Auckland’s electric ferries are taking shape, wharf superchargers aren’t

Aucklanders who ferry to work are used to suffering regular cancellations from breakdowns in a fleet of 27 aging, unreliable diesel vessels - some of which seem louder than 10,000 lawnmowers - and crew shortages at fleet operator Fullers, not to mention this last news that service on some routes is being suspended.

Auckland Transport is promising a shinier, silent and reliable future, bankrolled to the tune of some $150 million in Auckand Council and Government funds - some of which was tangibly on show today.

Media were taken on a tour of East Tamaki boat builder McMullen & Wing, where two fully-electric ferries are taking shape. Construction began late last year. Each will pack 12 tonnes worth of lithium-ion batteries, driving four electric motors and four Hamilton Jet propulsion systems.

But the required superchargers on wharves - a $30m project - are still at the request-for-proposal stage.

The electric ferries will each carry up to 200 passengers.

And while today’s diesel dungas have little room for bikes, e-bikes and e-scooters, the new vessels will be able to carry 24 - and inside a cabin rather than being exposed to the salt air.

6% of PT, 20% of emissions

The new, zero-emission ferries will also be a big contrast to today’s fleet - which carries 6 per cent of Auckland’s commuters but produces 20 per cent of all emissions from public transport as it burns through 13 million litres of diesel per year.

Michael Eaglen, the co-founder and CEO of EV Maritime, the McMullen & Wing spinoff that’s handling the electric ferries’ design and integration, says they do cost more upfront than diesel ferries (central government chipped in $27m to cover 75 per cent of the cost of the two pure electric vessels shown off today; Auckland Transport allocated $80m for seven hybrids or electric boats to follow. AT has also earmarked $30m for the electrification of piers).

One of two electric ferries under construction at McMullen & Wing in East Tamaki for Auckland Transport. The vessels are designed by EV Maritime. A total of nine electric and hybrid ferries are in the works. Photo / Michael Craig

But he says the electric ferries will be cheaper over their lifetimes, due to lower “fuel” costs and less maintenance thanks to fewer moving parts. (Although one wrinkle is that just like the lithium-ion batteries in your electric car, laptop or cellphone, the ferries’ batteries will lose capacity over time. Eaglen says depending how much care is taken with their recharging, they’ll last somewhere between two and 10 years. Replacing each ferry’s batteries will cost around $1m).

A render of what it will look like inside one of the two "EVM200" electric ferries. While the batteries will weigh 12 tonnes, designer EV Maritime says the vessel's lightweight carbon fibre hull will be around 10 tonnes lighter than traditional materials. The first two hybrids, being built by Whanganui boat builder Q-West, will have heavier aluminium hulls.

McMullen & Wing says after overcoming a skill shortage (some workers were drafted in from the Philippines) and Covid supply chain issues, the firm should have the first vessel on the water by June next year, with the second launched a couple of months later.

Come on and plug me in

Less certain is whether there’ll be superchargers on wharves by that time.

The first two electric ferries (and seven hybrids to follow) will be able to run throughout the day by topping-up those 12 tonnes of batteries in just five minutes for an Auckland-to-Devonport run (that is, within the time it takes for customers to get on or off), or five to 10 minutes for the longer Half Moon Bay and Hobsonville Point sailing.

Auckland’s first two electric ferries are under construction at McMullen & Wing in East Tamaki. Each will carry 12 tonnes of batteries. Top-up charges will take 5 minutes for city-to-Devonport, 10 minutes for a Hobsonville Point run pic.twitter.com/fvVIFqHa9Y

— Chris Keall (@ChrisKeall) August 22, 2023

But for such quick turnaround top-ups, some serious juice will be required. Specifically, two 1.1 megawatt superchargers delivering a total 2.2 megawatts of direct current - or enough to power a medium-sized town.

These are little beyond the drawing board stage, with the contract for the complex build yet to be awarded.

Above and below: More renders of the EVM200's interior.

“AT undertook the first stage of an open market procurement in early 2023 for ferry charging equipment at Half Moon Bay, Hobsonville Point and the Downtown ferry terminal. A Registration of Interest process was completed to shortlist suppliers who could meet AT’s technical and commercial objectives for the project, to be invited to a Request for Proposal process,” an AT spokesman told the Herald earlier this week.

Image / Supplied

“The Request For Proposal process is ongoing with a contract award date anticipated before the end of calendar 2023.”

Assuming the tender is wrapped up by year’s end, “The installation and commissioning of charging equipment will be staged over 2024 and 2025,” the spokesman said.

Auckland Transport programme manager Nathan Cammock - who is driving the electric ferry project for AT - stresses industry-standard components will be used, although he acknowledges it will still be a “complex” project. He told the Herald the supercharges would be phased in. He says the first, on Queen’s Wharf (the one that hosts the Ferry Terminal) could be operational by September next year.

Auckland Transport bought 4 ferries from Fullers last year. AT is spending $15m to give them new diesel engines and other upgrades. Wanderer (pictured) and Starflyte are the first back on the water. D5 and Tiri Kat will shortly go in for their refurb. They'll be back early 2024 pic.twitter.com/vMWWxepOni

— Chris Keall (@ChrisKeall) August 22, 2023

Eaglen says while the first boat should be on the water by mid-next year (the best-case scenario would be early next year) there would then be extensive testing, followed by crew training. He says it could be 2025 by the time the vessels are handed over to AT for commercial launch.

The batteries will be split between each catamaran hull. They are rated to last between two and 10 years and will cost around $1 million to replace. Image / Supplied

The first of the two 300-passenger hybrid ferries, being built by Whanganui’s Q-West, is not due until around April 2025 - although any absent supercharges will not be an immediate issue given it will pack both battery and diesel-powered engines - and the diesel engine will be routinely used for trips beyond the inner harbour. The second hybrid is due in 2026. Fullers led the initial design and development of the hybrid vessels. Both vessels are funded by AT and Waka Kotahi at a cost of around $20m each.

The remaining vessels, which may be electric, hybrid or a combination of both, will be put to a competitive tender.

None of the pure electric hybrid ferries will be first to the punch. Wellington got a smaller, $12m electric ferry last year.

Then there are some challenges that are more boardroom than engineering.

Cammock says 90 per cent of funding is already in the bag, but the balance still has to be signed off in the transport plan.

There’s also a seismic shift under way in terms of who controls what. Fullers used to own and operate Auckland’s ferry fleet (bar a handful of Belaire and Sealink vessels).

AT says ferry patronage peaked in the post-World War II, pre-Harbour Bridge era at around 10 million passenger trips per year. That had sunk to around 1m trips per year by the early 1990s, but hit 6.3m in 2019 pre-Covid and is currently around 40 per cent below that. Photo / Supplied

Last year, AT bought four diesel ferries from Fullers for $5m, then lined them up to get more modern diesel engines and electronics in a $10m refurbishment programme (two - Wanderer and Starflyte - are already back on the water, complete with new AT livery. The other two - D5 and Tiri Kat - are about to get the refurb treatment for relaunch early next year). All four will be owned by AT and operated by Fullers.

Often get the crew message, and sometimes weather - but two new excuses over recent days: fuel (what is this, a Mad Max movie?) and tides (wait what - tidal activity happens? Is there some kind of chart that tells when?) pic.twitter.com/tunjzTQ6Zk

— Chris Keall (@ChrisKeall) July 26, 2023

The first two electric ferries will be owned by AT, with Fullers as the operator.

The five hybrids will also be owned by AT, bar the initial vessel commissioned by Fullers), but the operator has yet to be appointed.

Pier-to-pier networking pic.twitter.com/Bb8ACSHPZ3

— Chris Keall (@ChrisKeall) January 15, 2020

AT’s plan is to electrify all of Auckland’s ferry fleet - with the possibility of hydrogen making an appearance later on.

It will take a decade or more.

Auckland ferry commuters are used to a wait.

Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald’s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.