Press release
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Press release
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may 11, 2023 - Ed Tec
A behind-the-scenes peak at eD-TEC’s problem-solving during tests of its ground-breaking eD-QDrive all-electric high performance drive
Trials and tribulations: a behind-the-scenes peak at eD-TEC’s problem-solving during tests of its ground-breaking eD-QDrive all-electric high performance drive
- #edtec, manufacturer of holistic marine e-drive platforms, is in the testing phase of its eD-QDrive high-performance electric drive unveiled in September 2022
- The #edtec Believer Team have been busy solving the complex problems that come with high-torque, high-performance drive systems
- The team have shown proof-of-concept of the plug-and-play system and of the drives with initial in-water testing
- #edtec is gearing up for imminent full-scale, full-speed lake trials of both powercat and monohull test boats
It was Thomas Edison, the famous American inventor, who suggested that genius was one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration. For the Believer Team at marine tech start-up #edtec, the path to the commercial launch of the all-electric, high-performance eD-QDrive certainly proves the point.
The company’s genius is to be found in an all-new plug-and-play electric sterndrive system and the technology stack that accompanies it. Unveiled during the Cannes Yachting Festival in September 2022, it quickly sent excited shockwaves through the yachting industry with the promise of the first commercial installation on a powercat design called the Silent-Speed 28 in early 2023 set to show just what this high-power system can deliver.
The brainchild of former VW Group Chief Strategy Officer Michael Jost, who has gathered a team of believers working both within #edtec and as partner companies, the eD-QDrive comprises a transom-mounted sterndrive unit with surface-piercing propeller that is linked to a high-power electric motor, in turn fed by a battery bank with a high C-rate, and controlled by an advanced hardware and software backbone.
Testing times
With the inspiration unveiled, the perspiration began and, as Jost well knows having overseen the transition of a multinational car giant from combustion engines to electric power, being a pioneer of the next big thing often means contending with lots of little issues that arise along the way.
“We meant to start on-water testing in October 2022, so we are six months behind our own timescale,” Jost admits. “But we have found problems and we have learnt a lot – that’s the way it is with prototypes and with new technologies. In the automotive industry, making the same transition, some of our models were delayed by two years or more while the technologies were refined and issues resolved. A friend of mine told me recently that when you have an all-new technology stack, like #edtec does, you have to add pi – in other words, multiply the original timescale by 3.14!”
The good news is #edtec hasn’t had to “add pi”, because the team hope to be testing fully in the water in the next two to three weeks both using the powercat and also a striking-looking monohull they built specially as a test platform. “We also fully expect to find new problems because there is no one else developing this type of high-performance, full-electric technology,” Jost adds. “There is no one else who can climb the mountain but us.”
“The boat is ready, the drives are ready and we are finally ready for the sea,” Jost continues. “The tech is much more complex than even we realised, but we challenge ourselves and we have fixed problem after problem, because in the real world, between the idea on a sheet of paper and the final successful product there is a lot of pain.”
Because much of the technology is entirely new, and different even to that used in electric cars, the #edtec Believer Team are coming across some interesting problems. One of the most persistent in the initial test phase has been the discovery of high electromagnetic noise from the high-torque motors, which in turn can cause electrical interference in other systems and circuits. This, says Jost, is one of the challenges in breaking new ground by using far more powerful motors than have yet been implemented in the marine sector.
“How do you avoid electrical noise? It’s not so simple,” Jost states. “We’re dealing with a 700-volt system, extremely high torque motors, and more than 100kW continuous supply, although we didn’t expect quite so much electrical noise. So we’ve worked with our electric partners Baumüller to understand the problem and find a solution, and we are implementing that now. We have learnt a lot.”
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