Nuvolari Lenard
AN INNOVATIVE VENETIAN WATER TAXIPOINTS THEROUTETO A MORE SUSTAINABLE WAY OFLIFE
Nuvolari Lenard – The Venice-based design studio Nuvolari Lenard recently completed work on a pioneering luxury Venetian water taxithat will help to preserve the historic city through the use of “green” technology, complemented by the studio’s renowned attention to detail and uncompromising luxury finishing.A project that takeson an almost symbolic value ina moment like the one we areexperiencing, in which we have the opportunity to direct our choices towards a moresustainable way of life. In this perspective, the choice to base this project on a hybrid engineis a fundamental component.
Here, Carlo Nuvolari gives an insight into how he, partner Dan Lenard and their team designedthis exciting new project that is set to make an impact on their local Venetian community andthe wider yachting world.Venice therefore as an ideal laboratory for modern technologiescapable of guaranteeing the minimum environmental impact and combined, in the NuvolariLenard project, with elegant and classic lines and with the use of wood.
A“GREEN”LUXURY WATERCRAFT TOPRESERVE OUR FRAGILE CITY
As Venetians, Dan and I feel a strong connection with the city and have experienced first-handthe damage that is being caused to its delicate structures, through air and noise pollution aswell as physical erosion. We felt that it was crucial to address the problems facing our beautiful home town, and that Nuvolari Lenard was well placed to lead the charge in finding a solution,through a unique project dedicated to helping Venice.And so, during the 2019 edition of the Venice Boat Show, we organised a forum to discusspotential designs for a hybrid luxury watercraft that could solve Venice’s pollution problem.Diesel electric hybrid propulsion seemed to be the mostefficientsolution for Venice’sparticular requirements. Short battery life is a common concern for many hybrid propulsionsystems, but in Venice the water taxis make regular trips to the airport in open water wherethey travel athigherspeeds using diesel, which gives the batteries time to recharge, even ifnot completely, for when the vessel returns to the low-speed confines of the city’s waterways,at which point it will only draw on the stored electric power.
THUNDER-THE 14-SEAT HYBRID LUXURY WATER TAXI IN VENICE
The first unit of the 14-seat luxury water taxi, Thunder, has been built at Cantieri Vizianello inVenicewhich developed the mechanical and electronic coupling system of the hybrid system.After a test period of about a year, it has obtained complete approval by the classificationbodies. It istherefore now a marketable productand no longer an experimental prototype.We hope thatthis progressive model for transportation in the city will change the mindset ofthe historically conservative transport companies in Venice.
Although the technology on board isultramodern, we made every effort to respect thestylistic heritage of the classic water taxis for which Venice is famous, and so the new designsuse traditional wooden materials with some modernisation. Nuvolari Lenardhas received arequest for the 9.2-metre vessel to be used as a limousine tender for a superyacht client, which gives an idea of the degree of comfort and quality of the project.For another prototype experimental project, we are currently in discussions withan Asian car manifacturer about the potential for using a hydrogen fuel cell propulsion system, which is avery clean technology used in the aerospace field.Current limitations on the storage ofhydrogen on vehicles meanthat it will take some time before this technology obtains thenecessary certifications to be placed on the market. More round-table discussions are set for the forth coming period and we look forward to taking the project further with our various partners. Pushing boundaries in design and technology for marine transportation is something we tryto do each day with our superyacht, production yacht and custom tender projects. And so Nuvolari Lenard is very proud to be doing something for Venice, as it is so close to our heartsand astunning place that we want to help preserve for future generations.
