36
FOGHORN
charges per service day, forcing fleet expansion. On the 
East River Route, this meant growing from seven to 10 
vessels. Both routes would require $40–$60 million in ter-
minal upgrades, plus $40 million in homeport charging. In 
NYC’s constrained urban environment, building shoreside 
charging infrastructure is complicated and costly.
EMISSIONS PERFORMANCE
Both FCEV and BEV substantially outperform diesel in 
the model. 
FCEV operations reduce annual fleet emissions by around 
96 percent as compared to diesel. Because BEV inherits the 
carbon intensity of the electrical grid, emissions reduction 
was more modest at 44 percent. In NYC, the grid draws 
roughly 40 percent of its power from non-clean sources; in 
regions with cleaner grids, BEVs perform better. 
Overall, while BEVs have a longer commercial track 
record, they show limitations in high-speed, high-fre-
quency operating conditions where shoreside charging 
infrastructure is complicated and costly. They require 
system-wide operational change, whereas FCEVs inte-
grate incrementally into existing diesel fleets, with mod-
est infrastructure investment.
TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP (TCO)
A Fleet Scale Look at the Numbers
KPFF modeled the capital and operating costs, as well as 
how those costs change over time. This section focuses on 
the East River Route, as it allows the most direct compari-
son—all three propulsion types use 150-passenger vessels. 
TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP*
BEV fleet to diesel fleet
91.7% premium
FCEV fleet to diesel fleet
29.7% premium
BEV fleet to FCEV fleet
47.9% premium
*Over 30 years
Capital Cost 
Both BEVs and FCEVs cost more to build than diesel 
FOGHORN FOCUS
Diesel
$122.0 million
FCEV
FLEET CAPITAL EXPENDITURE COST COMPARISON
$211.7 million
Vessels: $208.9 million 
($28.0 million each)
Fueling infrastructure: 
$2.8 million 
(2 fueling trucks +  
mobile compression skid)
Vessels: $122.0 million 
($15.0 million each)
Fueling infrastructure: 
$0.0 million 
(Already exists)
Vessels: $235.2 million 
($22.0 million each)
Charging infrastructure: 
$108.0 million 
(2 terminals + homeport charging)
BEV
$343.2 million
GRAPHICS: SWITCH MARITIME LLC

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