Govind Tekale
Paris Olympics will be a fascinating environment friendly jamboree. The engaging highlight of the opening ceremony of the Olympics will be a magnificently decorated ferrying of all the nation’s continents across the Seine River. Torqueedo, one of the leaders at the global market on electricity mobility on water, stated that four of its boats will have the facility of batteries and electric motors. Torqueedo’s customised solutions division has helped in preparing the boats. Paris will create history by setting the heaviest and longest electric boat ever used at the Seine River, also known as ‘Mistinguett’.
“We are proud to support the city with our latest Customised Solutions Business Unit project while setting new standards in sustainability for the 2024 Olympic Games,” told Matthias Vogel, the senior vice president of the customised solutions business unit in Torqueedo. “The conversion of the Mistinguett to an all-electric propulsion system demonstrates how traditional vessels can be equipped with state-of-the-art technology to glide quietly and emission-free across the water in the future. As the world leader in electric mobility on the water, we have been developing customised electric propulsion solutions for over 19 years to create the best boating experience for our customers.”
Compared to other countries, Paris has taken climate change very seriously by introducing these innovative electric boats at the Seine River as part of the Olympics 2024. Torqueedo provides a unique alternative with zero emissions to conventional engines. Mistinguett has rolled out a new idea with two diesel engines for the propulsion system and also included a power generator for the air cooling, lights and kitchen. It has been rebuilt with six Deep Blue battery 80 systems and two Deep Blue 100i motors. Mistinguett is being used for different events throughout the year, like team building, marriage, incentive meetings, celebrations, and birthdays. Two extra Deep Blue battery 80 systems have been added to hotel lighting and food refrigerators for this reason.
France has a very important role in land navigation, having 800 km of rivers and 600 km of canals. The French government has played a crucial role in rebuilding boats with electric propulsion through the state owned waterway navigation authority Voies Navigables de France (VNF). France is leading from the front in making the transition to electric power trains manageable for many vessels. France has also offered to subsidise up to 90% of rebuild costs. They are showing great dedication in reducing carbon footprints and saving the country’s natural waterways. 30 ships will be used with electric and hybrid drives at the opening ceremony at Seine in Paris. The goal is to decarbonise all inland waterway transport in France.
The opening ceremony will be held in water for the first time in the world. 30 ships are being used with electric drives for the opening ceremony at Seine to show the importance of climate change. The VNF and the Haropa port have set an example with decarbonisation of inland shipping in the country. Shipping companies are working day in and day out to decrease the CO2 footprints on the ship fleets and return to eco-friendly drives such as fuel cells, hybrid drives, and electric motors.
Horapa port has the opportunity to host the Olympic Games and accelerate this energy transition on French waters. A well-planned, comprehensive method has been used to modernise and create new vessels. Five million euros have been used in this program. This money is being utilised to electrify 20 ships that were diesel-powered at the Seine River. Eleven extra ships will be battery powered. As per the calculations of the Paris Harbour Company, the cost is more than 38 million euros. Therefore, 1.2 million euros per ship.
Of the ships to be changed, 60 percent will be used with purely electric drives. The remaining 40 percent will be used in hybrid drives. 63 percent of the shipping companies are depending on battery electric drives and 27 percent on hybrid drives. The remaining nine percent will run on hydrogen. This programme is part of the river shipping in Paris that will be completely climate neutral by 2037. To implement this, charging stations are being installed for the electric boats. At the Port de Grenelle, three moorings are already connected to the electric grind. VNF and Haropa port have placed 44 charging stations at the moorings in the Seine. Another 82 charging stations will be placed at the Seine River and Oise at the end of 2024. In the coming years, this will be more and more. A total of 9.2 million euros are being invested by Haropa Port and VNF for the development of the charging infrastructure of electric ships.
For nearly 50 years, the Vedettes de Paris river boat tour company has been organising tours on the Seine River. People can go to tours in the Seine River on electric boats. “We are a company since 1976.” Said marketing director Julie Devernay. . “It is one of the main companies on the Seine. We have five boats, and three of those are electric boats.” These electric boats will be used during the Olympics 2024 opening ceremony. This time the opening ceremony has been held differently, with a 4-mile-long floating procession in the Seine River.
The company has spent 12 months rebuilding older gas boats with electric engines that have 550 kilowatt-hour banks and electric cars. “It’s the retrofit of the boats to transform them and switch them from gasoline to electric. It’s the same hull, the same boat, we have just installed electric batteries equivalent to roughly 10 electric cars in terms of charging power.” Said Devernay. The company has also placed superchargers that will enable them to be part of the 2024 Olympics to be more eco-friendly.
The company said that their electric boats reduce the monetary cost of diesel and maintenance and decrease the carbon footprints. Vedettes has a plan to become 100% carbon neutral and to make all their boats electric. The torqueedo vessels describe the future of sustainable transport in water. In view of the 2024 Olympics, Paris is moving in the right direction of its goal to improve emissions and has used the longest and heaviest electric boat ever on the Seine River. The Mistinguett also has a system for dinner cruises and artistic shows, and it can hold up to 248 passengers and will carry the tourist on two tours every day, each having a capacity of two and a half hours.
Similar Posts
Torqueedo’s participation is a significant achievement, including the Mistinguett showing at the World Stage what France can do. The parade will include 90 boats, and there will be several celebrations like dance shows on the riverbank. Private boating is available in cooperation with a Paris-based boat rental company. It will restart after the Olympic opening ceremony. Each Olympic boat will be carrying 12 athletes and will start at the Pont Manie. This one and a half hour journey will cover one of the iconic landmarks in Paris, including the Eiffel Tower and the Notre Dame Cathedral. The boats are totally electric, and each skipper will lead the ride. Users can reserve a spot through the Uber app. This move by Uber follows the introduction of ‘Uber boat’ service on the Thames in London, with boat operator Thames Clippers from Barking Riverside Pier to Putney Pier in west.
