The electric car industry is incredibly competitive. In the crossover sector, Tesla, Ford, Volkswagen, Hyundai, Kia, and more are all fighting for market share. But the electric marine industry is different. Almost every entry that's soon to be released to the public tends to target an entirely unique target audience.
One of these electric boat manufacturers, Voltari Marine Electric, specializes in performance boating with its upcoming Voltari 260. The 260 is a fully-electric performance boat, pushing 740 horsepower and powered by a massive 142kWh battery pack. For a car comparison, Voltari's boat makes around as much horsepower as a Porsche Taycan Turbo S and houses a battery similar in size to that of an Extended Range Ford F-150 Lightning.
But unlike propulsion on the road, boats create massive amounts of friction, requiring lots of energy to keep a constant cruising speed. While an electric car might only continuously draw 15kW of electricity at 60mph, an electric boat may draw several hundred kWs at the same speed. This makes building an electric boat especially tricky. "A boat is so inherently inefficient, operating in hydrodynamic state versus aerodynamic state, that we're always looking for ways to improve efficiency and power-to-weight ratio," says Cam Heaps, CEO of Voltari.
So when designing the 260, Heaps says he and his team focused on utilizing a carbon fiber hull to reduce weight from the get-go. "That's when the incredible weight savings we find on the carbon fiber side, we use every pound of that to give us extra {battery} capacity, up to 142kWh {right now}," Heaps told InsideEVs. "That allows us to put very impressive motors on and do things in the water that haven't been done before."
In all, the Voltari 260 comes in at around 26 feet and weighs 7,000 pounds. It has a top speed of 60 mph. For its range, the 260 can go 37 miles on a single charge. "The way we look at it is we take the average boater's day on the water, whether you're in Florida, The Hamptons, or Cottage country Ontario. Very few people go more than 35 miles on their boating day, and that's what you can do at cruise {speed}," Heaps said.
For charging, Voltari expects most owners to charge their boats right at their docks, as most are equipped with 220V outlets. "Right now, with the 220V pedestals that already exist on most slips in the boating industry, we plug in when we get off the water, and in the morning, the boat's always full," Heaps told InsideEVs. However, the boat does have fast charging capabilities as well. With its 700V battery system, Heaps says a fast charging session will take just 45 minutes.
Gallery: Voltari Electric Boat
Voltari plans on scaling its powertrain into different solutions, like Coast Guard or rescue boats, for instance. However, the solutions aren't limited to the nautical world. The firm's batteries and motors have already been utilized by industrial and heavy-duty equipment.
Besides the technical underpinnings, the 260 aims to blend performance and luxury. Voltari's electric creation has water-resistant Alcantara seats, and a premium audio system courtesy of Rockford Fosgate. At the command center, the boat has two 17" Garmin displays, allowing pilots to easily see battery charge information, speed, and location.
Voltari expects customer deliveries to commence later this year, with a starting price of $450,000. The 260 will come with a ten-year battery and hull warranty. The manufacturer offers test rides in Thousand Islands, Ontario, and Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
"The EV industry has a bit of a reputation these days of excited customers putting down reservation deposits and not expecting a phone call for a couple of years," said Heaps. "We want to impress our customers and respond with product delivery times that really start this change in the industry."
