Electric charging system and method

[0041]There are a number of different end users of electrical energy which may need to recharge at the end of a journey, such as vessels, aircraft or vehicles. The examples given herein are for vessels, but the invention is not limited to these and is equally applicable to electrically powered aircraft or electrically powered vehicles.

[0042]A typical situation for an electrically powered vessel with stored energy is shown in FIG. 1. A vessel, for example a ferry 1, running between ports with charging stations A, B at each port, charges up at a charging station A, before setting off on its journey. At station B the vessel recharges, then returns to its starting point and recharges again at station A. In the case of a vessel on a multi-stage journey, there may be several more ports, each with its own charging station, that are visited before returning to its home port. When docked at each port, the ferry connects to a supply, typically a shore based AC supply to charge the batteries read