Hyke presents small fuel cell hydrogen ferry in Norway

The Norwegian company Hydrolift Smart-City Ferries (Hyke for short) has developed a purely electric passenger ferry with space for 50 people, which weighs only ten tonnes and can be produced in series.

The 15-metre-long and 5.7-metre-wide Hyke Shuttle 0001 has an output of between 60 kW and 150 kW, depending on the version, and has batteries with gross capacities of between 95 kWh and 285 kWh. The electric ferry is equipped with solar panels on the roof and can be automatically charged wirelessly.  Hyke gives the maximum speed as 15 knots (28 km/h), and the energy consumption as ten to twelve kWh per hour at a speed of six knots.

Paris already ordered four units of the electric ferry for use at the Olympic Games next summer. Hyke expects to be able to build about 15 to 20 boats a year initially and 100 units a year in the future. Hyke is also developing its own autonomous navigation technology, which is built into all the boats. In the future, the e-ferries will therefore also be able to be operated without a captain.

Norway has been quite progressive when it comes to attempting to electrify the ferry system in the nation, with announcement having been made just in March that Norway’s longest ferry route was to be electrified by 2025. Electric drive systems haven’t been the only focus for the Norwegian ferry world, as Ballard was contracted to deliver fuel cell modules for ferries in February last year. In 2021, both the world’s largest electric ferry at the time, as well as three additional electric ferries were commissioned in Norway. In fact, the work to integrate new energy technologies into the ferry system in Norway goes back as far as 2018.

“We have to cut CO2 emissions, we have to reduce the queue on the way and we have to revitalize the city. And revitalization of the city often means developing new residential areas and offices at the water’s edge, which in turn raises new transport challenges and opportunities,” said Hyke CEO Bjørn Utgård.

elbil.no (in Norwegian), hydroliftsmartcityferries.com, linkedin.com (video)