First New Nordhavn Lithium-ion Battery System Arrives!

Dana Point, CA. – The Nordhavn Yachts/Pacific Asian Enterprise team is excited to announce our first new boat equipped with a Lithium-ion battery system has arrived. Hull N47.5-44 is now at our docks in Dana Point, CA, equipped with six 300-amp-hour (Ah) 24VDC L-ion batteries. In terms of usable power, each one of these batteries is roughly equal to four of our standard Lifeline 8D AGM batteries. Typically this boat would get six AGM 8D batteries, but with the six L-ion batteries we’re getting the same amount of usable power as we would get from 24 of the AGM 8D batteries!

Lithium-ion batteries, and all the compelling advantages they offer, have been on our collective radar for years now. At first we were resistant to something we considered to be bleeding-edge technology, but improvements in safety, design, and reliability have finally reached a point where we are comfortable with putting these on our ocean expedition yachts.

The Nordhavn L-ion Battery System is designed with the help of Ocean Planet Energy, Inc. (OPE), which has been a long-time leader in providing L-ion battery systems on recreational boats. The backbone of the system is the American-made Lithium-ion Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries from Lithionics Battery, which provides the highest level of safety and UL testing/certification currently available that we know of – and will be fully compliant with American Boat & Yacht Council (ABYC) lithium-ion guidance set to come out relatively soon.

The full system capacity of 1,800Ah at 24VDC on this relatively small boat is designed to provide up to two full days of living at anchor without needing to run the generator. The Victron Energy inverter/charger capacity of 10kW powers all of the air conditioning and onboard appliances, and provides up to 240 amps of 24VDC charging when it’s time to fill the batteries back up. Along with a 220A 24VDC alternator on the main engine, this system will provide days (even weeks) of time underway and at anchor with very limited generator run time.

In the coming weeks we will be providing a much more detailed look at this system along with specifications and real-world performance data. For now we just want to share our excitement with our Nordhavn Family, the owner of N47.5-44, OPE, Lithionics, and all the other players who have helped us with this new game-changing battery system. We’re happy to announce similar systems using the same batteries are slated for a number of new Nordhavns currently in production, and we’re looking forward to all the enhanced performance and power L-ion technology promises!

Shown here are three of the 300Ah Lithionics batteries. The system comprises two 900Ah battery banks, with three batteries in each bank.

Lithionics Battery provides the highest level of safety testing and certification we know of. The fail-safe UL certification ensures any unlikely problem with a battery will not create a dangerous situation onboard.

The Battery Management System (BMS) provided by Lithionics Battery and configured by Ocean Planet Energy, Inc. (OPE) ensures the batteries and the boat are protected from any unlikely overcharging or over-discharging event. These sophisticated dual-channel contactors will disconnect the batteries from the load and/or the charging sources in the unlikely event the charging voltage gets too high (overcharging), or the battery capacity gets too low (over-discharging).

The State of Charge (SOC) meters for the Lithionics batteries provide all the necessary information for monitoring the batteries, including real-time voltage and capacity in terms of percentage, remaining amp-hours, and empty/full range.

Other monitors in the system include Victron panels for monitoring the inverters and overall system, and standalone monitors for shore power and generator power.

This system includes two Victron 5kW inverter/chargers (maintenance panels removed for testing), which provides a 10kW AC power source for powering air conditioning, appliances, and all other AC equipment and outlets. The units also provide a combined 240 amps of 24VDC charging to help charge the L-ion batteries quickly using the generator.