Press release - 18 August 2020 11:04

The world’s fastest electric boat races a Tesla Model 3

Which is the best commuter craft in rush hour traffic – Tesla Model 3 or the world’s fastest and most efficient electric boat, Candela Seven?

To find out, German VOX's TV show "Auto-mobil” arranged a race between Cologne and Düsseldorf, two cities connected by the river Rhine.

The idea was to show that waterborne, electric high-speed ferries can be a viable alternative to the Autobahn, especially in rush hour traffic when thousands of commuters clog the road network between the cities.

The boat chosen for the race was the Swedish electric Candela Seven – the first high speed and long-range electric boat in serial production. Thanks to hydrofoils under the hull, the Seven flies above the surface, which reduces friction from the water by 80 percent and gives a range of 92 km in 25 knots (46 km/h), about three times the range of the best conventional electric boats on the market. Top speed is 30 knots (55 km/h).

The stretch from Cologne to Düsseldorf is about 45 km on land, but 55 km on the river - a distance that no other electric boat could cover at speeds of more than 20 knots.

One would presume the higher top speed of the Tesla Model 3 and unrestricted speed on the Autobahn should give the car a clear advantage, but heavy traffic on the outskirts of both cities makes it hard to drive the distance in less than an hour.

The Candela Seven, on the other hand, could go full speed, but anyone driving on the Rhine faces other obstacles. Heavy barge traffic creates wakes that would force most planing boats to slow down. The Candela Seven, however, simply flies over the swells thanks to its computer-controlled foil system that detects waves in front of the boat and automatically adjusts the foil position 100 times per second.

–I think that we proved that electric, foiling boats would be a great zero-emission alternative to road transport in many urban areas. Waterways, especially in Europe, are underused for this purpose. Since our boats produce zero wake, you can go full speed without disturbing other boats, marine life or cause erosion, said Kristian Sloth Lauszus, Candela’s control systems engineer.

In the end, the race resulted in a very close competition – which can be seen on VOX TV:s homepage (skip to part three if you're only interested in seeing the race).

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The industry-disrupting Candela Seven is made by the Swedish start-up Candela speedboat in Stockholm. After five years of R&D, serial production of the Seven started in late 2019. Boats have been delivered to customers on several continents. By combining energy-efficient hydrofoils with sensors and software, the Seven has performance previously unseen in any boat – electric or fossil fuel. The foils not only give an industry-leading range of 50 nautical miles (92 km), but also provide superior seakeeping. Candela Seven flies steady even in strong side winds and waves. Ultrasonic sensors detect waves in front of the boat. With this input, the on-board flight controller adjusts the submerged hydrofoil in real-time to counteract waves, people moving around in the boat etc. The result is a silent and super steady craft that can handle chop and swells without slamming.

As an added bonus, the Candela Seven is cheap to drive. A full charge of the 40 kWh battery costs 95 percent less than filling up the tank of a petrol powered, planing boat.