The new model will be formally launched a week from today at the Salone di Nautico Boat Show in Venice, Italy. That popular model has already spread across Europe and the US as well, but is soon to have its position as the company’s flagship model usurped by Candela’s next-generation C-8. It’s a fairly expensive toy at a starting price of €290,000 (US$330,000), but people will flip when they see this boat rising up on its stilts and silently cruising away into the sunset.It’s not a strange sight to see silent flying boats zipping around the Stockholm Archipelago, where Swedish boatmaker Candela produces its C-7 hydrofoil electric speedboats. The boat will glide over choppy water with minimal motion, providing for a very calm ride.Ĭandela claims it has already sold 100 C-8s, even outselling most other 28-foot ICE boats in the premium category. The autopilot is one more the fly-by-wire steering system will take you on a predetermined route hands-free. One of them is absolute silence, as well as the capacity to sail without creating much of a wake behind you. The Candela C-8 is a day cruiser, according to the manufacturer, and while it can’t compete with larger dinosaur burners for overall fuel range, it does have a few advantages. Although if Sarvo Marine ever gets its shiny aluminum Sarvo 37 built, it promises a whopping 100+ nautical miles from an equally whopping 350-kWh battery pack. See also How much do innovators use open collaboration? The best innovators use open collaboration 77% of the time.Īccording to the manufacturer, it can go for two-three times longer than traditional electric speedboats with 300% larger batteries. At a cruising speed of 20 knots (23 mph, 37 km/h), Candela predicts that this boat will travel more than 50 nautical miles (57.5 miles, 92.6 km) on a single recharge of its modest 44-kWh battery. The motor makes 45 or 50 kW (60/67 hp), according to Candela, which isn’t a lot when compared with other similarly sized vessels, but it’ll propel this 1,605-kg (3,538-lb), 8.5-m (28-ft) boat through the water at speeds of up to 30 knots thanks to that extreme drag reduction. When the water gets shallow, these foils retractable to the point where you can lift the motor out of the water entirely. The inside of the front two fins are connected by a wing-shaped foil, and the rear ends in a torpedo-shaped “C-Pod” electric propulsion unit with wings projecting from the sides. The C-8 takes off at a speed of 16 knots (18.4 mph, 29.6 km/h), after which it rises until only three carbon struts are seen touching the water. The solution for Candela is to get the boat’s hull out of the water on hydrofoils. As a result, electric boats aren’t capable of going very far right now. It takes a significant amount of energy to propel oneself through water as David Hasselhoff might tell you, and lithium batteries have a rather disappointing 2% capacity to gasoline. The marine industry will be difficult to electrify.

The first prototype C-8 has now flown, and Candela has provided videos to prove it. Candela’s C-8 plans to break electric boat range records with its hydrofoil technology, which cuts as much as 80% of the drag you’d get with a conventional design.

Hydrofoil boat electric