The black swan of electrification

Repurposed Renault batteries will power tourist e-boats in Paris, writes Sean O’Grady

The batteries weigh 278kg, which is lighter than the fuel tank fitted in the boat when powered by an internal combustion engine (Renault)

Just when you thought you’d run out of reason to buy electric…another one just happens to float by. Or at least it does if you happen to be in Paris, where the principal operator of passenger boats on the Seine is launching the Black Swan. This is the first all-electric passenger boat powered by “second life”, ie used, batteries out of electric cars – in this case Renault models.

Rather than trying to recycle the lithium-ion batteries, similar in concept to those used in laptops, or, worse still, dump them in refill, the Green Vision (who designed the craft), Seine Alliance and Renault are refurbishing them so that they can indeed have a second, aquatic life. Well, it would be insane not to, wouldn’t it.

Joking apart (if that is what you’d call such painful punnery), the project’s backers say it’s going into production early next year, to “demonstrate the effectiveness of a model based on the principle of the circular economy, in order to reproduce it and create synergies between the various mobility players”.

It is consistent with other policies being pursued in the French capital. The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, has announced a ban on all petrol-fuelled cars from the city’s streets by 2030, with diesel-powered vehicles gone by 2024, in time for the Olympics.

So here it is then, the evocatively named Black Swan, a zero-emissions boat with a capacity of two to eight people for family excursions of around two hours. Powered by two electric motors, it needs no generator or back-up internal combustion engine. Thus, no exhaust gases and swan-like silent progress.

Renault will be reviving tired lithium-ion batteries from the company’s electric cars such as the Zoe and Kangoo van, and then installing them beneath the boat’s side bench seat, using stainless steel housings that have been specially designed to ensure safe, watertight operating conditions (for obvious reasons).

Plans for the ‘Black Swan’ (Renault)

In technical terms, each propeller is connected to two battery packs that have a nominal power output of 10kW (20kW at maximum power). In total, the batteries weigh 278kg, which is lighter than the fuel tank fitted in the boat when it was powered by an internal combustion engine.

It is hoped that the Black Swan will inspire the 150 or so commercial boats that use the Parisian waterway, now that the migration to more environmentally friendly propulsion systems has become more practical for marine use.

In the competition among the world’s great cities to express their green credentials, the Black Swan may also prompt others to follow this pioneering example from France. In London the mayor, Said Khan, has called for more powers for the Greater London Authority over the River Thames.