Many Norwegian fjords present similar difficulties to bridge builders, so instead the country's coastal population relies on ferries that link their often remote communities.
Each year, some 20 million cars, vans and trucks cross the country's many fjords on roughly 130 ferry routes.
Most of Norway's ferries run on diesel, spewing out noxious fumes and CO2.
But this is about to change.
Following two years of trials of the world's first electric car ferry, named Ampere, ferry operators are busy making the transition from diesel to comply with new government requirements for all new ferry licensees to deliver zero- or low-emission alternatives.
"We continue the work with low-emission ferries because we believe it will benefit the climate, Norwegian industry and Norwegian jobs," Prime Minister Erna Solberg said in a speech in April 2016, in which she vowed to help fund required quayside infrastructure.
Ferry company Fjord1, which operates the MF Norangsfjord, has ordered three fully electric ferries that are scheduled to enter active service on some of its routes in January 2018.
Norway has also been a strong adopter of electric cars.
(Score: 2) by richtopia on Wednesday April 05 2017, @03:40PM
Ships are a large market for hybrid/full electric. A lot of them have predictable drive cycles, and ships are capable of handling additional weight relatively easily.
I interviewed for a job at XALT Energy a few years back and they were really excited about the European maritime market, particularly tugs and ferries. I couldn't find any mention of the battery vendor in the article, but wouldn't be surprised if it is XALT.
https://www.xaltenergy.com/index.php/industries/marine-maritime/sub-imo.html [xaltenergy.com]
https://www.xaltenergy.com/index.php/about/news/136-xalt-energy-to-supply-cells-for-world%E2%80%99s-largest-electric-ferries.html [xaltenergy.com]