On October 15, Harbin Engineering University, in collaboration withHarbin Electric Corporation, and Heilongjiang Shipping Group, launched the first green and intelligent river boat “Tourstar” on a tributary of the Songhua River. It is the first green and intelligent river vessel to be classified into China Classification Society, and its power system design index is at the forefront of China.

The boat is a pure electric river excursion boat; its battery adopts 4 groups of 600kWh lithium iron phosphate batteries, with a designed total tonnage of 138 tons and 53 passengers. It is about 27 meters long and 6 meters wide. Driven by two 60kW Marine permanent magnet synchronous motors and propellers, it has good wave resistance and maneuverability. The trial speed in still and deep water ismore than 18km/h, the ship speed is 12km/h, and battery endurance is about 8 hours.

Compared with the traditional ship power drive, the green intelligent ship has the advantages of high efficiency, fast response speed, convenient maintenance, and so on. It has gradually become the main inland waterway transportation means in the southern provinces and cities, and it is also a project of Harbin Electric Corporation and Heilongjiang Shipping Group. However, due to the high latitude in Heilongjiang Province, and the winter temperatures going as low as minus 30c, the battery, charging system, among others, has poor cold resistance and is prone to damage. This has been an extended problem that has plagued the development of green intelligent river boat electric push in cold climates.