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Candela’s High-Performance, Long-Range, Electric-Powered, Hydrofoiling Speedboats Are Going To Revolutionize Boat Travel Just Like Tesla Revolutionized Car Travel

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You could say that the growing team of hypersmart engineers, software developers, yacht designers and boatbuilders at Candela Speed Boat have been “designing and building an all-electric-powered boat that’s similar to what Elon Musk did with Tesla automobiles,” since Gustav Hasselskog founded the company in Stockholm, Sweden in 2014.

But that wouldn’t exactly be right. In fact, what they’ve done—created an electric-powered, zero-emission speedboat that’s capable of travelling up to 50 nautical miles at 22-knots between charges—was probably much harder than what Elon Musk has done simply because boats have much more drag to overcome than cars.

Now, I’m no engineer or yacht designer. But I’ve interviewed enough to know just how difficult it is to improve conventional boat performance, efficiency and “fuel” economy by reducing drag and weight of a design. And the fact is designing and building a full-electric-powered, zero emission speedboat that’s capable of travelling up to 50 nautical miles at 22-knots between charges is infinitely harder.

But, now that well over 30 of Candela’s C-7 powerboats have already been sold. Demand continues to increase. Plans are in the works to unveil a bigger, and even more efficient high-performance electric hydrofoiling powerboat soon. And oh, by the way, Candela has also developed a range of high-speed, long range passenger ferries (that can carry from 12 up to 300 passengers), it appears Hasselskog and his team are quite “good at doing hard things,” as author Glennon Doyle famously says.

The Necessity Of Flight

Hasselskog knew the only way he and his team could design and build a long-range, high-speed electric-powered boat that would perform better than a conventional fossil-fuel boat while also producing zero emissions was to reduce drag by up to 80% of a conventional planning hull. And the only way they could do that was to build a hydrofoiling boat that could “fly” the entire hull out of the water in an efficient and easy-to-control way. In fact, their proprietary foiling system is the key to the success of the design. 

As a result, C-7 (and other designs Candela has under development) “fly” over the water by using a straight main foil in the middle of the boat and a small T-foil aft above the propeller. But, as Hasselskog and any America’s Cup team can tell you, “flying,” and most importantly, “controlling” a hydrofoiling boat is very very hard. That’s where Candela’s sophisticated software comes in. Their proprietary flight control system automatically stabilizes the boat with computer-controlled micro adjustments to the hydrofoil by integrating numerous sensors installed all over the boat with data from an onboard gyroscope, accelerometer, GPS and other tech. And of course, everything (foil retraction, lights, navigation etc.) can be monitored and controlled from Candela’s custom made 13-inch touch screen at the helm. 

The Fun Of Flight

So, what’s it like to “fly” aboard a C-7? Well, after witnessing numerous designers and builders attempt to design and build hybrid-electric, and full electric boats that could be capable of both high speeds and long-range travel between charges over the years, I was a bit skeptical. But then again, none of those other companies ever tried to solve the “drag problem” with hydrofoils like the Candela C-7 is equipped with.

And my skepticism didn’t last long. In fact, it started to erode as soon as the hull raised out of the water during a recent test flight. And after putting the C-7 through its paces on the water, I’m now a full-blown advocate. 

Getting the C-7 up on the foils was as easy as giving the 60-kW electric motor full throttle, and then backing it off a bit so that we could fly along above the water at 18-22 knots while only sipping 18 kWh and using less that 1 kWh per mile. The near silence of the electric motor at that speed was intoxicating and the sensation of “flying” over the water was both “light” and “secure.”

I say “light” because there was no bashing into waves, no rocking, or any spray from our wake—because the C-7 simply does not make a wake when it’s foiling. The hull just “flies” about 3-feet over the water while the narrow carbon fiber struts that are connected to and control the foil slice noiselessly through the water. 

I say “secure” because when we were foiling at about 18-22 knots (which was all the time except when we were returning to the dock, ) the hull is as flat and stable as it would be on flat water. Flatter and more stable in fact because the hull stays flat and stable even as it rides over light chop thanks to the C-7’s ultra-efficient foils and flight control software.

Battery capacity on the boat I tested was 40 kWh. And while battery capacity will continue to a limiting factor on all electric boats (and cars for that matter), it’s only going to increase as battery tech and storage density continues to improve. Same for range estimates. Better batteries will allow for electric boats to travel longer distances between charges. And when it comes to electric boats, I believe the C-7 and other designs Candela are working on could be poised to disrupt the market because of all the electric boat problems they have already tackled and solved.

I’m also convinced the C-7 may very well be the first electric boat design that could do more than just compete with conventional, fossil-fuel-powered boats of a similar size. In many ways, and for some specific uses, it could be a better performer...as well as being way, way better for the environment.

However, I’m not saying that conventional, fossil fuel powered boats are obsolete by any means! In fact, in many ways and for many specific uses, it’s impossible to compete with the range, power, speed, affordability and versatility of fossil fuel-powered boats.

But I will say, that just as electric-powered cars—Teslas and all the other brands—have quickly evolved from novelty to necessity. Electric boats are going to follow the same path. And now that Candela Speed Boat have provided just a taste of the speed, range, reliability and performance a hydrofoiling electric-powered boat is capable of, I can’t wait to see what the future brings to the growing electric boat market.

In fact, the future may already be here—in Sweden.

Watch this space.

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