FatBear
Veteran Member
Say a person had a 40' boat with twin 375 HP engines. It can cruise at 20kts and tops out at 24kts. But say sometimes you wanted to go that fast, but usually not. Or maybe you wanted to scream out to a location and then troll for hours. And let's say you have become particularly averse to noise.
It occurred to me that it might be possible to add an electric motor to each prop shaft and use them and a generator for your harbor maneuvering and your trolling.
I've seen a similar thread about a get home engine where an electric is considered, but I'm talking about having two electric "mains" that can be selected as an alternative to the two diesel mains and which will run for as long as the generator and/or battery bank will last.
I assume that the transmission needs to be able to free-wheel. Obviously, the generator needs to be able to supply adequate power continuously for propulsion and other loads. (It is an all electric galley and there are lots of electronics.) What else would I need to consider?
How would one add an electric motor to a prop shaft? I know it's been done before, but I've only seen kludgy looking setups; nothing that I would want to risk. Is the hardware to do this kind of thing commercially available?
Thanks.
It occurred to me that it might be possible to add an electric motor to each prop shaft and use them and a generator for your harbor maneuvering and your trolling.
I've seen a similar thread about a get home engine where an electric is considered, but I'm talking about having two electric "mains" that can be selected as an alternative to the two diesel mains and which will run for as long as the generator and/or battery bank will last.
I assume that the transmission needs to be able to free-wheel. Obviously, the generator needs to be able to supply adequate power continuously for propulsion and other loads. (It is an all electric galley and there are lots of electronics.) What else would I need to consider?
How would one add an electric motor to a prop shaft? I know it's been done before, but I've only seen kludgy looking setups; nothing that I would want to risk. Is the hardware to do this kind of thing commercially available?
Thanks.