Engineering efforts to electrify boat-propulsion systems took a sizable step in late November when ePropulsion announced an X Series of outboard engines.

The X Series includes the X12, X20 and X40, all of which are part of what company CEO Danny Tao calls “an intelligent and integrated platform” that boaters and boatbuilders can use to achieve a quieter, cleaner boating experience.

This series of engines is far from the first one that ePropulsion has produced since the company was founded in 2012. Its product range includes inboard and outboard electric motors, along with a pod-drive motor and a motor for standup paddleboards.

But the X Series is the most powerful version of an electric outboard that ePropulsion has produced to date, with its Spirit and Navy Evo models maxing out at 6 kW (equivalent to about 8 horsepower). Tom Watson, president of ePropulsion USA, said the X Series provides “incredible power.” The motors have a reported total powertrain efficiency of 88.2%. The X12 has 12-kW power, while the X20 generates 20 kW of power and the X40 delivers 40 kW of power (equivalent to almost 54 horsepower).

The research and development team at ePropulsion created an algorithm for X Series propellers, using more than 20 metrics to optimize hydrodynamic performance. The X Series also has frequency resonance isolation and vibration dampening technology, which should mean less vibration than aboard boats with comparable, traditional outboard engines.

According to ePropulsion, the X Series models also can weigh 36 percent less than traditional motors. The design places electric steering, power trim/tilt, an electric control unit and the controller within a single assembly, simplifying installation and minimizing intrusions into onboard space.

Also part of the X Series is ePropulsion’s Smart System Architecture, or eSSA. It is designed to allow for simple system configuration while supporting the integration of renewable energy systems.

And, speaking of evolving technology, the X Series has a digital helm and smart throttles that provide instantaneous feedback. The team at ePropulsion says this setup “opens the door to advanced driving assistance systems that improve safety and redefine aquatic navigation.” Features include position hold, heading hold and 360 motions to make maneuvering easier for skippers at the helm.

The ePropulsion Connectivity Service lets boaters access real-time boat and system status with monitoring, reporting and tracking.

How long will the X40 hold up? It’s built to the IP67 waterproof standard with projections of a 5,000-hour minimum service life, according to ePropulsion.

Take the next step: head over to epropulsion.com

The post A More Powerful Electric Outboard appeared first on Yachting.

At the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show in October, ePropulsion premiered its X40 Electric Outboard.

ePropulsion says the X40 weighs 20 percent less than traditional motors while generating 40 kW of power, with 88.2 percent total powertrain efficiency. The design integrates electric steering, power trim and tilt, an electric control unit and a motor controller into a single unit.

The X40’s electric steering system eliminates the need for hydraulic components, and its built-in Connectivity Service offers real-time status, advanced monitoring, and reporting- and trip-tracking. Frequency resonance isolation and vibration-dampening technology are also part of the X40, for what ePropulsion says is less vibration than comparable outboards.

“We are always looking to innovate, not just to match what is available for standard internal combustion outboards but to move beyond their capabilities and provide real, enhanced performance while also providing a quiet, clean and powerful alternative for propulsion,” Danny Tao, CEO and co-founder of ePropulsion, stated in a press release.

How is the X40 built for the marine environment? It is reportedly IP67 waterproof with a minimum service life of 5,000 hours.

Take the next step: Go to epropulsion.com

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John Vo knows nil about boats. He says it’s ideal for an e-boat builder. “People ask us what experience we have, and I say, ‘Zip. Nothing. Zero,’” says Vo, whose team at Blue Innovations Group is preparing to launch its first electric boat, the R30, this autumn. “But you can’t use the same people from the same industry to revolutionize themselves.”

Vo, the former head of manufacturing for Tesla, is just one among many minds trying to bring electric-powered boats into widespread production. So many longtime boatbuilders are transitioning from internal-combustion to electric power, and so many other builders are popping up anew, that the president of the American Boat and Yacht Council says his agency’s safety experts are being “bombarded” with requests about technology that’s changing by the day. E-boat prototypes and launches are coming from long-standing marine brands such as Chris-Craft (the Launch 25 GTe) and Four Winns (the H2e) at the same time that newer brands are promising everything from an electric dayboat (the Blue Innovations R30) to a catamaran with world-cruising capability, but without generators or fuel tanks (the Zen50).

And as the boats get bigger than about 30 feet length overall, trying to understand all the different ways they can work becomes even more of a challenge.

“I expect, in the nautical industry, we will have full-electric propulsion, but we can expect hybrid energy,” says Michael Jost, founder of eD-TEC, an electric-propulsion system that will be on the Silent Speed 28 tender at the Cannes Yachting Festival this autumn. “There will be smaller boats that can run fully electric, and the bigger boats will have fully electric propulsion but hybrid energy.”

Before joining the marine community, Jost was a manager at Volkswagen, helping to lead its transition to electric power in vehicles. He says the recreational marine industry today is where automotive was decades ago: filled with ideas and trying to learn what the broader marketplace solutions will be. The difference between automotive and marine, he says, is that with marine, you can go from displacement to gliding to foiling.

That’s right: Foiling technology that lifts boats off the water’s surface is also part of e-boat thinking today—so are wing sails, which most boaters recognize as part of the high-tech builds used for America’s Cup racing. And, of course, there’s ever more ways to install solar power, which can help recharge the banks of batteries that make electric boats go.

Every possible idea is on the table, Jost says, because the way cruising boats have always been built just isn’t efficient enough for the switch to e-power, which includes heavy batteries that weigh boats down. “The boats of today are not true,” Jost says. “If you have a bad boat, you don’t see it. You put more power, more gasoline inside, and then you are happy. But if you go electric, you are not happy because you don’t get the range. The boat has to be much more efficient than an internal-combustion boat—and the boat business does not want to change the hull. That’s why we are looking to support builders working with the hydrodynamic foils.”

Vo says his team at Blue Innovations Group is also trying to think differently about boat design: Forget about the hulls that traditional molds were built to create, and wonder instead about what might be possible from scratch. “In the old days, anybody who came to Tesla with a long automotive resume, we threw it in the trash,” Vo says. “Otherwise, you’ve got these people with a lot of experience, and they can overwhelm you. Instead of building your vision, they will try to assimilate you, and you revolutionize nothing. You just add another mediocre company. It’s difficult but necessary for us not to hire anybody with boat experience until we reach a critical mass and launch the product. At that point, we’d be stupid not to incorporate their experience into our process.”

Then again, brands with marine experience are also trying to lead. At Mercury Marine, vice president of e-solutions Perissa Bailey—who previously was director of technology at Ford Motor Co.—says it’s understood that electric boats are still in the phase of early adopters, with companies trying to figure out exactly what consumers want. One thing they know for sure at Mercury Marine, she says: “They don’t want to compromise the time they spend on the water. In the early electrification days in automotive, there were a lot of questions about range anxiety. It forced consumers to think about how many miles they drive a day and what’s the cost of ownership for an electric vehicle for that many miles. We’re going through that same learning curve in marine. Customers are saying, ‘If my leisure boating activity typically consists of this many hours on the water, I don’t want to compromise that just because I go electric. And if there’s a series of activities I do, if I’m [riding on a PWC] or fishing or whatever I do, I don’t want to compromise those either if I go electric. I don’t want to have to adapt my usage pattern to a technology. I want the technology to adapt to that usage pattern.’”

The trick is that the technological solution for a boater who wants to cruise to dinner and back is likely to be far different from the solution for a boater who wants to cruise off the grid for months, says Julien Melot, CEO and designer at Zen Yachts, which is preparing to launch the Zen50 catamaran. It has solar power, along with a wingsail, with the latter adding the long-distance range that previous models lacked. “The last boat was great for coastal cruising, but I would not have sold it to a family that wants to cross the Pacific. If it gets cloudy or overcast, the laws of physics apply, and you won’t have enough power to escape the storm,” Melot says. “On the Zen50, with the addition of the wingsail, that problem is solved.”

As with some of the other brands in the e-boat space, Zen Yachts is seeing early adopters who don’t necessarily fit the profile of traditional boaters. “Our client base is not experienced sailors,” he says. “They are more attracted by the fact that you are self-reliant. If the world collapses one more time, they know they can take their boat out, and they’ll be fine.”

And some leaders in this space are already thinking past the boats. They’re focusing instead on where boaters will want to go, as more styles of e-boats take to the water. Silent-Resorts, which is affiliated with the catamaran builder Silent-Yachts, is now creating destinations to harness electric power and make recharging easy for all types of boats, no matter what comes next. The first location, in the Bahamas, is scheduled to finish construction later this year, with build-out starting on the second location, in Fiji, around that same time. “We’re talking with all the builders,” says Victor Barrett, CEO of Silent-Resorts. “We’re setting up in areas where cruising is popular, and we’re setting up the micro grid that connects the marinas, facilities and residences. If you have a house that’s not occupied, all that power is going into the central grid so the boats can plug in, charge fast and go. The boats can feed power into the island as well. We’ll be the first company in multiple locations to have Silent-Marinas ready to accept electric boats.”

All these advancements, of course, are far from inexpensive. The cost of a Blue Innovations Group R30 is about $300,000. The Silent Speed 28, Jost says, is likely to retail for about 500,000 euros (that was about $550,000 at press time). “The batteries are expensive,” Jost says. “You need new software. You have to develop it. And you have to make it lightweight. It might take about five years for the price to come down.” Until then, expect to pay as much as $440,000 to $660,000 for e-boats up to about 30 feet length overall, he adds. “It’s double what you pay for an outboard system, but the scale of combustion comes from the automotive industry, so if that industry loses scale by going electric, you will also lose that scale for the nautical industry on combustion.”

And the people buying e-boats right now often care more about innovation than prices. Melot says four Zen50 catamarans have been sold. The first and third are going to the East and West coasts in the United States; the other two are headed to Europe. Three of the four clients are Tesla shareholders. “Typically, the clients already have an electric car, they already have solar panels on their home, and the next thing they can buy is an electric boat,” he says, adding that for these folks, electric power is the top consideration. “They don’t want to hear about a yacht that has diesel on board.”

Deep Blue

Torqeedo’s Deep Blue 100i 2500 is an inboard system that provides 100 kW of continuous power for planing powerboats. It’s made with the same type of lithium batteries that are now found in some cars, but with components that are waterproof and that come with monitoring to guard against short circuits. The company offers a nine-year warranty for boats in private use, with the hope that the long guarantee will help customers feel secure about the type of power. Torqeedo also markets Deep Blue as low-maintenance and emission-free.

Taking Orders Now

Blue Innovations Group is taking reservations for the R30, which is expected to cost about $300,000. Customers who put down $5,000 can get one of the first 100 hulls. For $1,000, customers can be next in line after that. As of this writing, more than 50 reservations were in hand.

For Day Cruising

While some e-boat builders are trying to solve design challenges for long-distance cruising, Blue Innovations Group is starting with a dayboat. The 30-foot R30 will have the capacity to carry 12 people with an estimated run time of eight hours and a top hop of 39 knots.

Even Stronger

Swedish e-boat builder X Shore recently announced a partnership with the German company Bosch Engineering to improve the performance and efficiency on the drive system aboard the 21-foot X Shore 1. Bosch’s background is in passenger cars, commercial vehicles, RVs, rail, ships and other industries. This partnership marks Bosch’s first foray into the world of e-boats for leisure use. The goal of the partnership is to share series production experience as well as proven high-performance components from the automotive world.

Floating Solar Concept

The team working on creating Silent-Resorts is talking with government officials in Fiji about deploying a floating ring that collects rainwater and generates solar power as an eco-friendly way to address two of the biggest challenges that hamper island development. Eventually, a similar system may also launch in the Bahamas.

The post The Rise of E-Boat Technology appeared first on Yachting.

Mercury Marine, a division of Brunswick, has introduced the Avator 20e and 35e electric propulsion systems. The new models join the lineup next to the Avator 7.5e outboard, which was unveiled in January.

The company says it expects to debut two more electric-outboard products in the coming months, as well.

Mercury Marine says the Avator 20e and 35e have many of the same features as the 7.5e, including transverse flux motor technology, a full-color intuitive display and an ambidextrous tiller handle. The new models offer more power and the ability to connect multiple Avator batteries to extend range and run time, plus full access to the Mercury Marine app with the integrated SmartCraft Connect module.

The Avator 20e and 35e outboards generate 2200W and 3700W of power, respectively, at the propeller shaft. The 20e can produce acceleration that’s similar to a 5 hp FourStroke outboard, while the 35e generates acceleration that is comparable to a Mercury 9.9 hp FourStroke outboard.

These engines are intended for small vessels such as tenders, and are offered with tiller or remote steering.

Are the Avator 20e and 35e outboards available for purchase now? Yes, they went on the market in late August.

Take the next step: Go to mercurymarine.com/avator

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Mercury is the first major manufacturer of marine internal-combustion engines to offer an electric outboard option. The Avator 7.5e delivers comparable performance metrics to Mercury’s time-tested 3.5 hp four-stroke gasoline engine, minus the locally emitted carbon dioxide. The Avator 7.5e is also the only outboard currently on the market with a transverse flux motor, a design that Andrew Przybyl, Mercury’s technical manager and engineer for the Avator line, says has high-torque-density characteristics. The Avator 7.5e comes with a 1 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery that nests inside the outboard’s flip-top cowl, and a color display with GPS that gives operators a wealth of real-time range information.

“One of the biggest challenges we had was setting up the overall architecture of the outboard,” Przybyl says. The solution involved auditioning different concepts and designs, and then choosing the right supporting technologies, including batteries, motor types and overall configurations. “In electrification, overall system efficiency is the name of the game,” he says. “The other aspect was sustainability. This outboard is highly recyclable.” Creating a recyclable design, Przybyl says, involved using componentry from nontraditional materials. “Sustainability is an important part of our culture,” Przybyl says.

While the Avator 7.5e is intended for use aboard smaller boats, Mercury plans to release the bigger Avator 20e and 35e outboards later this year. All three of these electric motors will employ similar architecture, displays and companion apps.

Charge and Go

The Mercury Marine Avator 7.5e can run for 60 minutes at full throttle off a charged-up 1 kilowatt-hour battery, or for as long as 2.8 hours at 75  percent throttle (or 6.2 hours at 50 percent throttle, or 19.4 hours at 25 percent throttle). Users can also change out batteries in seconds.

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Imtra has launched a new generation of DC electric thrusters called eVision.

eVision is an evolution of the 2011 Sleipner Proportional DC Thrusters. The new product contains what is reportedly the first electric motor designed specifically for marine thrusters, with an industry-leading run time at 100 percent thrust, lighter weight and a smaller size than comparable thrusters.

“Sleipner eVision is the result of years of dedicated development and hard work,” Steve Howd, aftermarket product manager of DC thrusters, Imtra, stated in a press release. “With its extreme efficiency and low amp draw, eVision is the ideal thruster solution for DC environments and a perfect fit for the growing interest in boat electrification.”

eVision is intended for boats 40 to 100 feet length overall. Imtra says this model has 30 percent less amperage draw than previous models, is quieter, is as much as 50 percent lighter than comparable models, and takes up 40 percent less space.

The new thrusters are compatible with Sleipner’s S-Link Control system and can be integrated for joystick control.

When will Sleipner eVision be available? It’s already available for new-boat production, and should become available this month for aftermarket refits.

Take the next step: go to imtra.com

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BlueNav’s BlueSpin retractable motors are electric drives that fit aboard vessels with outboard engines. They give owners a hybrid propulsion system that uses the boat’s internal-combustion engines (ICE) for high-speed work, as well as the electric motors for slow-speed work (up to 8 knots). In electric mode, operations are silent and vibration-free, such as around marina docks.

The electric motors are powered by lithium-ion batteries. The propeller and lower unit retract into a cassette-style trunk for improved hydrodynamics when the vessel is operating in ICE mode.

The biggest design challenge was creating a solution for the marine environment, says Hervé Frouin, BlueNav’s founder and chief technology officer. “In a single BlueSpin, there are four electric [motors], which have to live in the seawater” or other types of water, he says. BlueNav’s system had to be able to handle marine growth—including algae and oysters—while reliably communicating with a networked multifunction display and BlueNav-provided joystick and thrust-control levers.

BlueSpin retractable motors can be added in-build or as an aftermarket upgrade. Frouin says they have been fitted onto yachts up to 42 feet; however, the length overall will increase as bigger motors become available.

Power Options

BlueNav also builds the BlueSpin Inhull motor, providing hybrid solutions aboard cruising sailboats, and the BlueSpin Stationary motor, which is designed to work aboard inboard-powered motoryachts. BlueSpin motors articulate through 180 degrees and come in multiple power configurations (15, 20, 30 and—soon—50 kW).

Take the next step: bluenav.fr.com

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The RemigoOne from Slovenia-based Remigo is an integrated electric motor-and-rudder assembly for precision steering at any prop revolutions per minute in a compact package.

It uses a 1,000-watt brushless motor for 66 pounds of thrust, which is equal to 3 hp outboard motors. Top speed is around 5 knots. The drive’s aluminum unibody has a lithium-ion battery (good for 1,085 watt-hours), drive componentry and electronics. The system’s unibody also doubles as a rudder. A two-part mounting bracket allows the RemigoOne to be easily installed and removed, and there are 10 power settings for forward and reverse. LEDs indicate the system’s charge status, and two stainless-steel push buttons govern speed and direction. A magnetic kill switch provides safety and moonlights as an ignition key.

“Development of the whole unit included a lot of testing and challenges, but each prototype showed us [the way forward],” says Marko Vrtovec, Remigo’s CEO.

RemigoOne drives work with any vessel up to 23 feet length overall (3,310 pounds of displacement). More models are expected to be coming in the near future. Each RemigoOne system can be recharged using AC or DC power; recharging takes three to 12 hours.

Functional Form

RemigoOne drives have a custom two-blade prop protected by skegs on the bottom of the unit’s rudder assembly. RemigoOne drives use thick layers of white powder-coating that reflects sunlight, and reflective decals help to ensure nighttime visibility. All above-water parts are certified to IP67 for water ingress, while underwater parts are certified to IP69 standards.

Take the next step: remigo.eu

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Candela’s C-pod is a very efficient electric motor inside a torpedo-style pod that hangs below a vessel’s waterline (or in the case of Candela’s boats, the hydrofoil line). C-Pods deliver 50 kilowatts of output power, or 67 hp, which Candela achieves with contrarotating propellers driven by dedicated inline motors. Candela physically situates its C-Pods on struts that are lowered for use and then retracted when the vessel is berthed to reduce marine growth.

“Our goal was to move the electric motor from above the waterline to under the water, which would enable [an] electric direct-drive and do away with the cooling system, noisy transmission, and need to use oil for lubrication,” says Mikael Mahlberg, Candela’s communications and public relations manager. “The really hard part was to make the electric motors really small. Other electric pod drives are really bulky, so we had to rethink electric-motor design.”

While C-Pods will initially be reserved for use aboard Candela’s hydrofoiling vessels—including the P-12—the company eventually plans to sell C-Pods to other boatbuilders for use as OEM-level equipment aboard their new builds.

One C-Pod “is enough to make our 28-foot hydrofoil boats fly at a speed of 30 knots,” Mahlberg says, adding that Candela plans to spec two C-Pods aboard its larger yachts.  

How It Works

C-Pods come with articulating carbon-fiber wings that support (ballpark) 20 percent of the load that’s generated by the vessel’s after hydrofoil. Candela says C-Pods are at least 10 percent more efficient than other leading electric motors. C-Pods reportedly deliver lifetime, maintenance-free service and can be powered by a 180-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery bank. 

Take the next step: candela.com

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The powerboat drivers idle near their starting lines off Monaco, waiting for the signal to punch the throttles. But they’re different from those who have raced here since 1904: These nine boats are competing in the Solar Class at the 2021 Monaco Energy Boat Challenge.

Every July, the Monaco Yacht Club organizes this race, which features next-generation technologies. This year, after five days of competition—including a 16-nautical-mile-lap race, slalom racing and a championship race—the Dutch-flagged Sunflare solar team claimed top honors in the sun-powered class.

Is their boat’s top speed of about 29 knots going to break any world speed records? No. But the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge is a harbinger of recreational boating’s not-so-distant future.

That future, of being carbon-free, has been a long time coming. German inventor Moritz von Jacobi created an early electric boat in 1839, a 24-footer that could carry 14 passengers at roughly 2.6 knots. In 1882, Anthony Reckenzaun, an Austria-born electrical engineer, built Electricity, a steel-hulled launch with onboard batteries that was considered one of the first “practical” electric vessels. Other innovations continued until circa 1910, when Ole Evinrude’s gasoline-fired outboards began their own revolution.

Now, a century later, electric yachts harness technologies such as solar panels, electric drivetrains, lightweight construction in carbon fiber, lithium-based batteries and, in some cases, hydrofoils. These boats’ performance, comfort and range can rival some traditionally powered yachts—and they are clean and quiet. Much like Teslas, they sometimes also come with memorable acceleration curves.

Contemporary electric boats range in size and complexity. There are displacement monohulls such as Zin Boat’s 20-foot Z2T and Z2R and X Shore’s 26-foot Eelex 8000. There are hydrofoilers such as the upcoming Navier 27 (see sidebar). There are also boats like those contesting the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge, as well as bluewater cruisers with multiple hulls.

“The first advantage is space,” says Michael Köhler, CEO of Silent-Yachts. “Catamarans have more surface area, which benefits the number of solar panels that can be installed.”

Other advantages of multiple hulls in electric-boat design include increased form stability (no ballasted keels) and reduced drag. “This low resistance means they’re better suited for electric motoring, as they need a lot less energy to move than monohulls,” says Nicolas Lapp, Sunreef Yachts’ strategy consultant for research and development.

One key to reducing a yacht’s energy requirements involves reducing its displacement. “The lighter the yacht, the less energy is needed to move it,” Köhler says. “For this reason, our yachts are made of lightweight carbon fiber.”

While all of the yachts discussed in this article can be charged via shore-supplied AC power, cruisers typically want greater autonomy. To that end, Silent-Yachts and Sunreef Yachts use solar panels. The team at Silent-Yachts specs its panels from California-based SunPower, while Sunreef Yachts created the marine industry’s first flexible solar panels, which are flush-mounted on hulls, masts and superstructures.

Aesthetics matter in yachting, and not everyone wants to cruise aboard a solar farm. Here, Lapp sees an opportunity. “If you want sustainability to be cool and attract the attention of new generations, the appeal of the product is something you cannot neglect,” he says. “Seamless integration of the solar panels was a way for us to prove that sustainability [can] generate green power [and] cool looks.” (After all, no one buys a Tesla because it looks like a Chevy.)

While the Caribbean and Mediterranean are blessed with abundant lumens, other world-class cruising grounds—say, the Pacific Northwest—aren’t equally illuminated. Because of this, electric cruising yachts typically also include redundant systems to ensure that the navigation lights stay on without heading to a marina.

“Every Silent yacht is equipped with a backup generator,” Köhler says. “This makes sure you never run out of energy, even when facing longer periods of unfavorable weather conditions.”

Rainy-day alternatives can include other green-power solutions. Sunreef Yachts typically specs dual wind generators atop its yachts’ rooftops. However, Lapp is realistic about their capabilities.

“Wind turbines can only supply a small fraction of the energy that our solar panels can,” he says, explaining that, in the right conditions, Sunreef’s panels typically generate 40 times more juice than the turbines. “What’s nice about working with wind is that your generators work all the time.” That includes under navigation, at the dock and throughout the night.

Energy sources aside, these experts say that high-quality batteries offering high performance are critical. Larger-capacity battery banks ensure more power reserves, but adding them can affect a yacht’s performance.

“The weight of the battery banks is also an important factor, as it can reduce or increase the overall efficiency,” Köhler says.

Battery performance is also critical for electric-powered coastal craft. One example is X Shore’s Eelex 8000, which has a high-performance 225 kW electric motor and dual 63 kWh lithium-ion batteries that can be charged anywhere there’s a power socket, or supercharged using the same technology as electric cars.

“The batteries can be charged in five to eight hours with three-phase power plugs and one to two hours with superchargers,” says Elias Wästberg, X Shore’s project manager.

While superchargers don’t exist in the middle of oceans, builders of electric-powered bluewater boats have already done this math. Silent-Yachts says its power catamarans are built to offer transatlantic autonomy, but a lot depends on how the owner uses the boat to minimize energy consumption.

“During sunny conditions, a general rule of thumb is that cruising at 6 knots maintains a balance between consumption and production,” Köhler says. “This basically means unlimited range. …The main thing that owners can do to increase range is reduce speed and turn off any appliances.”

This begs the question: Do owners need to downshift their expectations for onboard comfort when going electric?

“There’s no need to make any sacrifices or closely monitor energy levels,” Lapp says. “A lot of energy saving is done automatically. For example, at night, the air-conditioning system focuses solely on selected areas and cabins. … It consumes 70 percent less energy than most systems.”

And should the battery banks get thirsty, there’s always the generator.

Cruising with zero emissions might be a selling point for some customers, but one need not squeeze trees to embrace yachting’s future. “Running costs and maintenance levels are much lower compared to regular-motor catamarans,” Köhler says.

Then, there are unquantifiable returns. “You get to enjoy the absolute luxury of cruising in total silence and without disturbing the marine life around you,” Lapp says, adding that this experience helps owners create “better connections with the environment.”

Finally, there can also be the grin factor. “The Eelex 8000 can accelerate from 0 to 20 knots in 4.2 seconds,” Wästberg says. “The software captures 150 data points every second, allowing for real-time analytics of battery and engine performance, including temperature, humidity, pressure, location and the craft’s system status.”

While electric yachts boast some impressive capabilities, free lunches are unicorns. Electric yachts don’t emit carbon dioxide, but their carbon footprint likely deepens with stem-to-stern life-cycle assessments of their photovoltaic panels, carbon-fiber hulls and lithium-based batteries. Then there’s the inconvenient financial truth that all batteries have a finite number of charge cycles and eventually need refitting. Also, for now, diesel mechanics greatly outnumber certified electric-boat technicians, especially in remote locales.

Still, few people gifted with foresight would have bet against Evinrude’s outboards in the early 20th century. The same holds true for today’s electric boats. One only has to look at the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge to realize that some of the brightest minds in the marine and technology fields are committed to a carbon-free future.

Couple this trend with the fact that electric yachts are already providing better performance and compromise-free cruising, and yachting’s future is looking bright (green).  

Navier 27

Navier Boats teamed up with Paul Bieker, an America’s Cup-winning naval architect and hydrofoil expert, to create the Navier 27. It delivers 30-plus-knot top speeds or a 75-nautical-mile range at slower speeds. While impressive, hydrofoils require active control, which is a crux that Navier solved by creating an autonomous foil-control system.

Sunreef 100 Eco

It’s one thing to build a solar-powered vessel for the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge; it’s a different challenge to build an electric 100-footer that can accommodate 12 guests and five crewmembers. The Sunreef 100 Eco’s flexible solar panels mean this cat can accommodate 2,610 square feet of solar-farm space and generate up to 46 kilowatts per hour of DC power, which should keep its high-performance lithium-ion batteries topped off. 

Hands on the Helm

While the Navier 27 will initially require human hands on its helm, down-the-road software releases are expected to enable autonomous driving.

Panel Planners

While photovoltaic panels can be fitted to any yacht, catamarans present themselves as an ideal platform, given their beam and broader coach-roof space.

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