Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Reducing pollution from boats by switching to electric motors

purewatercraft.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 113 posts

Re: Reducing pollution from boats by switching to electric motors

#51

Post by zdragnar »

softgrow wrote: post #14

Its not just boats going electric with positive results. Electric chainsaws starting to appear on trial near me for emergency services dealing with fallen trees. Much less noise, no smell (two stroke) and recharges itself on the truck. Just need someone to invent a self cleaning and sharpening one :)

I had an 80v electric chainsaw and it was great for odd jobs. Unfortunately, it stopped working. I know the battery is good- I've got a leaf blower that used the same battery.

Therein lies the problem. If it were gas, I could take it down to the local small engine repair guy and get it fixed cheap. Who the hell knows what could be wrong with am electric one?

Ultimately, I gave up on it, since I moved to a house with an outdoor wood furnace and upgraded to a 64cc gas model. There's really no comparison between the two, though that makes sense since they're definitely made for different markets.

Re: Reducing pollution from boats by switching to electric motors

#52

Post by ElCapitanMarkla »

dylan604 wrote: post #48
jimmaswell wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is 2 stroke really that common for personal-use boats? I've only heard of them running on 93 gas, which is all I see sold at marinas, no oil to mix in.

It depends. My family bought a boat, and it came with a 90HP outboard engine that was 4 stroke. For they same price, they offered a 2 stroke engine that was 120HP. Everyone agreed adding a single bottle of oil when you fill up the tank with gas was a simple enough thing to do to get the extra 30HP. My family also never filled up at the marina because of the extreme mark up. The boat was always on a trailer, so it jus…

I’d damn near take that 90 over the 2 stroke. The father in law just got one on his McLay boat and it’s quiet with none of that 2 stroke smell. I’ve lost count of the number of times we’ve been idling out at sea idling and asked each other “is that thing still running?”

Re: Reducing pollution from boats by switching to electric motors

#53

Post by 13of40 »

I bought a new outboard for my fish-a-dinghy a few months ago, and I looked into getting an electric one. The prices are converging, but it seems like there are serious reliability issues with the (few) electric outboards currently on the market. I ended up getting a fuel-injected 4-stroke.

Re: Reducing pollution from boats by switching to electric motors

#54

Post by TylerE »

jmpman wrote: post #43
northwest65 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All tyres are in a state of slip when you are accelerating or braking, it's unavoidable.

Isn’t the purpose of traction control to keep the tires in contact with the ground in a static coefficient of friction, and thus not slipping?

If there was zero slippage there would be zero acceleration.

Re: Reducing pollution from boats by switching to electric motors

#55

Post by throwawayForMe2 »

crazygringo wrote: post #17

I've always loved being on the water, but had a kind of instinctual revulsion at the gas usage, the fumes, the oil that leaks into the water, and the sheer noise from the engine -- like boating is about being with nature, but the gasoline aspect just ruins it for me. I tried sailing, but even then you need a backup motor and to get in/out of the oil-soaked harbor. (And sailing is a lot of work.) The idea of electric…

I had a small sail boat with an electric inboard engine. The electric motor, through pulleys and a belt, turned a shaft to turn a prop. All of the machinery from the shaft to the prop would be the same whatever was used to drive the shaft. It was a joy to use. Absolutely quiet, always worked, instant power whenever wanted or needed. Basically zero motor maintenance, no pollution or oil anywhere. The shaft is effectively watertight through seals called packing glands. You get a drip but it is manageable and needed for lubrication.

Re: Reducing pollution from boats by switching to electric motors

#56

Post by sambroner »

ElCapitanMarkla wrote: post #52
dylan604 wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It depends. My family bought a boat, and it came with a 90HP outboard engine that was 4 stroke. For they same price, they offered a 2 stroke engine that was 120HP. Everyone agreed adding a single bottle of oil when you fill up the tank with gas was a simple enough thing to do to get the extra 30HP. My family also never filled up at the marina because of the extreme mark up. The boat was always on a trailer, so it jus…

I’d damn near take that 90 over the 2 stroke. The father in law just got one on his McLay boat and it’s quiet with none of that 2 stroke smell. I’ve lost count of the number of times we’ve been idling out at sea idling and asked each other “is that thing still running?”

Wow. That makes me consider upgrading. I feel guilty just staring at or hearing my (2 stroke) motor idling!

Re: Reducing pollution from boats by switching to electric motors

#57

Post by sokoloff »

jimmaswell wrote: post #38
ajross wrote: post #25

What this article is really saying is "Two stroke engines are outrageously nasty". Which we knew. They really are dozens of times worse for immediate pollutants (soot/particulates, hydrocarbons, NOx) than a routine car engine and catalytic converter. And they're significantly less efficient, so even their CO2 output is quite a bit higher than a gas engine of the same power. But they're a tiny market and no one has bo…

Is 2 stroke really that common for personal-use boats? I've only heard of them running on 93 gas, which is all I see sold at marinas, no oil to mix in.

Many small boats have an oil injection system that injects 2 stroke oil from a tank into the fuel as it's consumed (so that you can fill the fuel tank with pure gas and the boat manages the injection/mixing).

Re: Reducing pollution from boats by switching to electric motors

#58

Post by notatoad »

T3OU-736 wrote: post #15
notatoad wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They could. LA has been painting their streets white to combat the heat island effect, think how much more effective it would be to replace all their roads with canals!

I think LA is a fairly bad example - drought, desert earthquakes all conspire very much against that use case

Yeah, it was maybe not an entirely serious suggestion

Re: Reducing pollution from boats by switching to electric motors

#59

Post by Robotbeat »

TylerE wrote: post #54
jmpman wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn’t the purpose of traction control to keep the tires in contact with the ground in a static coefficient of friction, and thus not slipping?

If there was zero slippage there would be zero acceleration.

Not quite right? The tires have strain, but they do not have to slip on the surface.

Re: Reducing pollution from boats by switching to electric motors

#60

Post by adrianN »

TylerE wrote: post #54
jmpman wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn’t the purpose of traction control to keep the tires in contact with the ground in a static coefficient of friction, and thus not slipping?

If there was zero slippage there would be zero acceleration.

That's not very intuitive. Can you provide a longer explanation for this?
Post reply on HN