New electric Kiwi catamaran

New Zealand marine electronics and electrics supplier Beacon Marine
has launched a new company, Evocean Electric Boats, and has revealed plans for the EVO33, a stunning 10 metre (33 feet) electric-powered catamaran.

Beacon has been servicing the Kiwi boating community since 2009, and actively sought out Finnish electric propulsion pioneers Oceanvolt to become distributor for New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.

Out of that agreement the Evocean idea started to come together. Beacon/Evocean Directors Cam Harris and Adam Wrightson say “Whilst running a busy day to day marine electrical & electronics business, the craziest of ideas come to you when you have so much on and no time to think. Well this is exactly how Evocean Electric Boats came alive.” They enlisted the talents of noted Naval Architect Dan Leech to design the boats and incorporate the Oceanvolt system.

“Electric vessels are something that have been on our mind for years” says Cam “it’s no doubt the way forward.”

New Zealand is well known for having stupendous natural beauty both on land and offshore. Charles Bedford, Asia Pacific regional managing director of The Nature Conservancy, says the country “is a leader on the environment and conservation globally.”

Eco tourism contributes significantly to the Kiwi economy, so the country seems a natural (pun intended) for zero emission boating.

Cam Harris says the company wants to do their share to lead and contribute. “Being in the industry for so long and seeing first hand the effect that petrol and diesel has on our marine environment, we felt the need to use our knowledge to change the way of boating in NZ.”

EVO33 Technical Specs

• Overall length 9.95m, Waterline length 9.89m, Beam 4.0m, Draft 650mm, Weight (approx) 4,000kgs
• Sleeping capacity 7
• Water capacity 200 Litre, Grey water capacity 50 Litre
• Motor: Shaft-driven 20kW
• Motor speed: 1400rpm
• Battery: 48VDC lithium-iron phosphate* (see our note on different battery types at the bottom of this post)
• Range: Short range battery pacK: 30 nautical miles. Long range battery pack: 60nm. A diesel range extender is available for all systems.
• Proprietary OceanVolt battery system is up to 45% lighter than other LiFe set-ups

*about lithium battery packs

A lithium-iron phosphate battery is different from and shouldn’t be confused with the lithium-ion battery that is commonly used in your laptop, smartphone and other devices.

Newcastle Systems, which provides battery solutions for warehousing, has a good explanation “The lithium-iron battery has superior chemical and thermal stability. A Lithium-iron battery remains cool at room temperature while the Li-ion may suffer thermal runaway and heats up faster under similar charging conditions.”

An easy way to spot the difference when reading about systems is connected to the safety aspect. The short form for lithium-ion is Li-ion or LIB, while the short form for lithium-iron phosphate is LiFePO.