Reducing the emissions from cars is not where the EU is stopping when it comes to being carbon clean as they have just funded research for a wind-powered car carrier.
Wallenius Wilhelmsen has received a €9 million grant to develop a car carrier that uses the power of the wind and sails to move cars over the ocean. The boat that will do this is called the Orcelle Wind and if all goes well, it might be ready to transport a fleet of EVs from Volvo in 2026 or 2027. The timeline is very likely to change, but the fleet of Volvos is not as the car manufacturer is a contributor to the project along with 10 other companies.
What we know about the Orcelle Wind car carrier.
Wallenius Wilhelmsen’s current design for the Orcelle Wind will be about 220 metres long, 40-metre beam width and have a capacity of 7000 vehicles. Very impressive when you consider the upper end of car carriers can take about 8500 vehicles.
On sails along, the Orcelle Wind can travel up to 10 to 12 knots. That’s about 18 to 22 km/h. While the intention for the ship is to use the sails as much as possible, there may still be an alternative power system for unfavourable weather conditions.
Even so, wind power allows the Orcelle Wind to use 90 per cent fewer emissions than the most efficient cargo ships today. This would be exciting to see a ship like this sail toward our shores.
Source: Jalopnik | Wallenius Wilhelmsen