Are electric boats not viable?

[Ghojo]

I can't find any fully electric boat in the workshop and my selfbuild engine batteries drain way too fast..

Are electric vehicles not viable anymore in the game? :(

[Ra-Ra-Rasputin]

They are. They're not fast, though, you're practically trading fuel efficiency for speed with an electric drive

[Ghojo]

Originally posted by Ra-Ra-Rasputin:

They are. They're not fast, though, you're practically trading fuel efficiency for speed with an electric drive

Thank you for the answer, this is really the information I was hoping for.

Now I just need to learn how to properly build advanced electric engines. :)

[Ra-Ra-Rasputin]

It's a fickle balance between how much the engine produces vs. how much power you want.

Keep in mind that electric motors are unique in that they consume electricity based on load, so you'll see a load spike when starting off, that will stabilize if you're in a planing boat for instance.

Contrary to popular belief, you don't need a lot of batteries, since Stormworks doesn't separate voltage and current, and you can't run batteries in parallel or series to get different results. In most small setups, a set of small batteries or a pair of mediums is more than enough.

I have a guide that has a part on utilizing electric motors as both assisting diesel engines and pure electric drive. It's the engine design guide :)

[Toprongy]

And what about making the top of the ship mostly out of solar panels? I was thinking about that
I built a boat which has both diesel and electric and I was thinking about having solars for better recharge

[Ra-Ra-Rasputin]

Unfortunately unlike under Celestia, solar power in the universe of Stormworks is relatively weak, and as an effect a ton of solar panels produces about enough charge to boil one egg in half an hour

[Toprongy]

Originally posted by Ra-Ra-Rasputin:

Unfortunately unlike under Celestia, solar power in the universe of Stormworks is relatively weak, and as an effect a ton of solar panels produces about enough charge to boil one egg in half an hour

sad news but I will try it anyway ^^

[Ghojo]

Originally posted by Ra-Ra-Rasputin:

It's a fickle balance between how much the engine produces vs. how much power you want.

Keep in mind that electric motors are unique in that they consume electricity based on load, so you'll see a load spike when starting off, that will stabilize if you're in a planing boat for instance.

Contrary to popular belief, you don't need a lot of batteries, since Stormworks doesn't separate voltage and current, and you can't run batteries in parallel or series to get different results. In most small setups, a set of small batteries or a pair of mediums is more than enough.

I have a guide that has a part on utilizing electric motors as both assisting diesel engines and pure electric drive. It's the engine design guide :)

Good info you wrote down, thanks for that. I will search for your guide now. :)

Does the dev actually change the "physics" of the game often? A lot of the workshop items are outdated when trying them.

And I really hope the dev will focus more on electricity in a next update, I am a huge fan of pure electric vehicles and since it's a game, we can have more possibilities than in our current real world.


EDIT: I read your guide, but it only mentions hybrid-electric engines?

[Ra-Ra-Rasputin]

The most significant engine overhaul was done a good half a year back, but there's usually plenty of warning before anything very significant happens.

I too would love focus on electrics, but currently they're working on 2 significant updates, the career update and scripting, so the amount they can put work into anything at this very moment is quite limited, and electrics overhaul would require a large update