THIS MONTH’s 10
THE EDITOR’S VIEW …
This is exactly the kind of application where ELECTRIC POWER makes perfect sense. Displacement hulls don’t need vast reserves of power and inland cruising will be even more pleasurable without the rumble of engines and smell of DIESEL FUMES to spoil the moment. Once there’s a suitable network of fast chargers in place, this should actually be a better proposition than a diesel boat. All credit to BENETEAU and Delphia for taking the initiative on this.
1 DELPHIA’S ALL - ELECTRIC FUTURE
Delphia has launched its first all electric model and announced that it will only build electric boats by 2024. The Polish brand was bought by Beneteau Group in 2018 and is the first in the French giant’s stable to commit to going 100% electric – by the middle of the decade it will make no ICE (internal combustion engine) models at all. The range will eventually comprise seven boats ranging from 30-42ft (9-13m) including a three-model 10 series with design and naval architecture by Tony Castro and Vripack launching in September.
The recently launched Delphia 11 is the first model to have an all-electric version, powered by a single 56kw (equivalent to 80hp) Torqeedo Deep Blue 50i 1400 motor with either one or two 38kWh battery banks. There are three different versions of the system depending on intended use: Life for lakes, Cruise for extended inland cruises, and Rapid, which adds a single 22kW fast charger to the mix. All versions use identical battery packs, the same as those used in the BMW i3, though Cruise and Rapid have two of them to double the
