- Helix reveals its new Helix Pod Cartridge range of integrated motors, transmissions and inverters
- Designed to power a new generation of electric pod drives targeted at sub-megawatt vessels
- Initial range output to include 100kW, 200kW, and 300kW models, with future options planned from 480kW to 3MW
- Further details of range released in the accompanying whitepaper, “Reimagining pod thrusters with the Helix Pod Cartridge”, available here.
Tampa, Florida / Milton Keynes, UK [02 October 25] – Helix (a trading name of Integral Powertrain Ltd), the UK manufacturer of the world’s most power-dense electric motors and inverters, has revealed its groundbreaking new Helix Pod Cartridge range, set to be showcased during a TechTalk at the International BoatBuilders’ Exhibition and Conference (IBEX), North America’s premier technical trade event for the recreational marine industry from 7 to 9 October.
The Helix Pod Cartridge is an integrated motor, transmission, and inverter package for use in electric pod thrusters, hydrofoils, and integrated into the hull and is designed as a key enabling technology for the widespread electrification of marine. This new electric pod cartridge can reduce maintenance costs, unlock more efficient hull designs, and improve marine energy efficiency.
Electric pod thrusters are a category of marine propulsor that house a motor within a horizontally gimballed, subsurface ‘pod’ which drives a vessel’s propeller. This architecture unlocks major efficiencies over traditional inboard or outboard motors, since a pod can apply thrust in the most efficient direction at any given moment while eliminating the need for rudders and in-hull engines and transmission systems.
However, electric pod drives have not seen widespread adoption among sub-megawatt vessels – a category that encompasses most small- to medium-sized recreational, commercial, and passenger craft. By leveraging the incredibly high continuous power density of Helix’s radial flux motors, the Helix Pod Cartridge offers a foundation for a new generation of high-efficiency, low-drag electric pod drive solutions for these marine verticals.
Available at launch in 100kW, 200kW, and 300kW packages (with low- and high-torque variants available at 100kW and 200kW), the Helix Pod Cartridge solution is a foundation intended to be used within a new generation of pod drives. The Helix Pod Cartridge is designed to sit at the heart of a pod, with vessel designers or solution providers deploying it alongside application-appropriate components like propellers, pod shapes, steering systems, and control software.
Compared to existing electric pod drive solutions, an optimised pod powered by the Helix Pod Cartridge will experience just 30% of the drag. The Helix Pod Cartridge’s power-to-drag ratio is on par with traditional azimuth thrusters that house motors in-hull – a category that until now has never been matched in efficiency by a pod drive and which also requires a complex transmission system.
James Edwards, Marine Chief Engineer at Helix, said: “The Helix Pod Cartridge stands to be a major step for marine electrification and sub-megawatt vessels, by allowing these craft to truly leverage the possibilities of electric pod drives for the first time. By freeing up deck space previously reserved at the transom for outboard motors, or interior space reserved for engine compartments and propeller shafts, our Helix Pod Cartridge offers the industry a generational chance to revisit how it designs vessels. All while unlocking more efficient travel and helping marine in its journey towards net zero emissions.”
The initial range of Helix Pod Cartridges will use Helix’s SPC177 platform as the motor. The SPC177 is one of Helix’s most power-dense series production motors: weighing just 31kg, its highest-power configuration can continuously output up to 300kW. Alongside the SPC177 will be a reduction gear system by Xtrac, and a Helix CTI-4 silicon carbide inverter. Following this initial range, the Helix is planning a future range of pod cartridges ranging from 480kW through to 3MW.
Helix has today released a new whitepaper exploring the solution in depth, “Reimagining pod thrusters with the Helix Pod Cartridge”. The whitepaper can be downloaded here.
