Let’s electrify the World!

Immediately after my graduation as an electrical engineer I moved to Munich where I also visited the picturesque Königsee (King’s Lake) at the southernmost tip of Bavaria. I was immediately fascinated of course by its beauty, but also by the boats on the lake which are all electric, actually since 1909! Riding in silence while gliding electrically-powered over this lake and watching the alpine mountains around is an almost breathtaking experience.

My first visit to the Königsee was in the days of lead-acid batteries. Now, we live in the age of lithium-enabled rechargeable batteries with for example cable-free gadgets and power tools. This year I spent my vacation driving through parts of Scandinavia. While visiting Sweden, I was fascinated by the well-established EV charging infrastructure for cars and the closer I travelled to Gothenburg, the more EVs were on the roads.

Shortly after crossing the border (no checkpoint at all, just a road sign “Welcome to Norway”) I came to the town of Halden, where I saw a parking lot with many public transport buses charging. I discovered, that since 2022 all the 30 public buses in this area operate 100 % electric. Even in Oslo, the capital, more than 85 % of the buses run on electricity only.

A few kilometers further, there was a hydraulic excavator, which was fully electric. Nearby was a pop-up high-performance charger. It makes sense to operate the hydraulic pumps with electrical motors, because diesel-powered excavators idle the motor a lot of the time, while an electric motor just stays silent without needing energy during idle times.

Then I proceeded to the busiest ferry in Norway crossing the Oslo Fjord from Moss to Horten, within about 30 minutes of cruising time. It was a great experience to ride almost silently without significant vibration on a 100 % electric ferry carrying lots of trucks, cars, RVs and bicycles. The giant power connectors of the chargers were connected for less than 12 minutes before the RoRo ferry took off again for its next 10 km trip across the Fjord. Also, a Swedish company has demonstrated a fully electric 160 nautical miles (almost 300 km) ferry ride from Gothenburg to Oslo, which is intended more for commuter traffic. Check out youtu.be/5fqnbskTAjI for more fascinating details.

Omitting the fossil fuel guzzling motors can open up new market opportunities and bring new levels of convenience and cost. So let’s electrify the World! We at Bodo’s Power Systems will support you during this electrification journey – in the future additionally with stories featuring rechargeable batteries and the power-related electronics in and around these energy storage devices.

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My green tip of the month: Whenever possible, ride the electric way or use a bicycle.

Kind Regards,
Alfred