Photo: Williams Advanced Engineering
Williams Advanced Engineering (WAE), the technology and engineering arm of the Williams Racing Formula One team, has been expanding its operations across the automotive, motorsport, aerospace, defense, health, and energy sectors. Sure, there have been setbacks, but also new ways of pushing forward.
Williams became notorious this year due to its botched partnership with Geely’s Lotus Cars that saw the two companies part ways after initially looking forward to jointly develop the UK’s next generation-electric hypercar, the Lotus Evija.
That could be considered a big step backward for the British company, but it swiftly refocused its strategy on a completely new sector. As such, we just found out that WAE will start a fresh collaborative project alongside OXIS Energy in the marine sector.
Together, the partners will “provide the world’s first battery system for a luxury electric boat,” an all-new 40 ft (12.2 m) electric luxury boat project. The craft is currently being developed by Yachts de Luxe (YdL) from Singapore, with the styling provided by Jean Jacques Coste, a famous boat designer.
A first outing of the new luxury craft has been scheduled for the 2021 edition of the Monaco Yacht Show taking place almost a year from now, between September 22 and 25. By that time, WAE and OXIS should be ready with the design and build of a 400-kWh battery system that’s a bit different from the current applications of the technology.
That’s because the boat designed by Coste and constructed by Yachts de Luxe will be using a “modular, high-energy density system” based on OXIS’ proprietary use of the lithium-sulfur cell technology. The latter is projected to come with “high gravimetric energy density and low costs,” and allegedly represents a safer choice than lithium-ion-based applications for electric marine use.
It’s also free of any toxic or rare earth materials, with easy recyclability and a less harmful disposal process at the end of the life cycle. As far as the new luxury electric boat is concerned, the Lithium-Sulfur (Li-S) cell and battery management system technology design and manufacturing process will be directly handled by WAE at its specialized battery unit in Grove, the UK.
The companies haven’t provided any detailed specifications just yet, mentioning just a single technical objective – a range between 70 and 100 nautical miles (81 to 115 miles / 130 to 185 km) at an unspecified cruising speed. It may seem like a small distance, but it turns out they’re aiming for “setting new standards for range in electric boats.”
That could be considered a big step backward for the British company, but it swiftly refocused its strategy on a completely new sector. As such, we just found out that WAE will start a fresh collaborative project alongside OXIS Energy in the marine sector.
Together, the partners will “provide the world’s first battery system for a luxury electric boat,” an all-new 40 ft (12.2 m) electric luxury boat project. The craft is currently being developed by Yachts de Luxe (YdL) from Singapore, with the styling provided by Jean Jacques Coste, a famous boat designer.
A first outing of the new luxury craft has been scheduled for the 2021 edition of the Monaco Yacht Show taking place almost a year from now, between September 22 and 25. By that time, WAE and OXIS should be ready with the design and build of a 400-kWh battery system that’s a bit different from the current applications of the technology.
That’s because the boat designed by Coste and constructed by Yachts de Luxe will be using a “modular, high-energy density system” based on OXIS’ proprietary use of the lithium-sulfur cell technology. The latter is projected to come with “high gravimetric energy density and low costs,” and allegedly represents a safer choice than lithium-ion-based applications for electric marine use.
It’s also free of any toxic or rare earth materials, with easy recyclability and a less harmful disposal process at the end of the life cycle. As far as the new luxury electric boat is concerned, the Lithium-Sulfur (Li-S) cell and battery management system technology design and manufacturing process will be directly handled by WAE at its specialized battery unit in Grove, the UK.
The companies haven’t provided any detailed specifications just yet, mentioning just a single technical objective – a range between 70 and 100 nautical miles (81 to 115 miles / 130 to 185 km) at an unspecified cruising speed. It may seem like a small distance, but it turns out they’re aiming for “setting new standards for range in electric boats.”
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