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Reaching decarbonization targets for the yachting industry
Electric motors are playing an increasingly important role in travel, both in cars and boats. It is one of the levers for greater sustainability in yachting, and a technical response to the European objective of reducing CO2 emissions by 55% by 2030, compared with 1990 levels. But to achieve this, we need to provide the necessary infrastructure. As Martin Schemkes, Brand Director of Delphia, part of the Bénéteau Group, explains: "While the simplest way to reduce emissions is to tax cars and trucks, we also need to offer alternatives. On the canals, there are 99% diesel engines, most of them old. For Delphia, electric is the solution, zero emissions, zero noise, zero smell."
Adapted infrastructures
To help boaters, Delphia is working with governments to improve the infrastructure for using electric boats, taking a cue from the automotive sector. Martin Schemkes emphasizes the diversity of solutions: "We've seen the problems in the automotive sector, and we're already drawing governments' attention to the need to develop infrastructures more quickly. Charging stations can draw their energy from batteries, solar panels, wind turbines or the grid. As in our partnership with Aqua superPower, we need entrepreneurs with a Win-Win model who resell the electricity by operating the charging stations, as we already find along the canals in the Netherlands."
A boat's electrical system adapted to its use
As a shipyard, Delphia's first mission is to optimize boats for their intended uses. Launched in 2021 with the Delphia 11, the Bénéteau Group brand's journey into electric propulsion continues to gain momentum, with displacement boats specially designed for this motorization. Luka Modrijan, project manager at Delphia, insists on the need to understand how the boat is used: "We have carefully analyzed the boat's use cases. On average, boaters sail between 2 hours a day in good weather and 5 hours at most in bad weather. We based our electrical design around this. Usual uses such as recharging tablets, computers or smartphones are done at night, alongside the quay."
For maximum reliability, Delphia turned to an experienced partner for turnkey solutions, Torqeedo. With high voltages and separate battery banks for service and propulsion, Delphia limits the amperage required and the risk of overheating, for greater safety.
From there, Delphia came up with 3 types of electrical package to suit customer specifications. They can be adapted to both the Delphia 10 and Delphia 11, without changing the power of the motors.
The first version, called Life, offers 40 kWh of battery capacity and a 3.3 kW single-phase charger. This is the most economical and lightest version, and enables the vehicle to go from 0 to 100% in less than 12 hours of recharging at a standard socket, enough time for a night's stopover. In just 5 hours, the time needed for a city break, you can go from 40% to 80% battery charge.
For boaters looking for even greater comfort and to remove any anxiety about range, Delphia offers double the range with the Cruise pack, with its 80 kWh of batteries and 3 x 3.3 kWh chargers, opening up access to three-phase sockets. Recharging times are even slightly improved compared with the Life range, and range reaches 14 hours or 120 km at 8 km/h, the usual limit on canals.
Finally, for those in a hurry, the Rapid package adds a 22 kW rapid charger to the 80 kWh of batteries, operating exclusively in three-phase. It provides a full charge in 4 hours, and from 40% to 80% in 1? hours. It is aimed at people who usually have their own pontoon equipped with a rapid charger or existing charging points for their cars, and those sailing from ports equipped with rapid charging points, which are becoming increasingly frequent.
Electrical engineering down to the last detail
The choice of electric motorization and its quest for autonomy are taken into account in the overall design of the boat. All equipment is selected to limit consumption, from LED lighting to glazing, limited to vertical surfaces to keep the air cool and avoid excessive use of air conditioning.
