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.
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.
I disagree, but I also don’t have a problem with people or companies being wealthy enough to make or own them, either.
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+
No ! it’s because $10 million yachts for billionnaires are of course not good for the environment ! It’s greenwashing ! “well yeah i’m a billionnaire and i run an ecocidal megacorporation but look : my luxury superyacht is electric !” i’m baffled that people could ever think this is a good way to mitigate the climate crisis
No I think the issue is that electric boats will never do as much mileage as a car to offset the carbon in their production. And also that its still doing the exact same thing that is the problem: having massive industrial production for excess. Its entirely about image and pretending to care
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.
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.
The first thing you notice about the boat is the curved solar paneling, which is curved
