The Wenatchee is WA State’s first converted ferry, designed to run on electric power, but still has two diesel engines.
The ferry was pulled out of service, again
The Wenatchee, a 30-year-old vessel that can carry up to 202 vehicles and appropriate passengers, was the first of a series of EV conversions by the Department of Transportation. Two of its four diesel engines were removed and replaced by electric motors.
The diesels serve as a backup, and are also used to help recharge the massive batteries carried by the vessel. The conversion took nearly 2 years longer than planned and was $32-36 million dollars over budget.
In July, the Wenatchee finally began service on the busiest route in the state, Seattle-to-Bainbridge Island. But in August, and again in October, it had to be pulled out of service for a total of several weeks due to mechanical failures. The initial failure involved wiring and it had to be towed.
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Now, this week, the Wenatchee again was taken out of service, although WSDOT officials said it was returned later the same day. This time, the issue was with what’s called an “overspeed protection circuit,” which is like a rev limiter in a gas or diesel-powered engine…