It’s not just cars that can benefit from being electric – this boat is powered by the battery pack from a Polestar 2 EV, and its makers claim the range is up to three times that of a conventional electric boat.
Called the Candela C-8 ‘powered by Polestar’, the boat has the same 69 kWh battery pack as a Polestar 2 electric car. Candela says the battery is good for a range of 57 nautical miles (65.5 miles) at a cruising speed of 22 knots (22 mph).
The boat features a hydrofoil design, whereby the hull is lifted almost entirely out of the water when up to speed, lowering drag and therefore improving range.
Swedish electric boat builder Candela says the C-8’s motor draws 75 kW (100 horsepower) of energy from the battery pack when setting off. But once it has risen out of the water and onto its hydrofoil, only 23 kW (30 hp) is required to travel at 22 mph. Candela says a similarly-sized boat with a conventional hull design would need around 120 kW (160 hp) to push through the water.
A 57 nautical mile range might not sound like much, especially compared to the 200-plus miles of a Polestar 2. But Candela says how 95 percent of day excursions made by members of boat-sharing service Agapi are less than 50 miles. Add this to the battery’s DC fast-charging capabilities – along with electric boat charging networks springing up in marinas all over the world – and the C-8 starts to make sense.
Gustav Hasselskog, CEO of Candela, said: “This collaboration [with Polestar] means that C-8 can travel to destinations previously only reachable by combustion engine boats. The Candela C-8 ‘powered by Polestar’ marks a significant breakthrough for electrification at sea.”
The Candela founder added how, with the new DC fast-charging network for boats and the C-8’s range, “you can go from Sweden to Finland in one day, or along the entire French Riviera in a few hours. For a few euros/dollars’ worth of electricity.”
Providing battery packs to a boat company is a first for Polestar, a fellow Swedish firm, and this move is said to mark the start of a broader partnership with Candela.
