We mostly don’t spare a thought when we stop by at an electric vehicle charging station. We simply assume our EV auto will be compatible, including the charging port we plug into. Wikipedia confirms most EV makers are migrating to the Tesla standard. Perhaps it is time to standardize marine charging ports too?
Calls to Standardize Marine Charging Ports
Tesla was way ahead of the pack with rolling out electric vehicles in large numbers. It settled on a single charging port design early on, and opened the patent for use by other EV makers in November 2022.
Since then, many electric vehicle manufacturers have adopted the Tesla NACS AC/DC connector. This makes charging stations more compatible between brands.
Seatrade Maritime News posted an item on March 20, 2024, which in hindsight perhaps ought not to have surprised us. We learned there is no commonly-accepted standard for charging ship-board batteries from shore.
This situation is challenging, given the huge number of harbors right around the world. It seems like an alarming oversight, given the need for faster electric vessel roll-out.
Marine batteries may not yet be able to completely replace marine diesel engines. However, they have reached the stage where they can significantly reduce pollution. How then, after all this effort are there still a variety of charging port designs?
Did Designers Have Their Eye on Another Ball?
Perhaps it has only become time to standardize marine charging ports now, because the focus was elsewhere before. Jan-Erik Rasanen, CTO of ship designer Foreship told Seatrade Maritime News, “The question was rather how big should the batteries be, and what was the primary purpose of installing them.
“How do you connect the shape to the grid and start to charge the batteries for the short sea voyages,” he continues. “So, I think that’s where the standardization is lacking. You would never go and buy a car that doesn’t have a standard plug, and nobody would ever sell it.”
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