Mothership Marine, established 2013, are experts in electric narrowboats with an emphasis on solar powered boats. ‘A majority of the power used on the boat comes from the sun’ says owner Tim Knox. Technological improvements in batteries and solar panels together with tumbling prices mean better quality boats at more affordable prices.
Mothership Marine designed their own solar panels for canal boats, they fit seamlessly to the roof and can be walked on. Whilst we build extremely modern narrowboats much is done to maintain a ‘country cottage’ ambience inside the boat. These boats are an antidote to the stress of modern life.
Electric motors are near silent. In demonstration, we often film conversations with owners and experts whilst travelling on an electric narrowboat. Subjects have included retirement, entrepreneurs, innovation, dyslexia, the environment etc. Birds tweeting, rustling leaves, lapping water. Technology has made a yesteryear sensation of our waterways possible today
I know there are many variables when it comes to pricing out a conversion from diesel to electric. Could you give me some idea though, would it be 8,000 pounds, 10,000 pounds 20,000 pounds? Just some idea would be helpful. Many thanks for this series which I have passed on to a friend. Mark Alberta. Canada
Hi Mark - thanks for getting in touch. Approx cost are as follows and include VAT: Electric motor - £10,000 30kWh litium battery - £10,000 Solar and tilting frames - £1,000 Victron, cabling, isolators etc. - £3,000 Labour - £8,000 I hope this help and if you have a specific project in mind I can firm up the prices. Tim
Excellent tour, lovely boat. How much travel can you get on a full charge or half charge? And if the weather turns off gray for a few days with rain, and you are not near anyplace to get shore power, what then? I love the concept, but what are the contendgucies?
Hi Paul - It depends on how fast you go and how much sun is around. Normal boat speed takes 1kW and the sun can produce that. Helius has 38kWh in her battery. I have a feeling you didn't pick that there was a large marine generator on board. However on our boats generators tend to be the most expense and least used item on board. Cheers Tim
@@mothership_marine no I am sorry I didn't see the generator. I am 66yrs old and I see the world trying to get away from fossil fuel. Any time I see something new, like your boat, I find myself submerged in questions. Solar is a great alternative and I was just looking for a better understanding. Thank you for your response.
All fantastic and quiet, and eco, etc etc. But slightly surprised you didn't fit a "azi-pod" instead of a traditional prop-shaft and rudder? Then, along with a bow-thruster, the boat could turn in it's own length (ie: spin on the spot) for super-manoeuvrability!
Thanks for getting in touch. Actually this boat can spin on its own lenght when the tiller is hard over. Slow moving large props are very efficient and easy to clean when you his a patch of weeds! Cheers Tim
Hi and thanks for commenting. Well the future is the future and I don't have a crystal ball but I think that the installation we have for Steve will match his usage. There is never a one size fits all when it comes to this type of work. Tim
Hi Tim I was very impressed by your 15kw motor and hopefully will have one fitted into our new narrowboat being built at the moment. Looking forward to seeing how you get on with this conversion
Thanks Trevor. Can we talk on the phone or email - tim@mothershipmarine.com as the builder will need to get the motor mounts right for an easy fit. Cheers Tim
Omg perfect perfect timing. Looking to move onto canals but looking to convert to electric if I do. I hope you can give guide costs as you go along. Brilliant looking forward to this. Thank u 🙏
When the silicon goes black or orange that is mold. In Canada we have a silicon that is intended for kitchens and bathrooms because it has antimold properties. B&Q may have such a product.
It’s great to be able to do this for Steve. He’s got a great boat set up nicely as a live aboard. It’s timely now as lithium batteries coming down in price. Thanks for the compliment. Tim
I also have some specific technical questions. 1 - Given that hybrid narrowboats often have a primary voltage circuit of 48v, when total amp hour lithium capacity is quoted is this at 48 volts or is capacity normalized to 12v to produce a comparable cross industry number? 2 - Does Helius have two black water holding tanks to avoid a long pipe to the aft tank? 3 - Do you foresee received wisdom on electric motor KW power sizing changing as the narrowboat industry gains more field experience with serial hybrids? Your previous video showed your Mothership engine producing nearly a 1/4 ton pulling force at 10KW. Anything more seems excessive unless a hydrofoil equipped planning narrowboat will be your Crick 2025 exhibit.
Answer below - 1) at 48V 2) 1 tank at the back but we hard pipe in ABS plastic and put the pipe in before we foam 3) I agree with you about the motor - you don't need the power for running but it's essential for manovering and feeling good about you boat. I'm not intending to do Crick - it cost me £15,000 all in all last time. I will concerntate on this sort of thing - do you have a project in mind?
@@mothership_marine Thank you for responding. I have a project in mind but at present not the bank balance to begin that project. Maybe in two years... Until then I will firm up my plan for that future project. At this point I believe Mothership has the definitive implementation of a narrowboat hybrid powertrain. I will be following your newly announced vlog series about the conversion of an older narrowboat to hybrid power.
It is good to see more narrowboat builders exploring the option of a full-width bed right up forward. Is the split bed lift-up mechanism required to meet emergency egress regulations in the RCD (if any are specified)? I can see a tend in narrowboat design in future years with the welldeck function switching to a mini GenSet engine room, thus the argument for a full sized bed right forward becomes more persuasive.
No emergency requirement, just easy of access forward. You might be right about the well deck but equally I'd like to see gernrators gone, but I can't see it for a while - Tim
The broad-shouldered among us thank you for your efforts. My son is a plumber, and when he installs synthetic tubs, he beds it in a bucket sized dollop of plaster. When it dries, the hard plaster takes out all the flex under foot, and dampens the drumming sound of the water on the void surface. Makes for a nicer user experience and eliminates stress cracks from flex. Keep the videos coming. Love the handover trips with the owners.
Hi Wayne. A loaded question. Much depends on the sun. Normal speed uses about 1kw an hour. You can easily get that from the sun on a sunny day. The batteries have 32kwh of usable power so that’s 32 hrs. The generator will charge a 6kw so that’s 4 hours too recharge. With the generator on you also get hot water. Cheers Tim
I'd like to buy one of these however I'd need a LOT of power would it be possible to be solar panels on the sides too? Due to it being on the sides I think protective slides covering them would be a good idea... Would you entertain the idea of sorting that out if I was to buy one?
I’ve thought about putting solar on the sides. In fact in polar latitudes they point the panels at the ice because it reflects light so well. Same for water. The issue is making it look nice. All of our solar panels are custom made. We would design something for the sides. It will be expensive.
@@mothership_marine I have had a thought about it and I don't think I'd need as much power as I thought... My soldering equipment auto turns off and would maybe use 1200w at max power however am usually below 50% of that... With all the equipment computers, screens and printers and so on I'd want to have 2500w - 3000w so I know I can safely run my gear and use electric ovens etc? Do you refurbish narrowboats or is it new only?
That level of power is fine - but you'll struggle in the winter. You'll need another electric supply, genny or shore charge. Yes we do do conversion. Please call if you'd like a chat. It's not cheep though. 07496 574434 Tim
@@mothership_marine 57ft by 10ft wide... roof and sides full of solar panels what would be the out put on a avg winters day? I think a genny would be a good idea for backup if it's horrific weather I agree... What would a full refit cost for 57ft by 10ft with quality insides? I've got some saving up to do hopefully buy before winter don't want to take up too much time on calls deal with that myself customers calling for info and not buying lol
Top notch work, as always. Having been a systems designer on US Navy ships, I admire your selection and integration of appropriate cutting edge tech into a vessel, while paying attention to the art and beauty of the design. Congratulations on another success.
Fantastic specifications and excellent detailing on this boat. I found your previous argument about the electric torque combined with a large prop being most efficient really interesting and is clearly being proven correct. I will be commissioning a boat in the next couple of years and will want air conditioning on board- I saw the 2 vents here and wondered if that was part of a MHRV system? There looks to be space enough to fit a MHRVAC system (which I have put in my last 2 homes). I wonder if it could be connected to a Kensa Shoebox water source heat pump?
Hi there - thanks for your kind comments. The 2 high vents are the high level vents we need to have from a regulatory point of view. Regards your boat. Anything is possible. Cheers Tim
Hi, What made you choose a DC over AC generator? And then… presumably the genny is direct on to the DC Busbar so Why a Quattro rather than a 10kW Multiplus? Cheers
Hi Martyn - Yes you're right the power goes straight to the bus bars. Why DC? Lithium batteries can soak up the power and you always loose a little in conversion. The 10kW is there for appliances, incinerating toilet, Quooker tap etc. There is no link with the 10kW genny and the 10kW Quatro. Cheers Tim
@@mothership_marine Thanks for replying.. Presumably the FP Genny is generating AC and rectifying to DC within the package with their VCS, so the conversion is still happening - just before the Quattro…that was my assumption anyway! I suppose the question then becomes who has the higher / lower losses for that, Victron or FP… I am in the market for both a Genny & a Motor atm, PMAC seems the obvious way to go on the latter! Would love to chat some more to see if we can work together!
Sorry it's taken a while to come back to you Martyn - You are right in your thinking. We've had a lot of dicusions back at base and our conclusion is that the choice of generator depends on usage, ie how much ac and dc you'd use. More dc go for a dc genny and visa versa. AC gennys tend to be a little cheaper because more of them are produced. Cheers Tim
@mothership_marine no the door on toilet was a 3 or 4 mm if you look at video when you opened the door you could see light through wouldn't be too impressed
Thanks Neil and you're quite right - I've fired the vandal. But in his defence and that of the helmsman the aerial very useful for knowing where the front of the very long boat is!
Generally an enclosed prop is more efficient and powerful up to a key speed .. I've seen data relating to rim driven blade... motors and they claimed that the speed limits with motors this size was about ten knots. Not a problem for a waterways boat plus the rim driven designs allow debris and weeds to pass through the center.. the individual blades can be swapped out and self trimming. RM and DeepBlue plus another french group all produce these sort of units. There's also an outboard producer who adds a nozel impeller .. to prevent tip spill and maintain better flow over the blades. There is a sea going cat cruiser called the Earthling E 40 from Australia it's built around efficiency at 10kn cruising it's an E powered hybrid electric system. It's props are huge scimitar form multiblade items.
Hi Rob - the panels should last a good while depending on how well they have been installed - 20 years - but this is not a guarantee more of an expected service life. There is very little possibility of rust if the boat is painted well initially and again if the panels have been properly installed. Cheers Tim
The isolation transformer offers substantially more protection. Both when you are plugged in to the shore and when not plugged in but are surrounded by a lot of other boats using electric in a marina. Hope this helps Tim
Hi Susan - thanks for getting in touch - yes it can but it's a little dificult to say how much without seeing the job - do you have photos that you can send to me - Please get in touch 07496 574434 Tim
G'day. On Stelvio, what is the capacity of the diesel tank for the generator? Also; can you please make a video with the generator running, and compare the sound levels with a diesel powered boat? By the way, very nice boats...
Hi Mate, The diesel tank is about 80 litres. On Stevlio the genny is forward and needs it's own tank. There is another 200L aft, this is for the Eberspatcher and Reflecs stove. It would be hard to do a sound comparison. Generators vary hugely as do motors. Best scenario is to have a good genny in a cocoon forward and you hardly hear it aft when outside. That said solar power is silent and the genny on Stelvio only has 27hrs on the clock. Thanks for the kind comments. Tim
Thanks for the feed back sport. And as paid up Australian myself and from the teaching of the great Australian educational film 'The Castle' I need to tell you 'you're dreaming' Cheers Tim
