Boats Solar-powered EMax is Hybrid Superyacht

Published on July 7th, 2011 | by Jo Borrás

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Solar-powered EMax is Hybrid Superyacht

The super-rich have it pretty tough these days, what with the desire to spend their bajillions but social pressures to be responsible and not throw their money around too much leaves many of them playing the full-on “angel and devil” routine from the old Tom & Jerry show.  The answer, for many, has been to spend conspicuously on things like green homes, green luxury cars, and now, green mega-yachts.

That boat up there is the EMax Excalibur Hybrid, and its builders want you to know it’s “green” so bad that they’ve bedazzled it with thousands of highly-reflective (read:  shiny) solar panels sure to split their time feeding into the ship’s massive electrical systems and searing the retinas of anyone unlucky enough to be caught staring directly into the ship’s bow when the sun hits at the wrong angle … or the right angle, I guess – depends on who you’re trying to blind, right?

Back to ship:  the Excalibur was drawn up by Sauter Carbon Offset Design and is set to be constructed by the Ned Ship Group.  According to Richard Sauter (eponymous head of Sauter Carbon Offset Design) “the plug-in Emax Excalibur has a top speed of 30 knots and can harvest enough energy per year to offset up to 3,000 nautical miles of carbon-neutral cruising at 18 knots.”  The ship also “features EnergyStar appliances, air conditioning, and refrigeration …  to go with its state-of-the-art diesel hybrid engines.”

Sauter has yet to release pricing on the EMax, and has yet to address why someone who was actually interested in conservation and renewable energy would choose this diesel-powered eyesore over a sailing yacht. Of course it isn’t the only “carbon neutral” floating monolith of excess, as we have covered both the Ocean Empire LSV and hydrogen-powered Ekranoyacht concept…both of which have about the same odds of making it into production as the EMax. That is to say, almost zero. Though in fairness to the whole excess in boating theme, a 100% solar-powered ship recently completed a journey across the Atlantic. So maybe, one day, we will see some truly carbon neutral ships floating our planet’s oceans. But they probably won’t be luxury yachts.

More photos of this study in conspicuous green-washing, below.

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  • emax_2
  • emax_1
  • emax_main

Source: Inhabitat



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About the Author

I've been involved in motorsports and tuning since 1997, and write for a number of blogs in the Important Media network. You can find me on Twitter, Skype (jo.borras) or Google+.


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  • http://SauterCarbonOffsetDesign.com Richard Sauter

    Do your readers really want an expert on Tom & Jerry cartoons to review Post Carbon alternatives that are completely beyond the intellectual and physical reach of the writer?

    Richard Sauter

    • http://www.sublimeburnout.com Christopher DeMorro

      @ Richard Sauter

      We have a diverse array of readers, though I doubt any of them are stupid enough to truly believe that a massive multi-million dollar yacht built today can truly be “green.” It’s greenwashing and wishful thinking at this point, though hopefully, in the future, it won’t be.

    • http://gas2.org Jo Borras

      Your comment (while hurty) still doesn’t address how this yacht is any more “green” than a conventional sailing yacht.

      Further, how much carbon is emitted during the construction of the ship? The transport of its materials? The machines necessary to maintain it? Does the solar array offset those emissions up to 3,000 nautical miles, or are those being ignored?

      It seems to me that this was an attempt to capitalize on some “green” publicity that was met with unexpected scrutiny – but I’m man enough to admit when I’m wrong, and would be thrilled to be shown that the resources required to design, build, and operate this vessel are considerably lower than those required to restore, renovate, and enjoy a similarly luxurious sailing yacht.

      • http://importantmedia.org/members/susannaschick/ Susanna Schick

        oh, I don’t know guys. It’s like a hybrid SUV. Some people need an SUV. Sure, a hybrid SUV isn’t as efficient as a compact, but it’s still better than a straight gas SUV. Better they go for something new than stick with BAU, right?

        What would really be cool would be if it came with a biodiesel still, and you could brew your own Algae biodiesel while you sail! Or rather, have the crew do it.

        Personally, if it had a biodiesel still, I think this is the best way to survive the apocalypse- talk about being completely off the grid. That is, as long as there are some fish left to eat…

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