First scheduled electric car ferry

The first electric car ferry to run a scheduled service is the MF Ampere, which entered service on 19 May 2015. This 120-vehicle ferry runs on the Sognefjord in western Norway, linking the towns of Oppedal and Lavik. The development of Ampere is the result of a joint venture between German technology giant Siemens, Norwegian shipyard Fjellstrand, and ferry operator Norled. She was built at Aluship Technology in Gdansk, Poland. It is powered by two 450-kW electric motors, which draw on 10 tonnes of Lithium-ion batteries. The Ampere makes 34 trips on a typical day, with each journey taking around 20 minutes. The old ferry burned through 264,000 gallons of highly polluting bunker fuel every year.

The aluminium catamaran measures 79.4 by 20.8 m (260.5 by 68.2 ft) and can carry up to 120 cars, eight trucks and 350 passengers at a top speed of 14 knots (25.9 km/h; 16.1 mph). Lithium-ion batteries are recharged overnight using hydro power from the electricity grid. A sister vessel Electra was completed in 2017.

The major engineering challenge faced by the ship's designers was figuring out how to keep the batteries charged. The batteries only hold enough power for a few trips, requiring the ship to top up its batteries each time it docks. Although it can charge up in just 10 minutes, such a massive drain on the local electricity grid would cause blackouts in the surrounding villages. The solution was to install two additional battery packs – one at each dock. These charge slowly from the grid while the ship is out on the water, topping up the ship's batteries in sort bursts when it docks. They gradually lose power over the course of the day but can be fully recharged overnight when the ferry isn't running.

Norway has since built a number of electric ferries, the largest being the 7,911 tons gross Basto Electric which crosses the Oslofjord between Horten and Moss. Built in Turkey in 2020, she has a top speed of 13 knots (24.08 km/h; 14.96 mph) and can carry 200 cars and 600 people. Two earlier diesel-powered sisters are being converted to run on electricity.