Hit the Waves With Battery Power
A new, all-electric personal watercraft promises to be as environmentally friendly as it is fun to ride and competitively priced.(dell inspiron 6400 battery)
The Green Samba is a personal watercraft — what the rest of us call a jet ski, even though jet ski is a trademarked term — designed by husband-and-wife team Rodrigo and Kristen Silveira of Columbus, Ohio. Their company, Silveira Customs, designs and builds carbon-fiber components for everything from race cars to suitcases. Now they’re bringing that expertise in lightweight materials to the water.(toshiba pa3534u-1bas battery)
Personal watercraft bad rep among environmentalists. While phasing out carbureted two-stroke engines has greatly reduced the oil and gas leaking into waterways, the popular toys are noisy and still pollute. The Silveira’s solution? Go electric.
“We sensed that the larger PWC manufacturers were in no hurry to address these issues, so we took it upon ourselves to produce the first viable electric ski: a PWC that would be completely silent and emissions free,” said Kristen Silveira.(Acer aspire 3500 battery)
Silveira Customs isn’t alone in developing EV watercraft. Eco Watercraft is developing an electric jet ski it says will be available next year, but we haven’t heard much from them since they made a big splash last year. Last we heard, the Eco1 was expected to cost $32,000. The Silveiras are looking at something a little more affordable.
When they started working on the Green Samba, the Silveiras tried adding an electric motor to an existing jet drive, but it didn’t work very well.
“We learned that a lot of torque is required to produce the right performance on an existing jet-drive propulsion, and that much of the battery is lost in order to get the watercraft to plane,” Kristen Silveira said.
To get the necessary oomph without draining the battery or sacrificing performance, the Silveiras designed a new jet propulsion unit that uses one-sixth as much power as a conventional unit but doesn’t sacrifice performance.
Rather than focusing on a single, high-powered jet propulsion drive unit, the Silveiras developed twin direct-drive propulsion “pods” that maximize efficiency and allow for easier turns while on the water. They claim their watercraft tops out at 65 mph and the battery is good for three hours.
Beyond performance, the Green Samba has other advantages over its petrol-powered brethren. For one, it’s silent.
“The complete silence of the motor will be a great advantage for wildlife viewing,” Silveira said. “It will also open up waterways that currently do not allow PWCs. Having only one moving part (as far as the motor goes) will make for great reliability and low maintenance.”
Silent running broadens the Green Samba’s appeal. In addition to riders interested in low-emissions performance, Silveira says research groups have expressed interest in using silent watercraft to monitor waterways without disturbing wildlife.
Kristen Silveira says 500 Green Sambas should be ready by next year. No word on pricing until the third quarter of this year, but she says the Green Samba should be “affordable and very competitive with the existing PWCs.” For the sake of comparison, a stand-up Yamaha WaveRunner with a 2-stroke engine will set you back around $7,500.
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Can a 2006 Corolla tow a small trailer?
I have a 2006 Corolla S and want to buy a small personal watercraft(think waverunner). I have no idea if it is possible even tow a PWC trailer with my car. Has anyone ever used a Corolla to tow anything? What do I need to buy for my car in order to do so?
I towed my 22 foot sailboat home with it and use it for launching. I don’t recommend it for this, but you should be OK with you PWC
yamaha waveraider 1100 pwc try out
