The World's Biggest Electric Ship Charges Up
Postedabout 2 months agoActiveabout 2 months ago
spectrum.ieee.orgTechstory
calmpositive
Debate
40/100
Electric ShipsSustainable TransportationMaritime Technology
Key topics
Electric Ships
Sustainable Transportation
Maritime Technology
The world's largest electric ship has been launched, with discussions focusing on its potential applications, infrastructure requirements, and comparisons to traditional fossil-fuel-powered vessels.
Snapshot generated from the HN discussion
Discussion Activity
Moderate engagementFirst comment
2h
Peak period
8
0-12h
Avg / period
3.3
Comment distribution13 data points
Loading chart...
Based on 13 loaded comments
Key moments
- 01Story posted
Nov 7, 2025 at 4:28 AM EST
about 2 months ago
Step 01 - 02First comment
Nov 7, 2025 at 6:44 AM EST
2h after posting
Step 02 - 03Peak activity
8 comments in 0-12h
Hottest window of the conversation
Step 03 - 04Latest activity
Nov 12, 2025 at 9:25 AM EST
about 2 months ago
Step 04
Generating AI Summary...
Analyzing up to 500 comments to identify key contributors and discussion patterns
ID: 45844832Type: storyLast synced: 11/20/2025, 1:26:54 PM
Want the full context?
Jump to the original sources
Read the primary article or dive into the live Hacker News thread when you're ready.
It's long distance and can be rough seas. In fact it's so far that I can't be sure if they would go East or West, neither seems compellingly better offhand.
e.g. If your choice is towing a 225 car ferry around either Cape Agulhas or Tierra del Fuego, then more than trivial planning will be involved. And likely, waiting for the right time of year. i.e. Not winter in June -> September.
It was just such a better experience quietly drifting along this beautiful and scenic place. It made me realize how loud normal boats are.
We took the ferry from Iceland to Denmark via the Faroe Islands. The entire multi day trip our cabin stank of diesel fumes because of how the wind was blowing the exhaust.
Crew said it was normal, my headache didn’t agree.
Absolutely incredible
I’m guessing they’re in turn a large battery that draws a standard current so the ferry can be fast charged.
Maybe not as amazing, but a key piece of infrastructure.
> The two cities are 60 kilometers apart, a distance Hull 096 is expected to travel in 90 minutes. Direct current charging stations will be installed at each port, and will draw energy from the two countries’ grids. A full charge is expected to take just 40 minutes.
More details on how this works would also be cool. But would it be that different from one or more scaled up EV fast chargers?
We can assume that the boat won't need a full charge after each 90 minute journey. In other words, "top up" recharging while docked for loading and unloading for the normal period of time will be fine.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incat#Deliveries
The current ships are used as a bus station. Various coaches use the ship, and people can transfer whilst on the ship.
“The FERRY that's also a FLOATING bus terminal. Denmark's STRANGE bus service Copenhagen to Aarhus”
https://youtube.com/watch?v=rTdXe5jDojk
By strange one assumes he means innovative.
EDIT: Ah. It looks like it actually won't be very high speed in normal operation; 25 knots.