furthermore, wouldn't it be possible to have a less "overkill" solution for a smaller Excess with less powerful E motor, 3 time less battery and only one generator able to power both electrical motor?
It is difficult to wait for the end of the 3 months...