Austal's VOLTA Auto Express - Electric powered vehicle-passenger ferries

[@donkoh5738]

I was wondering what those 3 giant circles on the side of the hull were for ! This design and concept is truly brilliant. Congratulations once again to you, Austal . Respects

[@Dave_Sisson]

I find the competition between the two surviving companies in the large fast ferry industry interesting. Incat and Austal have been competing for decades, which keeps their products continuously evolving.

[@jacksbackable]

Be interesting to see once there’s one up and running! 🤨

[@Justprayfirst]

Where does the electricity come from to recharge it?

[@McMicGera]

Cool to see electric ferries in the future. Totally makes sense on ships like these. I am wondering if it would be refittable to older combustion ships..?!

[@ingridschellhaas7041]

a very nice construction

[@TinhPham-wx3sb]

What software are you using for 3d rendering? Thanks.

[@FuneralLiveStream]

Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and Barbados just made an announcement to create a ferry service between the three countries. Can you sell this idea strongly to them?

[@seanavery7265]

Dear austal,why not charge as you go with a water turbine ?🤔⛵💕

[@TrinispaceTT]

This is interesting

[@RobotoForgoto]

Coool!

[@ianvandyke3996]

How much in dollars would these go for

[@genesis_junior1953]

High eight figures to low nine figures approximately.

[@nordfresse]

I am really surprised to see a vessel of this size to be powered by batteries. I thought that Hydrogen would be the power source of choice for ships this big.

[@josephkolodziejski6882]

I always see a lot of comments like this about ferries - many people seem to equate large scale with a high energy per weight. Most ferries don't need the absolute energy content per weight beyond a single leg, and can use repetitive charging cycle with high durability chemistries. Lithium titanium-oxide chemistry is of note as well as LFP, or simply a shallow charging of NMC.

[@ChristofferETJ]

With the inefficiencies of hydrogen production, transportation, and storage, the compromises with current battery technology are suddenly not so scary.

[@jurajbuljanovic5572]

Lost at net zero!

[@fredrickolsen838]

A nice concept, but it relies on batteries that require lithium. The lithium mining industry is going to explode with huge demand. I researched how many new cars are sold each year around the world and if they all require a lithium battery, how much does each car need in lithium? Well, our current mining industry can only support 10% of that demand. Then they will learn how destructive lithium mining is and we will back to square one.