A 28-foot Candela C-8 Polestar electric foiling boat just set a record by covering 420 nm in a single day, a milestone accomplishment in the move to renewable energy. The previous record, set by a Voltari 260, was 79 nm in 20 hours.
During its 24-hour run, the Swedish-built Candela ran at about 27 knots most of the time. It cruised in a circular 20-nm loop in the waters off Stockholm, stopping each lap to recharge with a fast Plug charger. Each charge took 18 minutes.
“This feat shows that fast, electric waterborne transport over long distances is viable today, not a distant future,” said Gustav Hasselskog, Candela’s founder and CEO who drove the boat.
The Candela C-8 has a 69-kWh Polestar battery and a 75 kW-electric motor, with a top speed of 30 knots and a range of 57 nm at 22 knots. It uses Northvolt’s Voltpack mobile battery system for DC charging. Candela says the total cost of electricity for the 24 hours was $117, a fraction of the cost of running a gas or diesel boat for the same time.
Hasselskog said the charging systems could be built throughout Sweden and Europe to power electric boats. “For a few hundred Euros, a charging network covering Europe’s coastal passenger transports could become a reality,” he said.
The carbon-fiber Candela foils, or flies, at 16 knots, skimming over the waves with minimal resistance. The hydrofoils are constantly adjusted automatically by Candela’s Flight Controller computer, based on avionics, for a stable ride in various weather conditions. It uses various sensors to measure the boat’s position, speed and acceleration.
The boat’s foils are protected by the hull when they’re retracted and it’s operating in a displacement or shallow-water mode.
Read more at http://candela.com and see the video below:
