Edison Marine has taken electric boating to the next level with its swank, 1940's-style barrel-back powerboats. The plug-in electric Edison Cruise is hand crafted using solid African mahogany and can reach speeds of up to 30 mph – that's salty dawg speak for hauling booty in the greenest, most graceful way possible.
"Most, if not all, electric boats on the market are significantly different than Edison's offering," says Steve Shovoly, the president and founder of Edison Marine, in an article published by EV World. "They are in most cases standard fiberglass hulls with slow running, 'golf cart' electric drive systems."
Shovoly likes to refer to the zero-emissions Cruiser as the Ferrari of the Water and says the boat got rave reviews at the Portland Boat Show last week. "There was a lot of sniffing around, and the buzz factor was high at the show. But we still haven't sold one yet."
The Cruise goes for $120,000 so that might explain things. You'd probably have to sell a Ferrari or two to buy one. But then again, this little mermaid just might be worth it.
The Edison Cruiser features twin high performance 9 in. DC motors, twin 1000 amp controllers, a 144v battery pack and twin propellers. That may seem like a whole lot of inboard motor for a boat just 17 feet long, but the Cruiser weighs in at only 840 pounds.
With the boat's built in charger, the batteries can charge in 4-5 hours and be good for 8-10 hours at 5-7 mph. An optional on board gas generator for remote charging is also available for the boat and might come in handy for those long distance booze cruises where you lose track of time.
Edison Marine is currently taking orders on the Cruiser for delivery in the spring. Also the company plans to build a 22-foot $160,000 boat that will be equipped with a more powerful 250hp Steyr Marine hybrid engine sometime soon (or at least as soon as they get an order in).
Shovoly told Wired.com he is hoping that boat buyers who "just got to have a V8" will change their ways. And until they do he says he will stand "committed to low and zero emission systems and continue to look for ways to offer alternative solutions to clean boating."
UPDATE: The Edison Marine Cruiser actually comes equipped with twin 1000 amp controllers, not 500 amp controllers. A correction in the article has therefore been made.
Photos / Edison Marine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Att5nDS4VkE
