Let’s get this out of the way up front. In the blunt words of Ernest Menten at Tenderworks: “You have to accept that an electric tender is going to be slower than an internal combustion engine boat.”
Even a state-of-the-art lithium-ion battery supplies just 10 per cent of the power of the same weight of petrol, so electric tenders are more expensive and need frequent charging. And yet they are flying off the shelves, with most manufacturers reporting they have filled build slots for all of this year, next year and even into 2024.
“We have already seen a tenfold increase in the electric boat order books of the current manufacturers compared to this time last year,” says Alex Bamberg, CEO of fast-charging specialist Aqua superPower. “We see that in the next three years, an unstoppable and confident transition will be well under way.”
The attraction is clear. These boats are silent to operate, fumeless and welcome in a growing number of locations – from Norway’s fjords to Amsterdam’s canals – which are closed to polluting craft. “The environmental benefits, noise and vibration mitigation and reduced service requirements make electric particularly suitable for tenders,” adds Audrey Hodgdon of Hodgdon Yachts. The company has adapted its 10.5-metre and 12-metre limo tenders to run on electric power.
Speed vs range
Technological development has reduced, but not eliminated, a fundamental compromise at the heart of every electric boat: a hull’s drag increases exponentially with speed, so you can either drive fast or drive long – but not both.
“Even with the
