Huge Chinese boat builder launches 42 foot all-electric catamaran
Far East Boats, one of the biggest sailboat builders in China, today announced the launch of their first all-electric catamaran, the FarEast 42C, powered by two 20kW ePropulsion motors. The boat was unveiled at this year’s China (Shanghai) International Boat Show.
Far East Boats builds every type of sailing boat in its Jiangsu production facility, from an Optimist to daysailors to 9m (31 ft) racing boats, including monohulls and trimarans. They have distributors in 30 countries spread across every continent and claim to have “provided more than 19,367 sailing boats for global sailing enthusiasts.”
Spacious salon with 360 degree views
The FAREAST 42C electric catamaran was designed by Simonis Voogd Design, an international Naval Architectural and Yacht Design studio with offices in the Netherlands and South Africa. Partners Alexander Simonis and Maarten Voogd have 26 years of experience and over 200 successfully completed projects ranging from the modest Hobie 13 to the 90ft Nicorette III, which won the famed Autralian Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race race in 2004.
ePropulsion adds inboards to its electric motor lineup
Like many catamarans, it features a spacious living area enhanced by extra-long built-in plexiglass portholes to allow passengers to enjoy natural light in the cabin and a 360° unobstructed view in the “living room” salon area. The deck layout can be selected from a sport version or a charter version.
In addition to being the first all-electric catamaran developed by Far East Boats, the FAREAST 42C is the first mass-produced catamaran powered by ePropulsion’s integrated propulsion system solution.
The sailing catamaran has been designed to travel under electric power alone, wind power alone, or a combination of the two.
All-electric catamaran range up to 100 nautical miles
The ePropulsion system comprises twin 20kW inboard motors powered by the company’s lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4 or LFP) batteries in a configuration where four batteries can be connected for a total capacity of 188.41 kWh.
All batteries are equipped with a Battery Management System (BMS) that monitors the voltage and temperatures of individual batteries in real-time and has an automatic equalization function.
ePropulsion motors are hydrogenerating motors, meaning they can recharge the batteries through the motion of the propellers when the FAREAST 42C is sailing under wind power. The batteries can also be charged with electricity from solar panels on the cat’s roof, a 20kW onboard unit or a portable 3kW charger.
Under pure electric propulsion the boat can reach 8 knots and increase that to 10 knots when working in concert with sail propulsion. The maximum battery life can reach 20 hours, with a range of up to 100 nautical miles in all-electric mode.
All aspects of the batteries and motors are monitored and connect to a Smart Throttle and digital as well as ePropulsion’s cloud-based connectivity services. This allows boat owners and fleet managers to remotely check everything from boat to battery level, speed and charging status and to automatically generate sailing logs or authorize guests for boat sharing.
“All-electric propulsion is the way of the future,” said Demolar Du, CEO of Far East Boats. “ePropulsion has long been the leader in reliable and efficient electric solutions, so when the time came to put this product together, they were the obvious choice as a partner. We believe sailors and eco-conscious boaters will get the absolute most out of our new catamaran.”
“This catamaran serves not only as a wonderful vessel for sailing enthusiasts, but also as a significant milestone of our integrated system solution,” said Danny Tao, Co-founder and CEO of ePropulsion. “We have always prided ourselves on providing cutting-edge quiet, clean, environmentally conscious propulsion, and this project furthers all of these goals. We look forward to collaborating on more projects like this in the immediate future.”
