Boating has been a favorite pastime for years now. Feeling the warm ocean breeze as you zip through the water is an experience you need to relish. Makers and designers have been working hard to make create a design that’s even better than what’s already available in the market.
Now, a Swedish shipwright has come up something that enthusiasts may want to purchase. They have unveiled successful tests for a new fully-electric hydrofoil speed boat. The design was meant to change the face of recreational boating for good.
Introducing the C-8, which is made by Candela. What sets this a head above the rest is its ability to go up 20 knots of speed while being able to accommodate half a dozen passengers. It does all these while it eliminates fuel leaks, motor noise, wake, and expensive trips to and from the fuel dock.
Electric boating has fallen behind electric cars in the past few years. This is because these boats have to deal with far-denser resistance that it encounters. Pushing its way through water is more challenging when compared to just air. Hence, coming up with the perfect design and architecture required a lot more attention to detail and a deeper understanding of science.
The C-8 makes use of hydrofoils to lift it out of the water. Hence, the boat itself is able to avoid the very thing that offers the greatest resistance – the water. With this out of the way, there is 80 percent less energy consumption per knot traveled when compared to an internal-combustion engine boat. This fact also enabled Candela to mount an electric motor and battery pack as its thrust while being able to actually deliver range and speeds that is comparative to fossil-fuel speed boats.
Candela has made sure that its C-8 can fit right into the options found in the industry. They are also able to mass produced these at 400 units per year, with prices in at €290,000. This is the same, and in some instances lower, than other fossil-fuel speed boats found in the same size class of 28 feet (or 8.5 meters).
The C-8 had been in development for 16 months. Since its release, this has been the company’s most ordered electric boat. It had its first flight right outside the Swedish tech company’s headquarters that’s located at Lidingö, Stockholm. The prototype was able to achieve the designated takeoff speed of 16 knots. This smoothly lifted off and flew above the water quietly at a cruise speed of 20 knots. The maiden trip was considered to be smooth and very silent.
The C-POD motor is rated for 3,000 hours of service-free use, which is tantamount to 50 to 100 years of the average recreational boating time of boating enthusiasts. This was a report made by Clean Technica. They also added that after being unveiled last February, its 100 preorders mean that it outsold almost all other conventional speed boats of the same size.
The people behind Candela have always been dedicated to speeding up the transition to fossil-fuel-free lakes and oceans. They now hope to make several thousand C-8s in the years to come. Hasselskog, company founder of Candela, said that once you you’ve experienced riding this, you will come to realize that this was how boats must look in the future. He also pointed out the importance of its first ever flight. “This successful first flight brings us one step closer to serial production. We’ll now perform a rigorous flight test campaign to ensure the reliability and maturity. We’re on track to deliver the first C-8 units this summer,” he elaborated.
“It’s basically free boating, and hassle-free boating, for the first time in history,” said Gustav Hasselskog. The boat sleeps two kids and two adults. The cockpit found above the deck also has room enough for eight people.
“Candela C-8 is designed to do away with all the bad aspects of powerboating: no slamming, no harmful wake, no pollution, no maintenance, no noise, and no more expensive trips to the fuel dock,” Candela’s head of PR, Mikael Mahlberg said when he spoke to Clean Technica. “It’s just a smooth, silent, and fun ride. After the first ride last week, it’s clear we’re right on target. This will be a pivotal moment for electric boats.”
Mahlberg also added, “Unlike our first model, the hand-built C-7, the C-8 is designed for efficient mass production. We’re moving to a new factory in May and will quickly ramp up production to 400 boats per year.”
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