Boating is generally considered a fun in the sun activity, so if you’re going to be out
on the water getting cooked by photons, you might as well utilize the surface area of
your vessel to capture some of that tremendous solar energy and put it to good use.
Greenline Yachts was founded with a mission of preserving the environment without sacrificing
comfort, it’s Hybrid concept utilizes best in class technology to create a luxury boating
experience without exhaust, noise or wake. All greenline hybrid yachts come equipped
with an electric motor that also acts a a generator, solar panels, and AC power onboard.
This hybrid system allows for efficient low speed electric propulsion with a running cost
about 10 times lower than burning diesel fuel.
When Greenline contacted me to go for a cruise, I looked them up and saw they were located
in Slovenia, which is a bit far. But when I found out they had their whole lineup of
hybrid yachts here in sunny Fort Lauderdale…
Good morning my name is Udo Willersinn, we are here on a GreenLine 48 hybrid
Greenline is the first and only right now production manufacturer who produces hybrid
boats in the international market
We have about 1200 hybrid boats on the water so for us it's not new, we are already in
generation 5 with our hybrid system and we constantly evolve with new technology.
On the Greenline 48 we have two Volvo diesels with 220 horsepower each. We have two 14 kilowatt
electric motors what turn into 10 kilowatt generators so whenever you move with diesels
your electric units regenerate power to recharge the battery. As well we have solar panels
on the roof what recharge the batteries and of course when you are on land and you can
plug into Shore power you can recharge the batteries on shore power.
The range on electric, we say in a catalogue you can get up to 20 nautical miles. But that’s
not the real story behind it it all depends how much solar charging you get and how you
manage your power and how you use your boat. The perfect scenario for the hybrid drive
is our Intracoastal here where we deal with a lot of slow speed zones. Every time you
have a slow speed zone you go on electric, every time you have a speed zone you can switch
back to diesel so with the alternation going diesel, electric, diesel, electric you can
go all day long and use your hybrid system. Jere we have an electric hydraulic operated
clutch what separates the engine from the E-unit. As soon as you are in electric mode
the clutch disengages your diesel engine and you run your electric motor through a standard
transmission through the shaft. When you switch over to diesel the clutch engages as soon
as the diesel start spinning it turns your electric motor into a generator and any time
you run the diesel through your generator through the gearbox you recharging the batteries
who are located on the side we got one battery here on the starboard side, and two batteries
on the port side.
Greenline Yacths come equipped with integrated solar panels that produce plenty of electricity
to power all systems including home appliances with AC power, and provide additional energy
for the boat’s electric propulsion system.
So here forward of the flybridge you see the two standard solar panels and on top of the
hardtop we have the four additional solar panels who come optional with the t-top.
As you can see it's a very thin high efficiency glass panels who are ventilated underneath
so you don't have any heat transfer from the solar panels to the roof of the cockpit.
Another really nice thing about hybrids when you go in gear there is no bump there is no
movement of the boat you're coming in with 400 rpm’s so that give you a really smooth
forward and reverse and a really easy maneuverability. So you see in a tight spot with the wind it's
very smooth without having the normal jump when you have a boat and you put it in gear,
so you can hardly feel how it goes in gear and it's a very smooth and soft maneuvering.
Bow and stern thrusters are powered by 12 volt batteries charged by the main battery
bank.
To switch gears into the onboard experience, let’s take a quick look at the interior.
The 48 fly comes equipped with a 3 cabin, 3 full bathroom layout, and features furniture
in Golden Teak veneer and a dark laminate salon floor, and onboard this yacht feels
quite spacious and livable.
One of the greatest benefits to having solar panels, is having the ability to generate
AC power onboard at all times through the inverter even without being plugged in at
the marina or running a noisy generator.
If the weather is sunny, and you manage your power efficiently you can live offgrid at
anchor indefinitely. Assuming an average daily power consumption of about 7 kilowatt hours
for all your household needs, your 1.8 kilowatt solar panel system can generate about 9 kilowatt
hours per day, keeping your Lithium Polymer battery bank charged, and your drinks cold.
The coupe version of the 48 maximizes the surface area of the vessels roof to pack in
an additional 600 watts of solar panels, bringing the capacity to 2.4 kilowatts and ensuring
you’ll rarely need to charge from shore power as long as the sun is shining. In combination
with the 48 fly’s 174 gallon water tank, This energy storage system provides self sufficiency
without being overly dependent on the marina.
Okay we are back in the on the dashboard and here in the dashboard we have two gauges to
manage and monitor all your electrical system.
So first of all the simarine gauge. That shows you your house battery on 12 volt, and shows
you your bow and stern thruster batteries what’s all on a 12 volt system.
Down on the Victron color gauge you see how much energy you consume at every time instantly.
If I move the bow or stern thruster you will see a change in voltage in the 12 volt system
and immediately you will see a change in your AC load on the boat because the battery charger
kicked in to recharge your bow thruster battery so you can always monitor every single usage
of the boat from the lithium polymer battery or the house battery.
Brewster how far do we have to go to fly the drone?
Let’s take trip to Slovenia to learn more about the construction process.
Greenline Yachts are handcrafted and custom made, utilizing cutting edge tooling and prototyping
methods, they operate what’s known as an open door shipyard. That means that a customer
can personally pop in at anytime to monitor the building process.
Greenline Yachts have adopted vacuum infusion technology that results in optimal weight
and stiffness, higher quality of materials, as well as being environmentally friendlier.
The Yachts feature a Hybrid Hull design, that has evolved from the Greenline signature hull
design called the Superdisplacement. The hull incorporates some of the properties of a modern
sailing boat hull in that it moves through the water with the least amount of drag.
The hybrid hull maintains a low center of gravity which is important for the vessels
stability, safety, and comfort. This balanced body enables smooth and stable cruising at
higher speeds and optimal fuel consumption and stability at lower cruising speeds.
In fact, the fuel consumption per nautical mile is much lower than that of a comparable
displacement hull and as little as one quarter of a semi displacement, twin engine planing
boat.
Greenline has developed a new fully Electric Drive system that’s the next logical step
in the evolution of sustainable yachting, it features full electric propulsion with
no Diesel motor. Delivery starts for new models equipped with the e-drive system for US customers
later this year.
Greenline’s lineup of yachts available in diesel, hybrid, and the new full electric
drive starts with the modern classic 33 footer, and extends all the way to the 65 foot ocean
class that’s built for long range cruising. The ocean class 65 is capable of a full ocean
crossing, and is the epitome of luxury cruising with modern design and innovative ecological
propulsion. Pricing for the yacht I was aboard, the greenline
48 flybridge with hybrid drive and all the options was 1.3 million US.
So now here we are back at the dock and through all our video shooting and everything we did
not run the diesel motors at all. We just used it for demonstration with the diesel
but that's one of the big advantage of the hybrid you eliminate basically 90-95 % of
your idling hours out of the diesel and that's the worst thing everybody knows for diesel
running on idle.
We believe that the future will be in hybrid and electric propulsion on land as well as
on the water.
We concur Udo, and if you also believe in an Electric Future, please make sure to like
this video and subscribe to our channel. We showcase cutting edge sustainable technology.
You might be interested in watching one of these videos next, thanks for watching and
have a great day.