Vision Marine Technologies, the high-tech startup in Montreal that wants to disrupt the traditional boating industry, just announced it has formed a partnership with Hellkats Powerboats to break the world speed record for the fastest electric-powered boat.
For the record attempt, Vision will rig a 32-foot Hellkats with two of its E-Motion 180E powertrains, which Vision just introduced last month. The Hellkats, called Fulgura 1, will be launched in November.
“This is the perfect opportunity to showcase the capability, reliability and power of our E-Motion powertrain,” said Alexandre Mongeon, the co-founder and CEO of Vision Marine.
The world speed record for an electric boat, 88.6 mph, is now held by a jaguar V20E race boat. Vision and Hellkats aim to set the new record at 100 mph or more.
A year ago, Evoy, a Norwegian company, launched a 150-hp Pro outboard, and said it was the world’s most powerful electric outboard at the time. It is available on the market now, and Evoy says it will add 300-hp and 450-hp outboards in the future.
But Vision wants to be first, and fastest, with the most power on the electric outboard market. Indeed, the company says the E-Motion 180E is “the first fully electric purpose-built outboard powertrain system that combines an advanced battery pack, inverter and high-efficiency motor with proprietary union assembly between the transmission and the electric motor design utilizing extensive control software.”
The electric outboards produce no emissions or pollution and very little noise. They also require less maintenance and lower operating costs than traditional outboards do.
Vision’s high-voltage E-Motion 180E is designed to be swapped out with gas outboards of the same horsepower, basically on boats up to 26 feet. Vision says the 180E would drive a boat up to 70 miles at a cruising speed of 20 mph. You can charge the 180E overnight from a 220-V outlet.
So far, the electric outboards are not inexpensive. Vision’s 180E package costs $78,990 ($26,995 for the motor and $51,995 for the battery, charger and user interface kit). On the other hand, the Evoy 150-hp Pro with a 63kWh battery pack is $83,900. Read more at http://visionmarinetechnologies.com and see a video of a single E-Motion 180E outboard below.
