Asia's first hybrid electric ferry sets sail for cleaner sea travel

The Taiwanese harbour city of Kaohsiung has launched a new hybrid electric ferry, which it is claimed could revolutionise marine passenger transport across the region by curbing greenhouse and diesel emissions. The city recently re-launched the popular Cijian Island passenger ferry, retrofitted with a Visedo electric propulsion system, replacing the original diesel engine. If successful, the Kaohsiung City Government plans to retrofit the rest of its diesel fleet to help reduce pollution levels around Ta
February 3, 2017 Read time: 1 min
The Taiwanese harbour city of Kaohsiung has launched a new hybrid electric ferry, which it is claimed could revolutionise marine passenger transport across the region by curbing greenhouse and diesel emissions.

The city recently re-launched the popular Cijian Island passenger ferry, retrofitted with a Visedo electric propulsion system, replacing the original diesel engine. If successful, the Kaohsiung City Government plans to retrofit the rest of its diesel fleet to help reduce pollution levels around Taiwan’s largest harbour.

Finnish company Visedo, which manufactures electric drivetrains for marine vessels, commercial vehicles and heavy duty applications, retrofitted the 100-tonne, 23m-long vessel with an electric system to replace the original 300HP diesel engine. The powertrain was designed to ensure pure electric cruising for half the ferry’s operation time and, with fast shore charging, this pure electric percentage can be higher.

Related Content

  • September 13, 2016
    Volvo and KPMG find buses are key to urban air quality
    Buses can play a key role in the battle to improve air quality in towns and cities as David Crawford discovers. A city with a population of half a million would gain about US$12.3 million in annualised societal savings if all its buses ran on electricity instead of diesel. This is the conclusion of a wide-ranging analysis carried out by Swedish bus manufacturer Volvo Group and global business consultants KPMG.
    Read More
  • July 20, 2012
    GE researchers developing at-home refuelling station for NG vehicles
    In what could help fuel widespread adoption of natural gas-powered (NG) vehicles in the US and globally, GE researchers, in partnership with Chart Industries and scientists at the University of Missouri, have been awarded a programme through Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy (ARPA-E) to develop an affordable at-home refuelling station that would meet ARPA-E’s target of $500 per station and reduce re-fuelling times from 5-8 hours to less than 1 hour. Natural gas prices are at an all-time low and t
    Read More
  • April 11, 2018
    Siemens to deliver charging solutions to electric buses to Denmark
    Siemens has entered a three-year agreement with Denmark’s public transport authority Movia to deliver charging stations with a top-down pantograph for electric buses to help slash particle and noise pollution and CO2 emissions. The transaction could potentially benefit 45 municipalities including the city of Copenhagen and Region Zealand. Last year, these towns and two regions of Zealand made a commitment to achieve C02-neutral bus transport by 2030 as part of Movia’s Mobility Plan 2016. In addition, t
    Read More
  • April 10, 2012
    Why integrated traffic management needs a cohesive approach
    Traffic control is increasingly being viewed as one essential element of a wider ‘system of systems’ – the smart city. Jason Barnes, Jon Masters and David Crawford report on latest ideas and efforts for making cities ‘smarter’ Virtually every element of the fabric and utilitarian operations that make urban areas tick can now be found somewhere in the mix that is the ‘smart city’ agenda. Ideas have expanded and projects pursued in different directions as the rhetoric on making cities ‘smarter’ has grown. App
    Read More

Highlighted Content