- published: 10 Jul 2015
- views: 1711606
While a significant majority of water vessels are powered by diesel engines, with sail power and gasoline engines also remaining popular, boats powered by electricity have been used for over 120 years. Electric boats were very popular from the 1880s until the 1920s, when the internal combustion engine took dominance. Since the energy crises of the 1970s, interest in this quiet and potentially renewable marine energy source has been increasing steadily again, especially as solar cells became available, for the first time making possible motorboats with an infinite range like sailboats. The first practical solar boat was probably constructed in 1975 in England.
An early electric boat was developed by the German inventor Moritz von Jacobi in 1839 in St Petersburg, Russia. It was a 24-foot (7.3 m) boat which carried 14 passengers at 3 mph. It was successfully demonstrated to Emperor Nicholas I of Russia on the Neva River.
It took more than 30 years of battery and motor development before the electric boat became a practical proposition. This method of propulsion enjoyed something of a golden age from about 1880 to 1920, when gasoline-powered outboard motors became the dominant method.
I'm driving on the left lane
On the highway through my head
For fame I gave my soul away
I never felt so glad
Electric poet in me
I am not afraid of words
Come and take me
Electric, electric poet in me
I got the gift to play with words
In writing, spoken too
A great magician I became
So now I'm tricking you
Electric poet in you
Are you afraid of words
Let me take you
Electric, electric poet in you
I got the gift to play with words
In writing, spoken too
A great magician I became
So now I'm tricking you
Electric poet in you
Are you afraid of words
Let me take you