Control system

An electrical motor and energy management control system 100 for use in an electric powered marine vessel having at least one rechargeable battery 102 and at least one hydrogen fuel cell 104. The control system has a processor 106 which receives: a drive signal from a throttle unit 108 in response to an operator command; a first signal from a first sensor 110 connected to the at least one battery to indicate battery level status; and a second signal from a second sensor 112 connected to the at least one fuel cell to indicate fuel cell status. The processor derives an output drive signal from the drive signal and the first and second signals and transmits the output drive signal to a motor controller 114. The motor controller supplies a direct current (DC) source to at least one electric motor 116 (e.g. radial flux motor) of the vessel. In response to the output drive signal, the motor controller selectively switches between providing a DC supply from the at least one battery and/or a DC supply from the at least one fuel cell in order to optimise an available DC source to supply the electric motor(s). An AC charger 118 may charge the battery in response to a command signal from the processor. A regenerative brake may convert kinetic energy from the motor(s) to an electric current which powers the fuel cell.