A look inside Hull 96, the battery-electric ferry linking Uruguay and Argentina across the Río de la Plata

Hull 96, officially named China Zorrilla and operated by the Uruguayan company Buquebus, is presented as the first battery-electric ferry running on a fixed route. It shuttles passengers across the Río de la Plata on a roughly 90-minute, 32-nautical-mile leg in each direction, and the footage takes viewers aboard to see how it is built and powered.

■ Vessel Overview
- Route, travel time, and the naming behind China Zorrilla
- Dimensions, deck configuration, passenger and vehicle capacity, and duty-free shop

■ Electric Propulsion and Batteries
- Fully electric operation and a 25-knot service speed
- 5,016 lithium-ion cells delivering over 40 MWh, enough for about 550 electric cars
- Battery rooms, saltwater-protection design, and the lightweight arrangement of interlinked cells

■ Tour and Details
- Walkthrough of one of the four battery rooms and its 1,250 cells
- Notes on how the batteries differ from those used in trucks and cars

Anyone interested in maritime engineering, electric mobility, or sustainable transport can pick up concrete details about vessel scale, battery capacity, and marine battery packaging. Consider following the full tour to see the compartments described on screen, and compare the figures cited here with your own research on electric ferries.