Volvo is continuing to make boating easier. At the Fort Lauderdale show the Swedish company introduced its 8-liter diesel engine and its matched IPS pod drive to the United States market for the first time. They are designed primarily for cruising boats in the 30- to 45-foot range (we wrote about these a few months ago). Also new is Volvo’s key fob for powering up your boat before you even climb on board; indeed, you can be standing as far as 100 yards away. You can use the remote key fob to switch on the battery, turn on the deck floodlights or prepare the windlass. Volvo says the new e-Key Remote is the first on the market that is connected and integrated into the boat’s driveline.
The e-Key Remote is part of Volvo’s new Battery Management Solution. With the remote, you don’t have to search for ignition keys or circuit breakers. Just press the remote and you’ll switch on the battery supply and power up the Electrical Vessel Control system (EVC). Once on board, just start the engine. When you leave the boat, one press on the remote will power down the system and switch off the battery supply.
The Battery Management Solution, meanwhile, will automatically borrow power from another battery if the starting battery is weak. It also provides alerts on battery health, giving you enough diagnostic information so that potential problems can be avoided.
www.volvopenta.com
