The new, all-electric LION, the 34’ 5” flagship of the Vita Yachts fleet in the UK, will be built in Maine by Hodgdon Yachts, the oldest boat builder in the U.S.
Hodgdon, founded in 1816, just announced the partnership with Vita, founded in 2017, and says the LION is the first and only premium electric powerboat compatible with fast DC charging. Indeed, you can recharge the LION’s batteries in an hour. The boat cruises at 22 knots (for an hour and a half) and tops out at 35 knots.
LION is powered by Vita’s latest generation all-electric V4 propulsion system, with a proprietary throttle and touchscreen technology. It has an on-board battery capacity of 233 kWh and two electric motors delivering 400-hp of continuous power and 590-hp of peak power. The boat is driven by two Mercury Bravo 2 sterndrives.
Vita introduced a 29’ 5” prototype called Vita IX that won both the speed and endurance classes at the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge in 2018, and it then launched a prototype LION in 2020. The new carbon-fiber LION was designed by BorromeodeSilva in Milan and will be built at Hodgdon’s plant in Boothbay. It’s scheduled for sea trials in the south of France this summer.
The boat can hold eight passengers in a large cockpit. It has a day cabin and head below, with a large sun pad aft for lounging and relaxing.
“Our move into electric yachts and tenders further demonstrates our commitment to increasing demands from the market for zero-emissions boating,” said Audrey Hodgdon, the Maine builder’s director of sales and marketing.
For his part, Rory Trahair, the CEO of the Vita Yachts Division, said, “This collaboration with Hodgdon combines our technical innovation and their centuries of craftsmanship at the highest levels to produce the most advanced electric powerboat built to date.”
Specs.: LOA: 34’4”; Beam: 8’8”; Draft: 1’6”; Disp.: 9,920 lbs.; Power: 4 lithium ion batteries, 2 electric motors delivering 400-590-hp. Read more:
