Vessel Considerations to Support Drive Design for Small Harbour Transport Boats

The design of the electric drive train and the electrical power system (EPS) for small boats is today still very much characterized by classical electrical drive design with limited consideration of the importance of an integrated design approach that concurrently considers electrical power aspects and the hydrodynamic characteristics of the vessel. For small boats, the importance of drag and water resistance is critical for an optimal choice of the electrical drive-train and the energy sources. This paper thus delivers a series of considerations related to the selection of the energy sources and also on the development of simplified models that consider and describe the main “resistance to propulsion thrust” that the boat's drivetrain and EPS has to overcome. Two case-studies of typical boat hull structures as used in a particular geographical context, are described and their modelling and experimental results are compared. This paper highlights the importance of considering the vehicle characteristics when designing and sourcing the associated electrical drive-train.