MotoBattello 3: The First Hybrid Retrofit Project
The Retrofit
VULKAN's Hybrid & Electric Drive Solutions team has successfully completed the first hybrid retrofit project for the local public transportation company ACTV in Venice. After passing the inspection visits and receiving certification and clearance for navigation from the Port Authority of Venice, the waterbus will now be entrusted to navigation operations and will enter a phase of verification during which VULKAN will train the ACTV crews and maintenance teams. Before its final launch on the Grand Canal, the hybrid motorboat will be presented to the public with a new livery and new equipment at the Venice Boat Show 2025, which will take place in Venice from May 29 to June 2, 2025.
The conversion project was part of a major investment project for sustainable mobility in the Venice lagoon. VULKAN Italia was awarded the contract for this project by ACTV in mid-2022. The conversion of the Vaporetto carried out by VULKAN Italia is the most complex project to date in the field of Hybrid and Electric Drive Solutions and will thus become a reference for subsequent planned and already financed hybridization projects in the Venice lagoon and beyond.
“We welcome this new piece of technology in the development of the fleet,” says Gianluca Cuzzolin, Operations Director of ACTV Laguna Mobility, in a press release. “Now the unit will be entrusted to the experience of the crews and the navigation center, which will carry out all operational checks before final commissioning. The renewal of the fleet, also from a technological point of view, is a challenge not only for maintenance, but also for the captains, chief engineers, assistant engineers and sailors who steer the vessels every day and carry thousands of passengers in all weather and sea conditions.”
Challenge:
Solution:
The project comprised the detailed design and structural readjustment of the on-board systems (in particular the serial hybrid system and relevant accessories), the hybrid drive installation and subsequent operational tests and sea-trial.
The new hybrid drive consists of two subsystems – energy generation and storage:
- Power unit: Custom 125 kW Variable speed Generator based on Stage V diesel engine
- Energy storage: 8 LFP battery modules connected through custom DCDC converters to the Main DC Switchboard
User: 147 kW electric motor driving the propulsion line.
Advantages:
The main advantage of a serial hybrid drive system is to offer considerable flexibility to the drive system, optimizing the combustion engine’s performance and improving its efficiency. This flexibility is due to the complete separation between energy sources and consumers, which enables a more efficient management of the energy produced.
The new drive system is therefore characterized by the following advantages:
- Significantly reduced pollutant emissions (-28 %)
- Reduced vibrations
- Increased ride comfort
