Full electric propulsion is when a motor is powered by an electric battery and without a fuel powered generator being present. Batteries store electrical energy and can be transported to serve power elsewhere or on the go. The batteries are charged by a generator and once depleted are charged up again.

Full electric propulsion is used in many different vehicles and especially in cars. A full electric propulsion system consists of a battery, electric motor and a propulsor, such as a wheel or propeller. A vehicle having a full electric propulsion system will not have any emissions such as Particulate Matter (PM), nitrogen oxides (NO_X), sulpher oxides (SO_X) or carbon dioxide (CO₂) which are harmful to the environment. Although the vehicle does not emit any greenhouse gasses or matter, the generator for the charging of the battery may do so. The most popular full electric propulsion vehicle is the Tesla car. The entry level Tesla model S has a range of 420 km and a full charge will cost around €10. This results in the model S being very economy efficient compared to diesel or gasoline powered vehicles. The downside to full electric propulsion vehicles is that a battery has finite amount of charges until it will need to be serviced. Also a punctured battery is toxic highly flammable and cannot be extinguished with water, which will cause a short circuit.

The first full electric cargo ship sails on the Pearl River in China. The cargo ship is 70.50 m in length and has a cargo capacity of 2000 tons with a range of 50 km. It takes around two hours for a full charge which is about the same time as unloading its cargo. Another example of full electric propulsion are two ferries of the HH Ferries Group which have a capacity of 1100 to 1250 passengers and a capacity of around 240 cars. The ferries travel between Helsingborg (Sweden) and Helsingör (Denmark) over a distance of 4 km.

A start-up company, Skoon Energy, has come up with a solution for inland shipping vessels to have full electric propulsion without having to stay stationary for recharging. Skoon Energy manages an infrastructure of standard-size battery containers and strategically located charging hubs with 100% green energy supply. Customers looking for large energy storage join Skoon Sailor to order and monitor Skoonboxes for their desired application. To enable customers to operate in Skoon’s infrastructure, full service is provided to adopt to 100% green electricity usage. This includes, but is not limited to, design engineering, hardware and software installation, crew training and consultancy. The first inland waterway transport vessel to use the Skoonboxes will be the MS Borelli, making it the first IWT vessel to be emission free.