Image Credit: Platypus Craft.
Monday mornings are the best, catching up to the stuff we've missed over the weekend - the expectations are always quite high. But nothing quite prepared me for Platypus Craft's electric semi-submersible boat. This is not your usual fishing or pleasure boat, oh no. It's a duck out of water, literally and figuratively.
Just for a moment, close your eyes and imagine: cruising along the coast, wind in your hair, sun on your face, when suddenly the boat's midsection dips underwater, transforming your jolly cruise into an underwater adventure. Sounds like something out of a Bond movie, doesn't it?
The Platypus Craft's journey to production has been longer than a Sunday sermon, but the French company has finally partnered with Evoy, an electric outboard manufacturer, to give this quirky concept a zero-emission makeover. Hallelujah!
The original design, the brainchild of François-Alexandre Bertrand, was a two-seater vessel that could lower its midsection, allowing passengers to explore shallow waters without needing scuba gear. It was a bit like a motorcycle with a diving helmet - on paper, quite a useless combo, but once you start going through the potential behind the idea, the more you look into it, the more sense it makes.
Image Credit: Platypus.
Fast forward a few years, and Bertrand had a working prototype. But instead of the envisioned electric powertrain, it was powered by Mercury engines. Why? Well, electric outboards back then couldn't handle choppy waters as well as their smelly cousins. A bit of a buzzkill, if you ask me.
But now, thanks to Evoy's 120-hp Breeze drive systems, the Platypus Craft is going electric. And boy, is it zippy! It can cruise at 17 mph above water and 3.4-5.7 mph underwater. The onboard battery pack provides a range of 30-80 nautical miles, so you can actually explore to your heart's content.
Image Credit: Platypus Craft.
The electric upgrade isn't just about speed and range, though. It's about eco-friendliness. No fuel spills, no bilge water pollution, and it's quieter than a church mouse on Sunday morning, which is good news for marine life.
And the updates don't stop there. The latest Blue Ocean model, the Yacht Edition, features a new waterproof dashboard, a digital periscope, GPS positioning, and an open cockpit for the front passengers. It's like a floating gadget for water enthusiasts.
But all this fancy tech comes at a price. The aluminum-framed Yacht Edition, which can seat 11 but submerges only five at a time, starts at around $490,000. Ouch! That's enough to make your wallet weep.
Image Credit: Platypus Craft.
I really don't like using this phrase, but for marine ecotourism operators, the Platypus Craft could be a game-changer. It offers a unique, eco-friendly way to explore underwater wonders. It opens up new revenue streams, expands the to-do lists of every holiday maker - and all of that without a drop of gas or oil. And let's not forget about the noise, or rather complete lack of it.
So. The Platypus Craft: part boat, part submarine, part duck. It's quirky, it's fun, and it's electric. It's expensive but unique, and it's the future of ecotourism. And it's quackers!
Forget the boring old yacht - the $6M Super Sub is here to turn you into a high-speed, all-electric goldfish. With 10 mph top speeds and a 1,000-foot depth rating, it’s the ultimate way to ignore your emails in total silence.
The lads at Vessev are launching the VS-9, a 29-foot carbon-fiber marvel that flies over water. With a 105 kWh battery and 35 mph top speed, it’s the quiet, wake-free future of commuting that makes standard ferries look like prehistoric fossils.
The Swedes are teaching boats to fly, and it’s actually working! With $141 million in the bank, Candela’s P-12 electric hydrofoil is slashing commute times and energy bills. It’s fast, green, and makes diesel ferries look like prehistoric bathtubs.
A Swedish jet ski that’s lighter than a cow and cheaper to run than a toaster? The Roxen arrives this April to save our ears and our wallets. It’s silent, electric, and fits on your car’s roof!
What happens when a Porsche Macan Turbo decides to take a permanent bath? You get the Frauscher x Porsche 850 Fantom Air. It’s a 536-hp electric masterpiece that proves you don’t need gasoline to make a very expensive splash.
An electric ferry that flies? Candela’s P-12 hydrofoil just smashed records with a 150-mile voyage to Norway, proving EV boats don't have to be slow, boring, or incredibly expensive. It even brought a Ford F-150 along for the ride.
The world’s largest electric ship, Hull 096, is finally moving - and it’s eerily quiet. With 275 tons of batteries and enough juice to power a town, this Tasmanian giant proves electric shipping is here. I just miss the engine noise.
Porsche has lost the plot again, building a Macan with wooden floors and a compass to match their new 536-hp electric speedboat. It’s brilliant, pointless, and costs more than your house. I explore the madness of the Frauscher x Porsche collaboration.
The Australians have built a 427-foot floating battery that carries 2,100 people and 220 cars. It’s the world’s largest EV, proving that if you give engineers enough batteries and a giant aluminum boat, they’ll actually make the future look fun.
CATL, the EV battery titan, is now betting we’ll see pure-electric ships crossing the open ocean in three years. I'm all for low-noise voyages, but to cross the Pacific, you need monumental batteries, and the lack of a proper spec sheet is enough to make a seasoned journalist grab a gin and tonic.
British engineers have shrunk the massive electric pod drive into a tiny, hypercar-derived "cartridge" for everyday boats. It steers 360 degrees, saves fuel, and eliminates the engine room. Finally, a way to dock a yacht without looking like a complete fool.
Some clever Kiwis built a new electric boat motor, the Vessev VS-Drive. It's for a flying water taxi. They say it's so cool you can touch it. I'll let them try it first. But it might just save electric boating.
The Swedes have invaded D.C. traffic with the P-12, an electric ferry that flies above the Potomac, cutting a Georgetown to Reagan commute to six ridiculous minutes. It uses 80% less energy, allegedly cures seasickness, and costs nearly two million dollars - but hey, at least you beat the Orange Line.
This 213-foot solar-powered catamaran is less a boat and more a floating postcode. It’s an "explorer" yacht with two pools, a 22-person crew, and a garage for your submarine. It's gloriously absurd, brilliantly engineered, and fantastically eco-conscious...ish.
They’ve built a tugboat with 4,000 horsepower, a battery bigger than my apartment, and the business sense of a Wall Street shark. This isn’t about saving the planet; it’s about saving money. The quiet revolution has begun, and it smells surprisingly clean.
Tired of your jet ski just being a noisy toy? Taiga's new Orca lineup not only offers silent thrills but can also power your cabin during an outage. Yes, your personal watercraft is now a giant, floating, and very expensive power bank.
A 44-foot luxury catamaran that runs on sunshine, the Sunpower Solar-E 44 is a silent assassin. It claims a bonkers 25-knot top speed with zero emissions, makes its own fresh water, and promises unlimited range. The future is here.
Venice's canals are finally getting the silent treatment. The all-electric Lucietta water taxi promises a future without diesel fumes and rattling engines. It's gorgeous, it's quiet, and it has a fridge. What more could a weary tourist possibly want?
China's new electric tourist boat, the Yujian 77, is a 161-foot silent cruiser with the battery power of 40 Teslas and the breakneck speed of a gentle jog. It’s quiet, clean, and maybe, just maybe, a sensible glimpse of the future.
Porsche has gone and done what they do best: made something unnecessarily fast and desirable. The Frauscher x Porsche 850 Fantom is a $600,000 electric speedboat with the soul of a Macan EV, and it just set a speed record.
Mumbai's got itself some "flying boats" – silent, smooth, and electric. Candela P-12 ferries lift out of the water like a magic trick, promising to slash commute times and make you actually enjoy your ride. Who needs roads when you can soar above the waves?
Tired of noisy, smelly ferries? Viking Line is building a giant electric one called Helios. It's the size of two football fields, carries a whole town, and needs a plug the size of a small planet. They say it's the future of sea travel. I say, I'll believe it when I'm silently gliding across the Baltic with a drink in my hand.
Tired of noisy, smelly diesel engines ruining your sunset cocktail? The new Oceanwalker S60e promises silent, solar-powered bliss. Well, mostly. This 60-foot electric catamaran has a top speed of 12 knots, a fancy solar array, and a pair of diesel generators for when the sun gets shy. It’s the future of yachting with a very clever, and very necessary, asterisk.
Finally, an electric outboard I can actually lift without pulling a muscle! The RemigoOne: Slovenian chic for your dinghy. 1000W of silent power, a battery that goes the distance (if you behave), and now a remote so you can captain from your throne. It’s not cheap, but neither is therapy after wrestling a heavy, smelly old motor.
A Swedish electric boat didn't just sail from Europe to Africa, it practically flew on hydrofoils, using just $9 of juice! While the gas-guzzler chase boat choked on $100+ in fuel, this golden-foiled wonder proved electric is ready for the high seas & maybe, just maybe, my next vacation. Less fume, more zoom!
Electric boat racing with A-listers like Will Smith & Tom Brady? E1's RaceBirds are carbon foilers hitting 57 mph on water! Silent, speedy, and a bit bonkers. With a billion-dollar dream and celebs sometimes showing up, will this 'lifestyle' sport actually float, or is it just another wonderfully daft way to get wet?
Arc's new electric boat is here! Called the "Coast," probably because it's less scary for your wallet than their previous ones. It's a center console, meaning the driver's bit is in the middle. It's got 400hp, hits 50mph, and seats 10. And the price?
Silent Yachts' SY80 is an 80-foot palace that runs on sunshine, hopes, and dreams. It goes about as fast as a determined snail but is silent, luxurious, and fits up to twelve guests. Just try not to get lost in its interior. Price? If you have to ask...
You could buy a small country instead of this boat, but at least you can silently outrun the local ducks in style. This ENVGO NV1 hydrofoil promises 50 mph of pure, electron-powered lake terror. It even has a sky pylon for your water-skiing shenanigans. And if you fall asleep at the wheel – it will navigate itself, just so you know.
Electric jet ski alert! E-Dolphin's S300: silent, speedy, charges faster than you can say "dolphinately cool." Pricey, but saves the planet, and maybe our ears. Lifetime warranty for early birds! But the admission price is the sticky point…
