The Candela C8 is a fully electric boat with a giant tablet on-board, and it skims above the water.
The electric “flying” C8 boat from the Sweden-based Candela company sees itself as the Tesla of boating in some interesting and significant ways, especially when it comes to flashy tech at the helm and deep tech underneath the hull. If it’s difficult to imagine seeing a flying EV car at CES 2023, then we need to talk about it.
I entered the vehicle and noticed a huge digital tablet next to the steering wheel, similar to a Tesla, as well as a sparse interior with two racing-style chairs up front and fabric-cushioned seats à la Ikea. The $390,000 price tag is due to the fact that the whole boat, including the seats, is constructed of carbon fiber. Additionally, there is a restroom inside, unlike a Tesla.
(For more, check out our must-see reveals of CES, most futuristic tech and craziest future tech and gizmos.)
But the real focus is on high-end tech controls, like autonomous boating — where the C8 can stick to a set course — sensors and accelerometers to balance the boat when it’s in the air and a custom-designed motor.
This EV motor and autonomous technology might, like a Tesla, assist to develop a community of privileged EV boat owners who elevate their vehicle above a simple form of transportation. Hydrofoil boats fly by using “wings” that are submerged in the water to keep the hull skimming — or “flying” — above the waves.
It’s hardly unexpected that Candela decided to go electric. Worldwide awareness of climate change is growing, and so is the demand for electric vehicles. By the end of the decade, according to Reuters, citing AutoForecast Solutions, electric cars might account for around 26% of all vehicles sold worldwide and a third of the North American market. And at CES, there is a growing dedication to electric vehicles of various kinds, as seen by announcements of EV cars like this sensor-studded premiere from Sony, along with flying EV cars, electric inline skates, and a foldable EV bike I loved.
However, throughout our demonstration, the focus was far more on Tesla-like technology than it was on the topic of emissions.
According to many of our owners, this is a bigger jump for boats than Tesla was for automobiles, Mikael Mahlberg, the head of communications at Candela, told me.
In fact, according to Candela, a significant portion of its existing C8 customers are first-time boat owners, the same people who were among the first to invest in Tesla’s high-end EVs.
Their family asks them, “Are you going to buy a 600-horsepower gasoline-powered boat and go out with it when you have an electric car on land?” because they had a Tesla automobile. stated Mahlberg. And since they find the thought of doing that difficult to comprehend, they want an improvement above fossil fuel boats.
In addition to being an early adopter of EV in its particular sector, Candela claims that the C8 boat’s purchasers are also attracted to it since all of the parts are manufactured on-site.
The user interface, motor, and even the steering wheel are all provided by internal components in the EV boat. This strict control enables engineers to swiftly distribute updates and enhancements to the cabin technology over the air (that large display).