It's been a year and I've just heard from our friend Vincent regarding his Alerion/Mastervolt electric yacht. As discussed last summer one of the big questions that remained unanswered regarding the boat was the actual range with just battery power and limited regeneration capability. Well, as some of us expected, and the designer wisely anticipated, the second set of Mastervolt LION batteries has been installed. Vincent reports: " After a methodical 11 hour day yesterday, and some sore muscles, the second pair of MLI24/160's are in place, wired up and functioning. Considering the age difference of the original batteries and the new ones, I decided to move one of the old ones over and put it in parallel with its twin, and similarly parallel the two new batteries together. I left them all charging up last night, and will check on them later today (Saturday). I will then take the boat out and test its range a bit over the next few days.

It was a challenging job to lower those 121 lb. bricks into the seat lockers, and position them into the mounts, but I did it (alone) with no incidents!

Wayne Burkett's original judgement call to mount the second pair longitudinally was a great one. Not only did that keep space in the locker much better preserved, but it also puts the additional weight closer to the center line, which seems better for ballast placement. I mocked up the arrangement in the garage, and pre-planned and built the bonding cables there, which made the installation much easier with the limited maneuvering room in the lockers. Much of the wiring had to be done blind and by feel, but patience and perseverance won the day.

What Vincent is talking about is the pre-molded mounting pads for a second set of batteries already part of the inner hull liner. Good thinking Wayne!

I'll keep you all posted after Vincent gets a feel for his increased range. I think he's nailed it this time.