China’s All-Electric Cargo Ship

China announced it is using an all-electric cargo ship for operations in the Pearl River. The country claims that the ship is the world’s first all-electric cargo ship, a 2000 tonne vessel that was launched in the city of Guangzhou.

In an ironic twist, the vessel’s first assignment will be to carry coal through the inland section of the river, transporting it between ports with designs on other applications eventually. “The technology will soon be likely … used in passenger or engineering ships,” said Huang Jialin, head of Hangzhou Modern Ship Design & Research Co., the ship’s designer.

The ship, 230 ft. (70.5 m) long, 45 ft. (14 m) wide, can travel 50 miles (80 km) on two hours of charge at a top speed of 8 mph (12.8 kpm). The ship can carry 2200 tons of cargo with a battery capacity of 2400 kWh and a charge time of two hours, or approximately the amount of time it would take to unload a ship while docked. The battery system contains 1000 lithium-ion packs that can be expanded to include more to meet the needs of heavier cargo or longer distance travel.